没有政治谋杀、政治爆炸或政治暴力这回事。只有犯罪的谋杀、犯罪的爆炸和犯罪的暴力

 

1980年12月初，英国的外国情报局（MI6）悄悄恢复了与爱尔兰共和军的秘密联系，它得知爱尔兰共和军的一些领导人赞成结束罢工。

这一信息被传递给撒切尔。

虽然她不愿意与爱尔兰共和军直接对话，但她说，如果绝食结束，她准备向北爱尔兰的所有囚犯提供 "人道主义 "的优惠--例如在周末自由结社，在工作日穿 "便服"--无论是否是爱尔兰共和军。 [63]

12月18日，囚犯们取消了罢工，撒切尔政府正式宣布了新措施。

没有囚犯因罢工而死亡，撒切尔在压力下稳健的声誉也得到了提升。

 

When the UK’s foreign-intelligence service (MI6) quietly reactivated its secret link with the IRA in early December 1980, it learned that some IRA leaders favored an end to the strike. This information was passed to Thatcher. While she was not willing to speak with the IRA directly, she said that if the hunger strike ended, she was prepared to extend ‘humanitarian’ concessions – such as the freedom to associate on weekends and wear ‘civilian-type clothing’ during the workday – to all prisoners in Northern Ireland, whether IRA or not.[63]

On December 18, the prisoners called off their strike, and Thatcher’s government duly announced the new measures. No prisoners had died as a result of the strike, and Thatcher’s reputation for steadiness under pressure emerged enhanced.

 

但这种平静并没有持续下去。

1981年3月1日，26岁的爱尔兰共和军囚犯领袖博比-桑兹（Bobby Sands）宣布再次绝食，重申他们要求将爱尔兰共和军囚犯作为政治犯对待。

撒切尔不以为然。

3月5日，撒切尔在贝尔法斯特的一次演讲中说：

”没有政治谋杀、政治爆炸或政治暴力这回事，"他坚持说：

”只有犯罪的谋杀、犯罪的爆炸和犯罪的暴力。

我们不会在这一点上妥协。'[64]

战线已经划定。

 

But the calm was not to last. On March 1, 1981, Bobby Sands, the twenty-six-year-old leader of the Maze’s IRA prisoners, announced another hunger strike, reiterating their demand that IRA inmates be treated as political prisoners. Thatcher was unimpressed. ‘There is no such thing as political murder, political bombing, or political violence,’ Thatcher said in a speech in Belfast on March 5, insisting, ‘There is only criminal murder, criminal bombing and criminal violence. We will not compromise on this. There will be no political status.’[64]

The battle lines were drawn.