UK Labour Party Asks Government Whether Thatcher-Era Blacklists Still in Place

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – UK Labour Party has called on the Conservative government to make clear whether the secret blacklists of civil servants, introduced by the cabinet of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, are still in place, Shadow Lord President of the Council Jon Trickett said on Wednesday.

"How many civil servants were denied career progression because of a paranoia that ran to the top of the Thatcher government? Former and current civil servants must be deeply unsettled. The Cabinet Office must provide immediate and full transparency on whether spying on civil servants, in any form, continues to this day," Trickett said, as quoted by The Guardian newspaper.

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Earlier this week, the UK National Archives released papers showing that Thatcher’s government, together with MI5, the nation's domestic intelligence agency, prepared a list of 1,420 civil servants, primarily leftists, who were regarded as potentially subversive. Persons from the list faced problems with career promotion.

He pointed out that civil servants had a right to know whether they were being monitored for their political beliefs.

The Guardian sent a request to the Cabinet Office concerning the blacklists, and the latter responded by saying the issue was a "historical matter."