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{{short description|English peace campaigner}}
{{short description|English peace campaigner (born c. 1934)}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Michael Randle
| name = Michael Randle
| image = Bertrand Russell leads anti-nuclear march in London, Feb 1961.jpg
| image =
| caption = Randle (second from left) with [[Bertrand Russell]] (centre) leading an anti-nuclear march in London, February 1961
| caption = Randle (second from left) with [[Bertrand Russell]] (centre) leading an anti-nuclear march in London, February 1961
| birth_date = c. {{birth year and age|1934}}
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1933}}
| birth_place = [[England]]
| birth_place = [[England]]
| alma_mater = [[University of London]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br />[[University of Bradford]] ([[Master of Philosophy|MPhil]], [[PhD]])
| alma_mater = [[University of London]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br />[[University of Bradford]] ([[Master of Philosophy|MPhil]], [[PhD]])
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}}
}}


'''Michael Randle''' (born c. 1934) is an English peace campaigner and researcher known for his involvement in nonviolent direct action in Britain and also for his role in helping the Soviet spy [[George Blake]] escape from a British prison.
'''Michael Randle''' (born 1933) is an English peace campaigner and researcher known for his involvement in nonviolent direct action in Britain and also for his role in helping the Soviet spy [[George Blake]] escape from a British prison.


==Early life==
==Early life==
{{Unsourced|section|date=January 2023}}
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=January 2023}}
Born in England, Randle spent [[World War II]] with relatives in [[Ireland]]. He became active in the peace movement since registering as a [[conscientious objector]] to military service in 1951. He earned a bachelor's degree in English from the [[University of London]] (1966), a M.Phil. in peace studies from the [[University of Bradford]] 1981 and a Ph.D. in peace studies in 1994, also from the University of Bradford.
Born in England, Randle spent [[World War II]] with relatives in [[Ireland]]. He became active in the peace movement since registering as a [[conscientious objector]] to military service in 1951. He earned a bachelor's degree in English from the [[University of London]] (1966), a M.Phil. in peace studies from the [[University of Bradford]] 1981 and a Ph.D. in peace studies in 1994, also from the University of Bradford.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Michael Randle - Special Collections |url=https://www.bradford.ac.uk/library/special-collections/our-collections/papers-of-michael-randle/ |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=University of Bradford |language=en}}</ref>


== Career ==
== Career ==
Randle was a member of the [[Aldermaston Marches|Aldermaston March]] committee which organised the first Aldermaston March against British nuclear weapons at Easter 1958.
Randle was a member of the [[Aldermaston Marches|Aldermaston March]] committee which organised the first Aldermaston March against British nuclear weapons at Easter 1958.<ref name=":0" />


He was chairman of the [[Direct Action Committee|Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War]] from 1958 to 1961, secretary of the [[Committee of 100 (United Kingdom)|Committee of 100]] from 1960 to 1961 and a council and executive member of [[War Resisters' International]] from 1960 to 1988.
He was chairman of the [[Direct Action Committee|Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War]] from 1958 to 1961, secretary of the [[Committee of 100 (United Kingdom)|Committee of 100]] from 1960 to 1961 and a council and executive member of [[War Resisters' International]] from 1960 to 1987.<ref name=":0" />


In 1959 and 1960, he spent a year in [[Ghana]], participating in the Sahara Protest Team against French atomic bomb tests in the Algerian Sahara and helping to organise a pan-African conference in Accra which took place in April 1960. In 1962, he was sentenced, along with five other members of the Committee of 100, to 18 months' imprisonment for his part in organising nonviolent direct action at a [[RAF Wethersfield|USAF Wethersfield]] in [[Essex]]; it was while he was serving that sentence that his first son, Sean, was born. In October 1967, he was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment for participating in an occupation of the Greek Embassy in London following the Colonels' coup in April that year.
In 1959 and 1960, he spent a year in [[Ghana]], participating in the Sahara Protest Team against French atomic bomb tests in the Algerian Sahara and helping to organise a pan-African conference in Accra<ref name=":0" /> which took place in April 1960. In 1962, he was sentenced, along with five other members of the Committee of 100, to 18 months' imprisonment for his part in organising nonviolent direct action at a [[RAF Wethersfield|USAF Wethersfield]] in [[Essex]];<ref name=":0" /> it was while he was serving that sentence that his first son, Sean, was born. In October 1967, he was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment for participating in an occupation of the Greek Embassy in London following the Colonels' coup in April that year.<ref name=":0" />


