Clockwork Orange (plot) Clockwork Orange (plot) Clockwork Orange is the name of the secret British security services project which was alleged to have involved a right-wing smear campaign against British politicians from 1974 to 1975. The black propaganda led Prime Minister Harold Wilson to fear that the security services were preparing a "coup d'état". The operation takes its name from "A Clockwork Orange", a 1971 Stanley Kubrick film based on an Anthony Burgess novel of the same name. The project was undertaken by members of the British intelligence services and the British Army press office in Northern Ireland, whose job also included routine
A Clockwork Orange (novel) was coined by Burgess in the book, which includes the phrase "do the ultra-violent". The term's association with aesthetic violence has led to its use in the media. In 1976, "A Clockwork Orange" was removed from an Aurora, Colorado high school because of "objectionable language". A year later in 1977 it was removed from high school classrooms in Westport, Massachusetts over similar concerns with "objectionable" language. In 1982, it was removed from two Anniston, Alabama libraries, later to be reinstated on a restricted basis. Also, in 1973 a bookseller was arrested for selling the novel. The charges were later dropped.