Editing Malcolm MacDonald (section)

=== Malayan Emergency and headhunting scandal ===
[[File:It has come to this! Stop this war! Page 1 of 2.png|thumb|The ''Daily Worker'' released an anti-colonial pamphlet in 1952 amid the British-Malayan headhunting scandal.]]
During the late 1940s and early 1950s, MacDonald suggested combining [[Sabah]], [[Sarawak]], Singapore, Brunei, and Malaya into a single region known as "Malaya Raya." He tried to push for this larger federation and had talks with influential people like Onn Jaafar, but the Borneo territories did not embrace the idea, therefore it did not take off. Right up to his relocation to India in 1955, MacDonald kept up his advocacy for the notion of Malaysia.{{Sfn|Yusoff|Mustafa|Wahid|Muda|2022|p=1670}} [[Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey|Lord Brassey]] had proposed in 1887 to unite Malaya, Singapore, and Borneo; he brought this notion back to life. The Borneo provinces' lack of support prevented the initiative from gaining pace, despite his best efforts.{{Sfn|Yusoff|Mustafa|Wahid|Muda|2022|p=1671}}

In 1952, the [[Daily Worker (UK newspaper)|''Daily Worker'']] published photographs of atrocities committed by [[Iban people|Iban]] mercenaries in the [[Malayan Emergency]], including [[headhunting]] and [[scalping]]. MacDonald, who had facilitated the deployment of these mercenaries and had previously praised them, became embroiled in the resulting [[British Malayan headhunting scandal]], which featured a controversial photo of him welcoming Iban headhunters. During the Malayan Emergency, he had toured Malaya with American politicians, during which he showcased Ibans to the Americans. Living in Iban settlements, he had many interactions with Ibans and once called an experienced Iban headhunter "one of the greatest men I had ever met".<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Poole |first=Dan |title=Head Hunters in the Malayan Emergency: The Atrocity and Cover-Up |publisher=Pen and Sword Military |year=2023 |isbn=978-1399057417 |pages=5–6}}</ref> [[J. R. Campbell (communist)|J. R. Campbell]] had previously been involved in the political careers of the MacDonald family as he had inadvertantly contributed the collapse of the Labour government following the 1924 [[Campbell Case]].<ref name=":0" />