=== George Blake escape ===
=== George Blake escape ===
During his time in [[HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs|Wormwood Scrubs prison]] in 1962 and 1963, Randle became friends with [[George Blake]], the British [[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]] agent sentenced in 1961 to 42 years imprisonment for passing information to the Soviet Union. His outrage at the sentence imposed on Blake led him and two others, [[Pat Pottle]] and [[Sean Bourke]], to assist Blake to escape from prison in October 1966.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1368749/Patrick-Pottle.html |title=Patrick Pottle (obituary) |date=4 October 2000 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226143724/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1368749/Patrick-Pottle.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Norton-Taylor |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Norton-Taylor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/03/guardianobituaries.richardnortontaylor |title=Pat Pottle |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |date=3 October 2000 |access-date=16 December 2016 |archive-date=8 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108094824/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/03/guardianobituaries.richardnortontaylor |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200010090010 |title=A jailbreak out of an Ealing comedy |first=Nick |last=Cohen |authorlink=Nick Cohen |magazine=[[New Statesman]] |location=London |date=9 October 2000 |access-date=24 October 2009 |archive-date=10 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090610024034/http://www.newstatesman.com/200010090010 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Michael Randle and Pat Pottle, ''The Blake Escape: How We Freed George Blake - and Why'', {{ISBN|0-245-54781-9}}, 1989</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://camdennewjournal.co.uk/archive/r290503_7.htm |title=Forget the train robbers, this was the great escape |first=Illtyd |last=Harrington |author-link=Illtyd Harrington |newspaper=[[Camden New Journal]] |location=London |date=29 May 2003 |access-date=24 October 2009 |archive-date=22 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122135313/http://camdennewjournal.co.uk/archive/r290503_7.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Kevin |last=O’Connor |title=Blake and Bourke and The End of Empires |isbn=0-9535697-3-X |date=2003}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Hansard |house=[[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] |title=Extradition (Irish Republic) |url=http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1982/jul/30/extradition-irish-republic |date=30 July 1982 |column_start=1481|column_end=1490}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Springing of George Blake |first=Sean |last=Bourke |authorlink=Sean Bourke |isbn=0-304-93590-5 |date=1970}}</ref>
During his time in [[HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs|Wormwood Scrubs prison]] in 1962 and 1963, Randle became friends with [[George Blake]], the British [[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]] agent sentenced in 1961 to 42 years imprisonment for passing information to the Soviet Union. His outrage at the sentence imposed on Blake led him and two others, [[Pat Pottle]] and [[Sean Bourke]], to assist Blake to escape from prison in October 1966.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1368749/Patrick-Pottle.html |title=Patrick Pottle (obituary) |date=4 October 2000 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |location=London |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226143724/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1368749/Patrick-Pottle.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Norton-Taylor |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Norton-Taylor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/03/guardianobituaries.richardnortontaylor |title=Pat Pottle |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |date=3 October 2000 |access-date=16 December 2016 |archive-date=8 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108094824/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/03/guardianobituaries.richardnortontaylor |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200010090010 |title=A jailbreak out of an Ealing comedy |first=Nick |last=Cohen |authorlink=Nick Cohen |magazine=[[New Statesman]] |location=London |date=9 October 2000 |access-date=24 October 2009 |archive-date=10 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090610024034/http://www.newstatesman.com/200010090010 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Michael Randle and Pat Pottle, ''The Blake Escape: How We Freed George Blake - and Why'', {{ISBN|0-245-54781-9}}, 1989</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://camdennewjournal.co.uk/archive/r290503_7.htm |title=Forget the train robbers, this was the great escape |first=Illtyd |last=Harrington |author-link=Illtyd Harrington |newspaper=[[Camden New Journal]] |location=London |date=29 May 2003 |access-date=24 October 2009 |archive-date=22 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122135313/http://camdennewjournal.co.uk/archive/r290503_7.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Kevin |last=O’Connor |title=Blake and Bourke and The End of Empires |isbn=0-9535697-3-X |date=2003}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Hansard |house=[[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] |title=Extradition (Irish Republic) |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1982/jul/30/extradition-irish-republic |date=30 July 1982 |column_start=1481|column_end=1490}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Springing of George Blake |first=Sean |last=Bourke |authorlink=Sean Bourke |isbn=0-304-93590-5 |date=1970}}</ref>


Blake then stayed at "safe" houses around London, which were mostly friends of Randle and Pottle. The two wrote that they got Blake out of the area, first to Dover, hidden in a camper van, and then to a checkpoint in East Germany. Randle's children were sitting on the seat above Blake's hiding place to put off any customs officers who might look into the van.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.eco-action.org/dod/no10/blake.htm |title=The Blake Escape |date= |pages=296–298 |magazine=Do or Die: Voices from the Ecological Resistance |issue=10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050214122912/http://www.eco-action.org/dod/no10/blake.htm |archive-date=14 February 2005}}</ref> From there, Blake was able to get to the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/22/no-regrets-says-man-who-aided-double-agent-george-blake-to-escape |title='No regrets' says man who aided double agent George Blake to escape |date=22 October 2016 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=15 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201215011038/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/22/no-regrets-says-man-who-aided-double-agent-george-blake-to-escape |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/26/george-blake-obituary |title=George Blake obituary |date=26 December 2020 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190156/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/26/george-blake-obituary |url-status=live }}</ref>
Blake then stayed at "safe" houses around London, which were mostly friends of Randle and Pottle. The two wrote that they got Blake out of the area, first to [[Dover]], hidden in a camper van, and then to a checkpoint in East Germany. Randle's children were sitting on the seat above Blake's hiding place to put off any customs officers who might look into the van.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.eco-action.org/dod/no10/blake.htm |title=The Blake Escape |date= |pages=296–298 |magazine=Do or Die: Voices from the Ecological Resistance |issue=10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050214122912/http://www.eco-action.org/dod/no10/blake.htm |archive-date=14 February 2005}}</ref> From there, Blake was able to get to the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/22/no-regrets-says-man-who-aided-double-agent-george-blake-to-escape |title='No regrets' says man who aided double agent George Blake to escape |date=22 October 2016 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|first=Richard |last=Norton-Taylor|author-link=Richard Norton-Taylor |location=London |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=15 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201215011038/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/oct/22/no-regrets-says-man-who-aided-double-agent-george-blake-to-escape |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/26/george-blake-obituary |title=George Blake obituary |date=26 December 2020 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=29 December 2020 |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190156/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/26/george-blake-obituary |url-status=live }}</ref>


