23. Preparing the Class War¶
Core Argument¶
In 1979, trade union membership in Britain peaked at 55% of the workforce, representing 13.3 million workers. Within fifteen years, Thatcherism reduced this to nine million, outlawing the closed shop, curtailing the right to strike, and destroying workers’ control in workplaces. Thatcher’s 1979 election victory initiated a sustained ruling-class offensive to restore British capitalism’s power at workers’ expense. Monetarist policies destroyed 20% of manufacturing industry between 1979 and 1981. The Ridley report, leaked shortly after the Carrington report, outlined contingency plans to defeat the unions, particularly the miners, by isolating and picking off groups one at a time, using a large mobile police squad against picketing. In 1980, the steel strike ended in defeat, destroying 80,000 jobs. The Labour Party moved left: a new Electoral College gave unions 40% of leadership votes, and mandatory reselection of MPs was endorsed. In 1981, the Tories provoked a premature confrontation with miners over pit closures but retreated. Arthur Scargill was elected NUM president with 70% of the vote. However, the left leadership lost three national strike ballots in just over a year. The Tories’ 1980 and 1982 anti-union Acts limited picketing, outlawed secondary action, and exposed union funds to damages. By 1985, united trade union opposition to this legislation had collapsed.
The ASLEF strike collapsed after two weeks following a backroom deal brokered by TUC General Secretary Len Murray, who accepted flexible rostering. The Financial Times called it one of the most significant union defeats of recent times, a triumph for the hard-line approach to industrial relations. The TUC’s role was widely seen as betrayal by union rank and file. The Falklands War transformed Tory fortunes. Before April 1982, the Tories trailed at 23 per cent in the polls; after the war, support rose to 46 per cent. The 1983 general election gave Thatcher a landslide with 43.5 per cent of the vote to Labour’s 28.3 per cent. The SDP-Liberal Alliance split the Labour vote, costing it 2-3 million votes. After the defeat, Neil Kinnock replaced Michael Foot as Labour leader. At the 1983 TUC Congress, Len Murray announced “New Realism,” abandoning militant resistance to Thatcherism. The TUC Congress accepted it by 5.8 million to 4 million votes. In December 1983, the NGA print union was defeated at Warrington after the TUC refused solidarity. The union’s assets were sequestered and it was fined £250,000. In January 1984, Thatcher banned union membership at GCHQ. The TUC offered a feeble no-disruption deal, which Thatcher rejected.