Sir Anthony Nutting; Figure in Suez Canal Crisis

Sir Anthony Nutting, 79, who resigned from the British government in 1956 over its Suez Canal policy. Nutting was a Foreign Office minister in Sir Anthony Eden’s government when Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal in July 1956. Eden’s government secretly agreed with France and Israel on a plan to retake the canal. Under the arrangement, Israel attacked Egypt on Oct. 19, 1956, and Britain and France moved to seize the canal Nov. 5 on the pretext of separating the combatants. After the United States opposed the moves, Britain and France agreed to withdraw in favor of a United Nations peacekeeping force. Nutting resigned Oct. 31, 1956, saying he was not prepared to lie to defend the policy that ultimately shattered Eden’s career and forced his resignation the next January. Nutting, who also quit the House of Commons, described his side of the story in his 1967 book, “No End of a Lesson.” He inherited the title of baron when his father died in 1972. On Tuesday in London.