The admission of their involvement in the escape came in 1989, after the publication of a book about Blake by Montgomery Hyde (''George Blake, Superspy''; {{ISBN|0708839924}}). Pottle and Randle subsequently published a book admitting their involvement, titled ''The Blake Escape''.<ref>{{cite book |isbn=0-245-54781-9 |title=The Blake Escape: How We Freed George Blake and why |last1=Randle |first1=Michael |last2=Pottle |first2=Pat |location=London |publisher=Harrap |year=1989}}</ref> Pottle later made this comment: "We didn't want needlessly to invite prosecution, but there were stories naming others who weren't involved, accusing us of being communist agents, trying to discredit the anti-nuclear campaign".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/03/guardianobituaries.richardnortontaylor |title=Pat Pottle |date=3 October 2000 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |access-date=30 December 2020 |archive-date=30 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230073723/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/03/guardianobituaries.richardnortontaylor |url-status=live }}</ref>
The admission of their involvement in the escape came in 1989, after the publication of a book about Blake by [[Montgomery Hyde]] (''George Blake, Superspy''; {{ISBN|0708839924}}). Pottle and Randle subsequently published a book admitting their involvement, titled ''The Blake Escape''.<ref>{{cite book |isbn=0-245-54781-9 |title=The Blake Escape: How We Freed George Blake and why |last1=Randle |first1=Michael |last2=Pottle |first2=Pat |location=London |publisher=Harrap |year=1989}}</ref> Pottle later made this comment: "We didn't want needlessly to invite prosecution, but there were stories naming others who weren't involved, accusing us of being communist agents, trying to discredit the anti-nuclear campaign".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/03/guardianobituaries.richardnortontaylor |title=Pat Pottle |date=3 October 2000 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=30 December 2020 |archive-date=30 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230073723/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/03/guardianobituaries.richardnortontaylor |url-status=live }}</ref>


