John Major was urged to ‘embrace the internet' in 1994 to show he was part of the ‘new generation', Government archives reveal

And documents from the National Archive show No10 didn't have a dedicated fax line even in 1992
It's the future: John Major's officials were briefed about the potential of the internet but were cautious about 'rushing' in to adopting plans to let the public email the then-PM direct
PA
Jason Collie28 December 2018
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Damian Green urged John Major’s government to embrace the internet in 1994 to catch up with the White House and stay ahead of young Labour leader Tony Blair in the minds of the “new generation”, according to newly released official documents.

Former first secretary of state Mr Green, then in the government’s policy unit, wrote that “Internet users will be a growing group of opinion-formers” as he suggested getting online to keep up to date.

In a letter to the then-Prime Minister's private secretary, Alex Allan, on August 22, 1994, he said: “Various MPs who are computer-literate have made the point to me that it would be advantageous for Number 10 to be seen to be up with developments in this area.

“Specifically, connecting No 10 with the internet would keep us up with the White House, which has made a big thing of the modern way the Clinton/Gore administration deals with communications.

“Internet users will be a growing group of opinion-formers, and I can just imagine Tony Blair showing how he belongs to a new generation by signing up.”

Mr Blair had been elected Labour leader the previous month, following the sudden death of John Smith in May.

But the concerns about him were unfounded, as Mr Blair was notoriously known as a technophobe who was once described by former spokesman Alastair Campbell as a “pen and paper man”.

Mr Allan responded to the inquiry by agreeing that getting online would show “that Number 10 is keeping up with technological trends”.

However, he was concerned about advertising for the public to send emails to the PM, which the White House was doing at the time.

Mr Allan said: “I am sure we should offer this in time, but I am cautious about rushing into it.

I do not believe we would get a huge volume of email in the long run, but we could expect an initial flood as people around the world tried it out for fun

The Prime Minister's private secretary Alex Allan

“I do not believe we would get a huge volume of email in the long run, but we could expect an initial flood as people around the world tried it out for fun.”

There were only about 10,000 websites in 1994 and it was the year the first commercial web broswer, Netscape Navigator, was launched.

The letter emerged as part of today's release of government files by the National Archives.

Mr Green lost his cabinet position in December 2017 after he admitted lying over pornography on his office computer.

Progress in communications appears to have been sluggish in the administration, with the files also showing that by late 1992 Number 10 did not even have a direct fax machine line.

On November 19, Mr Allan wrote a memo asking about the installation of a “direct fax line” into Downing Street.

He wrote: “I have to say that I do think a direct fax line would be sensible.

“We must be the only office in the public or private sector who does not have one, so I do not believe that the security problems of people misdirecting faxes would be significantly increased.”

Additional reporting by the Press Association

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in