The Conservative Party has long faced concerns that in regard to the great British miners’ strike of 1984–1985, senior Tories had, in fact, planned the confrontation as early as 1977, when still on the opposition benches. Historian John Savile pointed to the existence of the Ridley Report—a Conservative think-tank paper produced in 1977, which appeared to include a detailed blueprint on how to provoke, and secondly win, a battle against Britain's powerful miners’ union. After Margaret Thatcher's second election victory, and her first landslide, in 1983, the Prime Minister populated the Downing Street Policy Unit with private-sector allies who looked to implement aspects of the report. Some of these allies had clear economic incentives in running down British coal. Nevertheless, the Policy Unit members were instrumental in determining government policy concerning all aspects of the strike, including preparation, policing, the law courts, financial concerns and the portrayal of the strike in the media. The campaign by Thatcher's Policy Unit resulted in a shattering blow for Britain's trade union movement from which it has yet to recover—just as the Ridley Report had predicted.

中文翻译：

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实施雷德利报告：撒切尔政策小组在1984-1985年矿工罢工期间的作用

保守党长期以来一直担心，就1984年至1985年的英国大矿工罢工而言，高级保守党实际上早在1977年就计划了对峙，当时仍处于反对派席位。历史学家约翰·萨维尔（John Savile）指出存在《雷德利报告》（Ridley Report），这是一份保守的智囊机构论文，发表于1977年，其中似乎包含了详细的蓝图，说明了如何挑起并赢得与英国强大矿工工会的斗争。在玛格丽特·撒切尔（Margaret Thatcher）赢得第二次选举胜利和第一次压倒性选举之后，总理在唐宁街政策部（Downing Street Policy Unit）聚集了私营部门的盟友，他们希望执行报告的各个方面。这些盟友中的一些在削减英国煤炭方面具有明显的经济诱因。不过，政策部门成员在决定罢工各个方面的政府政策方面发挥了作用，包括准备，维持治安，法院，财务问题以及罢工在媒体中的表现。正如里德利报告所预测的那样，撒切尔政策小组的竞选活动对英国的工会运动造成了沉重打击，但工会运动至今尚未恢复。