They were subsequently arrested, and in June 1991, Randle and Pottle stood trial at the [[Old Bailey]] for their part in the escape. They defended themselves in court, arguing that, while they in no way condoned Blake's espionage activities for either side, they were right to help him because the 42 year sentence that was imposed was inhuman and hypocritical. According to Randle, the judge disallowed their defence on the grounds that neither Blake's life nor mental stability was under immediate threat. He passed over the submission of the defendants that though the threat to Blake's well-being was not imminent it would inevitably have occurred unless they had seized the opportunity to help free him before prison security was tightened. Despite the judge's ruling, the jury acquitted them on all counts - an act known as [[jury nullification]] in which a jury uses its absolute discretion to find as it sees fit.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://ldmg.org.uk/files/how_to_defend_yourself_in_court.pdf |title=How to defend yourself in court |first=Michael |last=Randle |date=1995 |isbn=9780900137419 |publisher=[[Liberty (advocacy group)|The Civil Liberties Trust]] |via=Legal Defense and Monitoring Group |access-date=5 February 2021|archive-date=13 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213022721/http://ldmg.org.uk/files/how_to_defend_yourself_in_court.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/03/guardianobituaries.richardnortontaylor |title=Pat Pottle: Anti-war campaigner who helped spring Soviet spy George Blake from jail |first=Richard |last=Norton-Taylor |author-link=Richard Norton-Taylor |date=3 October 2000 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |access-date=28 December 2020 |quote=insisted that their action was morally justified, and, ignoring a clear direction from the judge to convict, the jury unanimously acquitted them.) |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190218/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/03/guardianobituaries.richardnortontaylor |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://sentencingcrimeandjustice.wordpress.com/2020/12/29/george-blake-1922-2020-and-our-part-in-his-escape | title=George Blake (1922-2020) – and our part in his escape | date=29 December 2020 }}</ref> Randle later told an interviewer that "there are some circumstances in which it is right to break the letter of the law, a point acknowledged by the legal defence of necessity".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.commonwealnonviolence.org/blog/7-decades-of-nonviolence-activism-introducing-trustee-michael-randle-part-2 |title=7 decades of nonviolence activism: Introducing Trustee Michael Randle PART 2 |date=19 May 2018 |publisher=Commonwealth Non Violence |access-date=30 December 2020 |archive-date=23 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123083040/https://www.commonwealnonviolence.org/blog/7-decades-of-nonviolence-activism-introducing-trustee-michael-randle-part-2 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://opcglobalnewsandmedia.com/2020/12/escape-from-wormwood-scrubs-the-true-story-of-spy-george-blake-by-giovanni-di-stefano/ |title=Escape from Wormwood Scrubs: The True Story Of 'Spy' George Blake by Giovanni Di Stefano |date=27 December 2000 |publisher=OPC Global News |access-date=29 December 2020 |quote=) |archive-date=27 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227130432/https://opcglobalnewsandmedia.com/2020/12/escape-from-wormwood-scrubs-the-true-story-of-spy-george-blake-by-giovanni-di-stefano/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Bourke was never charged since he lived in the [[Republic of Ireland]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Root |first=Neil |date=11 October 2011 |title=Twentieth-Century Spies |isbn=9780857653314 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0XTYDAAAQBAJ&q=sean+bourke+not+charged+ireland+refused+to+extradiet&pg=PT147 |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=15 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515012907/https://books.google.com/books?id=0XTYDAAAQBAJ&q=sean+bourke+not+charged+ireland+refused+to+extradiet&pg=PT147 |url-status=live }}</ref>
They were subsequently arrested, and in June 1991, Randle and Pottle stood trial at the [[Old Bailey]] for their part in the escape. They defended themselves in court, arguing that, while they in no way condoned Blake's espionage activities for either side, they were right to help him because the 42 year sentence that was imposed was inhuman and hypocritical. According to Randle, the judge disallowed their defence on the grounds that neither Blake's life nor mental stability was under immediate threat. He passed over the submission of the defendants that though the threat to Blake's well-being was not imminent it would inevitably have occurred unless they had seized the opportunity to help free him before prison security was tightened. Despite the judge's ruling, the jury acquitted them on all counts - an act known as [[jury nullification]] in which a jury uses its absolute discretion to find as it sees fit.<ref>{{cite book |last=Randle |first=Michael |url=https://greenandblackcross.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/how_to_defend_yourself_in_court_v1.02.pdf |title=How to defend yourself in court |date=1995 |publisher=[[Liberty (advocacy group)|The Civil Liberties Trust]] |isbn=9780900137419 |access-date=5 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213022721/http://ldmg.org.uk/files/how_to_defend_yourself_in_court.pdf |archive-date=13 February 2021 |url-status=live |via=Legal Defense and Monitoring Group & Green And Black Cross}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/03/guardianobituaries.richardnortontaylor |title=Pat Pottle: Anti-war campaigner who helped spring Soviet spy George Blake from jail |first=Richard |last=Norton-Taylor |date=3 October 2000 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=28 December 2020 |quote=insisted that their action was morally justified, and, ignoring a clear direction from the judge to convict, the jury unanimously acquitted them.) |archive-date=26 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201226190218/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/oct/03/guardianobituaries.richardnortontaylor |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://sentencingcrimeandjustice.wordpress.com/2020/12/29/george-blake-1922-2020-and-our-part-in-his-escape | title=George Blake (1922-2020) – and our part in his escape | date=29 December 2020 }}</ref> Randle later told an interviewer that "there are some circumstances in which it is right to break the letter of the law, a point acknowledged by the legal defence of necessity".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.commonwealnonviolence.org/blog/7-decades-of-nonviolence-activism-introducing-trustee-michael-randle-part-2 |title=7 decades of nonviolence activism: Introducing Trustee Michael Randle PART 2 |date=19 May 2018 |publisher=Commonwealth Non Violence |access-date=30 December 2020 |archive-date=23 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123083040/https://www.commonwealnonviolence.org/blog/7-decades-of-nonviolence-activism-introducing-trustee-michael-randle-part-2 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://opcglobalnewsandmedia.com/2020/12/escape-from-wormwood-scrubs-the-true-story-of-spy-george-blake-by-giovanni-di-stefano/ |title=Escape from Wormwood Scrubs: The True Story Of 'Spy' George Blake by Giovanni Di Stefano |date=27 December 2000 |publisher=OPC Global News |access-date=29 December 2020 |quote=) |archive-date=27 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227130432/https://opcglobalnewsandmedia.com/2020/12/escape-from-wormwood-scrubs-the-true-story-of-spy-george-blake-by-giovanni-di-stefano/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Bourke was never charged since he lived in the [[Republic of Ireland]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Root |first=Neil |date=11 October 2011 |title=Twentieth-Century Spies |isbn=9780857653314|publisher=Summersdale |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0XTYDAAAQBAJ&q=sean+bourke+not+charged+ireland+refused+to+extradiet&pg=PT147 |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=15 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515012907/https://books.google.com/books?id=0XTYDAAAQBAJ&q=sean+bourke+not+charged+ireland+refused+to+extradiet&pg=PT147 |url-status=live }}</ref>


