The labour movement in Thatcher's Britain

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The economic and industrial restructuring carried out by the Thatcher governments in the 1980s is examined using a wide range of sources. Were the strategies really «new», a revival of earlier approaches, or just a rigorous extension of the IMF-imposed policies of the previous Labour government? The question is asked: Was the creation of a large pool of unemployed labour a necessary precondition for reshaping the economy? Or was the aim to bring about fundamental changes in the relations between capital and organised labour? In the light of setbacks suffered by trade unions during the 1980s along with factory closures, the mass shedding of labour and changes in working practices, the author questions the motive of the Labour Party in softening meaningful opposition to the Conservatives.