28th November 1988: BBC News reported news of a "major battle" between rebel Guards forces and loyalist troops from the Parachute Regiment in the area around the Catthorpe Interchange where the M6 motorway joins the M1.
26th November 1988: BBC News announced the suspension of Parliament and the creation of a Government of National Unity under Prime Minister Cranwell as Britain slid into civil war with elements of the Armed Forces attempting to seize control of centres of industry and other important resources from the Government. Cranwell appeals to the British public to remain calm and "report any incidents of insurrection or disloyalty to the Police of Security Services".
24th November 1988: BBC News announced that Habeas Corpus, allowing the Judiciary to order the detention of individuals without trial. The Home Office claimed that this extraordinary measure was "temporary and undertaken to ease the huge strains put on the legal system in the country arising out of the anti-establishmentarian factions bent on destroying the rule of law and democratic traditions of Great Britain".
21st November 1988: Prime Minister Cranwell announced to the nation on ITN News the intention of the Government to set up a Republic following the abdication of the Queen. He explained that the Government had found evidence of that "clearly implicated the Royal Family and members of the old Establishment in attempts to overthrow the elected Government of the country by illegal means". He added that following the abdication and the fact that the Prince of Wales actions in fleeing to the United States "clearly demonstrated his guilt" that it was impractical to have another Royal on the throne and that "a modern republic in a modern Europe was clearly the only sensible option open to the Government".
20th November 1988: The Queen abdicated following a series of meetings with Government officials including Prime Minister Cranwell rising out of the BBC siege and General's Mutiny. The involvement of the Royal Family in the opposition to the Cranwell government led to making the Queen's position untenable in the United Kingdom. Following the abdication she flies immediately to Washington D.C. where she met outgoing President Reagan.
17th November 1988: British troops storm the BBC Television Centre taking over news output and broadcasting a message from the Chief of General Staff calling on the British public to oust the Cranwell Government which is "denying individual liberty, attacking the Royal Family and putting the nation's security at risk". The Security Service attempted to jam the broadcast part way through distorting the picture and sound before eventually blocking the signal.
17th November 1988: BBC News reported to the nation that the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the Chief of Defence Staff and Chief of General Staff had been charged with being absent without leave and that the Military Police leading the investigation into their disappearance.
14th November 1988: BBC Breakfast News reports on a series of dawn raids carried out by the Security Service and Police arresting dissidents and "suspected enemies of the state" on the orders of the Home Office. The Government had become increasing concerned at the actions of certain right wing politicians and leading establishment figures including judges and senior members of the armed forces and took this pre-emptive action to prevent a coup d'etat.
13th November 1988: Whilst the "General's Mutiny" of 5th November was not universal, the Ministry of Defence acted swiftly to prevent a repeat by announcing that Military Policy officers, operating under the prefix Inspector before their standard rank, would be attached to Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy command units. In an interview with BBC News the Provost Marshal Brigadier stated that, "whilst such a move was unprecedented, it was important for the nation, for the public, to see that the Armed Forces were not above the rule of law or the country's civilian masters".
12th November 1988: Soviet President Gorbachev flies to the White House to sign a Non-Aggression Pact with the United States. In the surprise move, the Soviets agree to withdraw all their forces from Afghanistan by the end of February 1989 and the Americans to respect British neutrality and evacuate their UK bases by the end of 1988. Both leaders hailed this pact as the first step in improving relations between the two countries and "improving peace and stability across the globe".
8th November 1988: ITN reports increased dialogue between President Gorbachev and President Reagan over the "British Crisis". The Soviet President issued a series of vaguely veiled threats to the US on how the Soviet Union would react to any overt military action on British soil and demanded that the US respect British neutrality and evacuate its remaining bases in the UK.
8th November 1988: Prime Minister James Cranwell warned the British people against "enemies of the state, both within and without" in a television address on both BBC and ITN. The speech, in response to the increasing pressure from the United States over its UK bases, the "Generals' Mutiny" and alleged planned coup, set forth the Prime Minister's defiant line against the increasing pressure on his government and his promise that "undemocratic imperialist forces will not overturn the will of the British people".
7th November 1988: BBC Newsnight breaks the news that the Prince of Wales has been arrested on suspicion of treason. Police sources report that it is alleged that the Prince had been colluding with high ranking military figures to refuse the orders of the democratically elected government and to organise a coup to replace the Prime Minister. The Home Office confirmed that further arrests were "inevitable".