=== Activism ===
=== Activism ===
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In 1956, he walked from Vienna to Hungary, hoping to reach [[Budapest]] to support Hungarian passive resistance to the Soviet occupation; he was not allowed to enter Hungary. According to a Jisc article, "In 1968, he jointly co-ordinated for [[War Resisters' International]] protests in Moscow, Budapest, Sofia and Warsaw against the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. In the 1970s and 1980s, he collaborated with the Czech dissident [[Jan Kavan]], then living in London, smuggling literature and equipment to the democratic opposition in Czechoslovakia."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/58754d8d-b353-34bd-8564-fed4ac46de03 |title=Papers of Michael Randle (b.1933) |date=10 June 2010 |publisher=Jisc University of Bradford Special Collections |access-date=30 December 2020|quote=)}}</ref>
In 1956, he walked from Vienna to Hungary, hoping to reach [[Budapest]] to support Hungarian passive resistance to the Soviet occupation; he was not allowed to enter Hungary. According to a Jisc article, "In 1968, he jointly co-ordinated for [[War Resisters' International]] protests in Moscow, Budapest, Sofia and Warsaw against the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. In the 1970s and 1980s, he collaborated with the Czech dissident [[Jan Kavan]], then living in London, smuggling literature and equipment to the democratic opposition in Czechoslovakia."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/58754d8d-b353-34bd-8564-fed4ac46de03 |title=Papers of Michael Randle (b.1933) |date=10 June 2010 |publisher=Jisc University of Bradford Special Collections |access-date=30 December 2020|quote=)}}</ref>


From 1980 to 1987, he was coordinator of the [[Alternative Defence Commission]], contributing to its publications, ''Defence Without the Bomb'' (Taylor and Francis, 1983) and ''The Politics of Alternative Defence'' (Paladin 1987). He has contributed articles and reviews to ''[[Peace News]]'', ''[[New Society]]'', ''[[The Guardian]]'' and other newspapers and journals. He is also the author of several books including ''The Blake Escape: How we Freed George Blake - and Why''<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9849906-the-blake-escape |title=The Blake Escape: How we Freed George Blake - and Why |isbn=9780245547812 |access-date=27 December 2020|last1=Randle |first1=Michael |last2=Pottle |first2=Pat |year=1989 }}</ref> and ''Alternatives in European Security''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Alternatives in European Security |publisher=Dartmouth Publishing Group |date=1990 |isbn=9781855210509}}</ref>
From 1980 to 1987, he was coordinator of the [[Alternative Defence Commission]], contributing to its publications, ''Defence Without the Bomb'' (Taylor and Francis, 1983) and ''The Politics of Alternative Defence'' (Paladin 1987). He has contributed articles and reviews to ''[[Peace News]]'', ''[[New Society]]'', ''[[The Guardian]]'' and other newspapers and journals. He is also the author of several books including ''The Blake Escape: How we Freed George Blake - and Why''<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9849906-the-blake-escape |title=The Blake Escape: How we Freed George Blake - and Why |isbn=9780245547812 |access-date=27 December 2020|last1=Randle |first1=Michael |last2=Pottle |first2=Pat |year=1989 }}</ref> and ''Alternatives in European Security''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Alternatives in European Security |publisher=Dartmouth Publishing Group |date=1990 |isbn=9781855210509}}</ref>


From 1988 to 1990, he was coordinator of the Bradford-based Social Defence Project and later coordinated the Nonviolent Action Research Project, also based in Bradford, the proceedings of which were edited into a book ''Challenge to Nonviolence''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Challenge to Nonviolence |publisher=[[Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford]] |date=1992 |url=http://civilresistance.info/challenge |via=civilresistance.info |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=12 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112155642/http://www.civilresistance.info/challenge |url-status=live }}</ref> He remains an honorary visiting research fellow at the Department of Peace Studies, Bradford University. In 2005, he co-edited with [[April Carter]] and [[Howard Clark (pacifist)|Howard Clark]], ''People Power and Protest since 1945: a bibliography on nonviolent action''.<ref>{{cite book |title=People Power and Protest since 1945: a bibliography on nonviolent action |year=2006 |publisher=Housmans |isbn=0852832621 |url=https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/resource/people-power-and-protest-since-1945-a-bibliography-of-nonviolent-action/ |via=www.nonviolent-conflict.org |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=19 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219172213/https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/resource/people-power-and-protest-since-1945-a-bibliography-of-nonviolent-action/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
From 1988 to 1990, he was coordinator of the Bradford-based Social Defence Project and later coordinated the Nonviolent Action Research Project, also based in Bradford, the proceedings of which were edited into a book ''Challenge to Nonviolence''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Challenge to Nonviolence |publisher=[[Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford]] |date=1992 |url=http://civilresistance.info/challenge |via=civilresistance.info |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=12 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112155642/http://www.civilresistance.info/challenge |url-status=live }}</ref> He remains an honorary visiting research fellow at the Department of Peace Studies, [[Bradford University]]. In 2005, with [[April Carter]] and [[Howard Clark (pacifist)|Howard Clark]], he co-edited ''People Power and Protest since 1945: a bibliography on nonviolent action''.<ref>{{cite book |title=People Power and Protest since 1945: a bibliography on nonviolent action |year=2006 |publisher=Housmans |isbn=0852832621 |url=https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/resource/people-power-and-protest-since-1945-a-bibliography-of-nonviolent-action/ |via=www.nonviolent-conflict.org |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=19 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210219172213/https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/resource/people-power-and-protest-since-1945-a-bibliography-of-nonviolent-action/ |url-status=live }}</ref>


