Part I: 1980-1985
Thatcher’s dictatorship began in the midst of a General Strike, which only intensified after the fall of the democratic government, with many non-striking workers (from the few SDP affiliated Trade Unions) walking out in tandem with their Labour backing supporters. One group of strikers even charged Downing Street, but were shot at by police using rubber bullets (only later would the regime begin to use live ammunition).
Despite this a government authorised poll discovered that Thatcher was still immensely popular, and had the tacit support of the middle class to end the strike, the continuing energy crisis, and the three day week that had been re-established as a result of it. After an attempt on the Prime Minister’s life by Trade Unionists in February (where she was shot at during a speech to the press) she began to crack down on dissent, authorising police to arrest people considered “enemies of the destabilisation efforts”.
The dictatorship saw another increase in policing power after a second attempt on the Prime Minister’s life in April when IRA terrorists detonated a bomb under a Prime Ministerial Car. Had it gone off a few minutes later, as it was intended to, the Prime Minister would no doubt have died. Following this, with the terrified populace seeing enemies, everywhere, Thatcher called a referendum on whether or not to crack down on dissenters by “Preventing the formation of unregistered Protests and Strikes”. When the referendum was held in June, despite fierce opposition by the CLA, SDP, and Labour, it received support from around fifty five percent of the electorate.
By this time Thatcher had begun to institute a monetarist (or “Thatcherite”) series of reforms, cutting back on the welfare state, and seeking a comprehensive programme of denationalisation. Chancellor of the Exchequer Willie Whitelaw announced the government’s intention to “Bring back the Night Watchman state of old, with the government being a defender for the people, not a nanny.”
It was at this point that the troubles with the unions really took off. Whilst the General Strike was still going in August, both parties were at the negotiating table, but the Thatcher Government assumed it could call the Unions’ bluff, and announced the denationalisation and closure of flagging British Coal Mines before the deal could be finalised. The Unions left the negotiating table, and stormed to the streets in illegal protest (violating the recently established laws).
Tony Benn, still leader of the Labour Party, quickly called for “a revolution of the people”, and it looked like Thatcher’s regime could fall to a socialist revolution. This presumption ended when the army was used to break up a rally in September. Whilst initially the break up was peaceful, rubber bullets were fired once the protestors began to throw rocks at soldiers. The protestors were rounded up and the majority arrested, Benn included. The Labour party was officially outlawed, but remained active.
The rest of the year was relatively peaceful, with many Britons satisfied with the regime’s progress, and many more terrified about its newfound set of powers. Thatcher announced on New Year’s Eve that, with much regret, she would be continuing the dictatorship in the New Year due to vague “threats to our safety”. The SDP and CLA decried the motion and with no apparent emergency Thatcher’s popularity dipped.
The emergency that Thatcher needed appeared the next march, with increased fighting between Irish Loyalist and Nationalist groups on the Ulster-Ireland border. The UK government officially decried the nationalists, but not the Unionists, leading to resentment by the majority of the Catholic population in Northern Ireland. IRA membership swelled, and a return to direct rule seemed likely in the province.
The situation came to a head when another IRA bomb went off in London in May killing the Home Secretary Lord Mountbatten as he left one of his country estates. The IRA immediately claimed responsibility, and warned the UK that unless they ceded parts of Northern Ireland which were majority Catholic (and were showing huge support for the IRA) then more would follow. The government refused, and increased the presence of British troops in the area.
No one was surprised when another bomb went off, blowing up part of Tower Bridge and killing three civilians as well as injuring thirteen others. The government declared a crackdown, but little more was possible than a direct invasion of the Republic. The only solution they could find was to arrest prominent figures in Northern Ireland who were seen as “enemies of the state” and “Socialist pro-independence terrorists”. Many Sinn Fein politicians were placed under arrest, giving Unionist forces complete control.
With the army occupied in Ulster the Labour movement believed now was its time to act. Although its General Strike had been broken up, there was still a good degree of zeal to overthrow the dictatorship (and establish the socialist government that many of them so desired) but had a small window. Plotting began at the end of ’82, but would not see its fruition until 1983.
There were plans to begin the denationalisation of the NHS in 1983, which were widely opposed, under the cover of reducing the still massive state expenditure, and revitalising an economy which had been flagging since the 70s and was only now recovering. The announcement was due to be made in March, and the socialists knew they would have a chance then, when the government’s popularity dropped, to incite revolution.
Sure enough, as the Prime Minister was poised to make the announcement before an assembled crowd, socialists raised flags in the crowd and members of the “British Revolutionary Army” declared the dissolution of the United Kingdom and establishment of the “British Socialist republic”. The Prime Minister was whisked away as fighting began, but not before she could authorise the use of live ammunition.
Whilst the initial battle was a massacre, anti-government violence broke out across the country which, coupled with a renewed attack in Ireland, put serious pressure on the government. For sixth months fighting continued across the country, but in late August a ceasefire was called under the pretence that the Thatcher dictatorship was finally coming to an end. In fact it was likely it would have done, had a number of provinces in the south of Northern Ireland not declared their independence under Irish Nationalist governments.
It was as if the country woke up. Many more moderate “rebels” handed in their extreme counterparts in return for political amnesty, and the Labour Party collapsed along with its revolution. Its remnants were arrested, or absorbed into the Social Democratic Party (now renamed the Labour and Social Democratic Coalition). Piece was restored on the mainland, if only to deal with the situation in Ireland. Notably the denationalisation of the NHS was stopped after the aborted revolution.
After initially being expelled from the new “Irish Republic of Fermanagh” and the “Armagh People’s Republic”, British troops began to return throughout autumn and winter, with violence breaking out between British Soldiers and Nationalist Paramilitary organisations within the two breakaway republics.
The region exploded into chaos, with Loyalist Paramilitaries also joining in the violence. It was the major issue of late 1983 and early 1984, especially as the fighting intensified. However by halfway through the second year of the conflict, the Republic had petitioned the UN for an official resolution and, although vetoed by the UK, it was widely recognised that the two republic’s independence was UN sanctioned, and the Soviet Bloc leapt to recognise them.
Believing it had support, the Republic moved troops into the two republics to defend them, and many believed that this would be the end of the matter. In December 1984 Britain shocked the world by marching in further British Army soldiers, and opening fire on Irish positions…