In March 2003, Randle made an extended appearance on the television discussion programme ''[[After Dark (TV series)|After Dark]]'', alongside [[David Hannay, Baron Hannay of Chiswick|Lord Hannay]], [[Alice Nutter (musician)|Alice Nutter]], [[Ruth Wedgwood]], [[Kenneth O'Keefe|Ken O'Keefe]] and others.<ref>[[List of After Dark editions#BBC Four series|''After Dark'', BBC4 series]], accessed 21 July 2014.</ref>
In March 2003, Randle made an extended appearance on the television discussion programme ''[[After Dark (TV series)|After Dark]]'', alongside [[David Hannay, Baron Hannay of Chiswick|Lord Hannay]], [[Alice Nutter (musician)|Alice Nutter]], [[Ruth Wedgwood]], [[Kenneth O'Keefe|Ken O'Keefe]] and others.<ref>[[List of After Dark editions#BBC Four series|''After Dark'', BBC4 series]], accessed 21 July 2014.</ref>


Randle served as the minutes secretary and bulletin editor of the Committee for Conflict Transformation Support from 1992 to 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://c-r.org/ccts |title=The Evolution of the Committee for Conflict Transformation Support (CCTS), 1992-2006 Online archive |website=c-r.org/ccts |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=30 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091130045544/http://www.c-r.org/ccts/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He is a long-serving trustee of the Commonweal Collection at the [[J. B. Priestley|J.B. Priestley]] Library at Bradford University. As of 2018, he was the Chair of the Commonweal Trustees, a group that "supports ordinary people who work for a nonviolent world".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.commonwealnonviolence.org/blog/7-decades-of-nonviolence-activism-introducing-trustee-michael-randle-part-2 |title=7 decades of nonviolence activism: Introducing Trustee Michael Randle PART 2 |date=19 May 2018 |publisher=Commonwealth Non Violence |access-date=30 December 2020 |quote=) |archive-date=23 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123083040/https://www.commonwealnonviolence.org/blog/7-decades-of-nonviolence-activism-introducing-trustee-michael-randle-part-2 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Randle served as the minutes secretary and bulletin editor of the Committee for Conflict Transformation Support from 1992 to 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://c-r.org/ccts |title=The Evolution of the Committee for Conflict Transformation Support (CCTS), 1992-2006 Online archive |website=c-r.org/ccts |access-date=27 December 2020 |archive-date=30 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091130045544/http://www.c-r.org/ccts/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He is a long-serving trustee of the Commonweal Collection at the [[J. B. Priestley|J.B. Priestley]] Library at Bradford University. As of 2018, he was the Chair of the Commonweal Trustees, a group that "supports ordinary people who work for a nonviolent world".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.commonwealnonviolence.org/blog/7-decades-of-nonviolence-activism-introducing-trustee-michael-randle-part-2 |title=7 decades of nonviolence activism: Introducing Trustee Michael Randle PART 2 |date=19 May 2018 |publisher=Commonweal |website=commonwealnonviolence.org |access-date=30 December 2020 |quote=) |archive-date=23 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123083040/https://www.commonwealnonviolence.org/blog/7-decades-of-nonviolence-activism-introducing-trustee-michael-randle-part-2 |url-status=live }}</ref>


==Personal life==
==Personal life==
He married his wife, Anne, in 1962. They have two sons, Sean and Gavin, and grandchildren.{{cn|date=January 2023}}
He married his wife, Anne, in 1962. They have two sons.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}


==See also==
==See also==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Randle, Michael}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Randle, Michael}}
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of London]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Bradford]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Bradford]]
[[Category:English pacifists]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of London]]
[[Category:British conscientious objectors]]
[[Category:Nonviolence advocates]]
[[Category:British anti–nuclear weapons activists]]
[[Category:British anti–nuclear weapons activists]]
[[Category:British conscientious objectors]]
[[Category:English anti-war activists]]
[[Category:English pacifists]]
[[Category:British nonviolence advocates]]

Latest revision as of 14:17, 28 June 2024

Michael Randle
Born1933 (age 90–91)
Alma materUniversity of London (BA)
University of Bradford (MPhil, PhD)
Spouse
Anne Randle
(m. 1962)
Children2

Michael Randle (born 1933) is an English peace campaigner and researcher known for his involvement in nonviolent direct action in Britain and also for his role in helping the Soviet spy George Blake escape from a British prison.

Early life

[edit]

Born in England, Randle spent World War II with relatives in Ireland. He became active in the peace movement since registering as a conscientious objector to military service in 1951. He earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of London (1966), a M.Phil. in peace studies from the University of Bradford 1981 and a Ph.D. in peace studies in 1994, also from the University of Bradford.[1]

Career

[edit]

Randle was a member of the Aldermaston March committee which organised the first Aldermaston March against British nuclear weapons at Easter 1958.[1]

He was chairman of the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War from 1958 to 1961, secretary of the Committee of 100 from 1960 to 1961 and a council and executive member of War Resisters' International from 1960 to 1987.[1]

In 1959 and 1960, he spent a year in Ghana, participating in the Sahara Protest Team against French atomic bomb tests in the Algerian Sahara and helping to organise a pan-African conference in Accra[1] which took place in April 1960. In 1962, he was sentenced, along with five other members of the Committee of 100, to 18 months' imprisonment for his part in organising nonviolent direct action at a USAF Wethersfield in Essex;[1] it was while he was serving that sentence that his first son, Sean, was born. In October 1967, he was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment for participating in an occupation of the Greek Embassy in London following the Colonels' coup in April that year.[1]

George Blake escape

[edit]

During his time in Wormwood Scrubs prison in 1962 and 1963, Randle became friends with George Blake, the British MI6 agent sentenced in 1961 to 42 years imprisonment for passing information to the Soviet Union. His outrage at the sentence imposed on Blake led him and two others, Pat Pottle and Sean Bourke, to assist Blake to escape from prison in October 1966.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

Blake then stayed at "safe" houses around London, which were mostly friends of Randle and Pottle. The two wrote that they got Blake out of the area, first to Dover, hidden in a camper van, and then to a checkpoint in East Germany. Randle's children were sitting on the seat above Blake's hiding place to put off any customs officers who might look into the van.[10] From there, Blake was able to get to the Soviet Union.[11][12]

The admission of their involvement in the escape came in 1989, after the publication of a book about Blake by Montgomery Hyde (George Blake, Superspy; ISBN 0708839924). Pottle and Randle subsequently published a book admitting their involvement, titled The Blake Escape.[13] Pottle later made this comment: "We didn't want needlessly to invite prosecution, but there were stories naming others who weren't involved, accusing us of being communist agents, trying to discredit the anti-nuclear campaign".[14]

They were subsequently arrested, and in June 1991, Randle and Pottle stood trial at the Old Bailey for their part in the escape. They defended themselves in court, arguing that, while they in no way condoned Blake's espionage activities for either side, they were right to help him because the 42 year sentence that was imposed was inhuman and hypocritical. According to Randle, the judge disallowed their defence on the grounds that neither Blake's life nor mental stability was under immediate threat. He passed over the submission of the defendants that though the threat to Blake's well-being was not imminent it would inevitably have occurred unless they had seized the opportunity to help free him before prison security was tightened. Despite the judge's ruling, the jury acquitted them on all counts - an act known as jury nullification in which a jury uses its absolute discretion to find as it sees fit.[15][16][17] Randle later told an interviewer that "there are some circumstances in which it is right to break the letter of the law, a point acknowledged by the legal defence of necessity".[18][19] Bourke was never charged since he lived in the Republic of Ireland.[20]

Activism

[edit]

Randle has a long history of anti-violence, having registered as a conscientious objector to military service in 1951 and joining Operation Gandhi (Non Violent Resistance Group) in 1952. According to the University of Bradford, he was "chairman of the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War, 1958-1961; secretary of the Committee of 100, 1960-1961; and a council and executive member of War Resisters’ International, 1960-1987" and has a PhD in Peace Studies (Bradford, 1994).[21]

In 1956, he walked from Vienna to Hungary, hoping to reach Budapest to support Hungarian passive resistance to the Soviet occupation; he was not allowed to enter Hungary. According to a Jisc article, "In 1968, he jointly co-ordinated for War Resisters' International protests in Moscow, Budapest, Sofia and Warsaw against the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. In the 1970s and 1980s, he collaborated with the Czech dissident Jan Kavan, then living in London, smuggling literature and equipment to the democratic opposition in Czechoslovakia."[22]

From 1980 to 1987, he was coordinator of the Alternative Defence Commission, contributing to its publications, Defence Without the Bomb (Taylor and Francis, 1983) and The Politics of Alternative Defence (Paladin 1987). He has contributed articles and reviews to Peace News, New Society, The Guardian and other newspapers and journals. He is also the author of several books including The Blake Escape: How we Freed George Blake - and Why[23] and Alternatives in European Security.[24]

From 1988 to 1990, he was coordinator of the Bradford-based Social Defence Project and later coordinated the Nonviolent Action Research Project, also based in Bradford, the proceedings of which were edited into a book Challenge to Nonviolence.[25] He remains an honorary visiting research fellow at the Department of Peace Studies, Bradford University. In 2005, with April Carter and Howard Clark, he co-edited People Power and Protest since 1945: a bibliography on nonviolent action.[26]

In March 2003, Randle made an extended appearance on the television discussion programme After Dark, alongside Lord Hannay, Alice Nutter, Ruth Wedgwood, Ken O'Keefe and others.[27]

Randle served as the minutes secretary and bulletin editor of the Committee for Conflict Transformation Support from 1992 to 2009.[28] He is a long-serving trustee of the Commonweal Collection at the J.B. Priestley Library at Bradford University. As of 2018, he was the Chair of the Commonweal Trustees, a group that "supports ordinary people who work for a nonviolent world".[29]

Personal life

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He married his wife, Anne, in 1962. They have two sons.[citation needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Michael Randle - Special Collections". University of Bradford. Retrieved 2023-11-11.
  2. ^ "Patrick Pottle (obituary)". The Daily Telegraph. London. 4 October 2000. Archived from the original on 26 December 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  3. ^ Norton-Taylor, Richard (3 October 2000). "Pat Pottle". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  4. ^ Cohen, Nick (9 October 2000). "A jailbreak out of an Ealing comedy". New Statesman. London. Archived from the original on 10 June 2009. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
  5. ^ Michael Randle and Pat Pottle, The Blake Escape: How We Freed George Blake - and Why, ISBN 0-245-54781-9, 1989
  6. ^ Harrington, Illtyd (29 May 2003). "Forget the train robbers, this was the great escape". Camden New Journal. London. Archived from the original on 22 November 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
  7. ^ O’Connor, Kevin (2003). Blake and Bourke and The End of Empires. ISBN 0-9535697-3-X.
  8. ^ "Extradition (Irish Republic)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 30 July 1982. col. 1481–1490.
  9. ^ Bourke, Sean (1970). The Springing of George Blake. ISBN 0-304-93590-5.
  10. ^ "The Blake Escape". Do or Die: Voices from the Ecological Resistance. No. 10. pp. 296–298. Archived from the original on 14 February 2005.
  11. ^ Norton-Taylor, Richard (22 October 2016). "'No regrets' says man who aided double agent George Blake to escape". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  12. ^ "George Blake obituary". The Guardian. London. 26 December 2020. Archived from the original on 26 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  13. ^ Randle, Michael; Pottle, Pat (1989). The Blake Escape: How We Freed George Blake and why. London: Harrap. ISBN 0-245-54781-9.
  14. ^ "Pat Pottle". The Guardian. London. 3 October 2000. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  15. ^ Randle, Michael (1995). How to defend yourself in court (PDF). The Civil Liberties Trust. ISBN 9780900137419. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021 – via Legal Defense and Monitoring Group & Green And Black Cross.
  16. ^ Norton-Taylor, Richard (3 October 2000). "Pat Pottle: Anti-war campaigner who helped spring Soviet spy George Blake from jail". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 26 December 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020. insisted that their action was morally justified, and, ignoring a clear direction from the judge to convict, the jury unanimously acquitted them.)
  17. ^ "George Blake (1922-2020) – and our part in his escape". 29 December 2020.
  18. ^ "7 decades of nonviolence activism: Introducing Trustee Michael Randle PART 2". Commonwealth Non Violence. 19 May 2018. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  19. ^ "Escape from Wormwood Scrubs: The True Story Of 'Spy' George Blake by Giovanni Di Stefano". OPC Global News. 27 December 2000. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020. )
  20. ^ Root, Neil (11 October 2011). Twentieth-Century Spies. Summersdale. ISBN 9780857653314. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  21. ^ "Papers of Michael Randle". University of Bradford. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2020. This collection is dominated by files on the George Blake case and the prosecution of Michael Randle and Pat Pottle for their role in his escape from prison, 1989-1995)
  22. ^ "Papers of Michael Randle (b.1933)". Jisc University of Bradford Special Collections. 10 June 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2020. )
  23. ^ Randle, Michael; Pottle, Pat (1989). The Blake Escape: How we Freed George Blake - and Why. ISBN 9780245547812. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  24. ^ Alternatives in European Security. Dartmouth Publishing Group. 1990. ISBN 9781855210509.
  25. ^ "Challenge to Nonviolence". Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford. 1992. Archived from the original on 12 January 2010. Retrieved 27 December 2020 – via civilresistance.info.
  26. ^ People Power and Protest since 1945: a bibliography on nonviolent action. Housmans. 2006. ISBN 0852832621. Archived from the original on 19 February 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2020 – via www.nonviolent-conflict.org.
  27. ^ After Dark, BBC4 series, accessed 21 July 2014.
  28. ^ "The Evolution of the Committee for Conflict Transformation Support (CCTS), 1992-2006 Online archive". c-r.org/ccts. Archived from the original on 30 November 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  29. ^ "7 decades of nonviolence activism: Introducing Trustee Michael Randle PART 2". commonwealnonviolence.org. Commonweal. 19 May 2018. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2020. )
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