Skip to main content
Did Labour MP help Thatcher spy on unions?
Spellar urged to clarify whether he assisted Tories as an EETPU official – Bethany Rielly reports
John Spellar MP

A SERVING Labour MP has been urged to clarify whether he helped Margaret Thatcher’s government spy on left-wing trade unionists. 

Lawyers for the Blacklist Support Group (BSG) have written to John Spellar MP, a former minister in Tony Blair’s government, seeking clarification on his potential involvement in secret meetings between Norman Tebbit and a leader of electricians’ union EETPU in the 1980s. 

The Tory peer recently revealed that he had met with a leader of the now-defunct union while he was Thatcher’s employment secretary, seeking advice on how to deal with left-wing trade unionists. 

Donate to the Fighting Fund
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
POLICING THE POLICE: GLC leader Ken Livingstone (centre), wi
Features / 10 March 2023
10 March 2023
In an exclusive investigation, BETHANY RIELLY looks at how the state targeted leading politicians and campaigning groups — labelling many well-known figures 'extremists' and 'subversives' for attempting to hold the police to account
Eritrean female soldiers marching in a parade
Features / 12 December 2022
12 December 2022
On September 4, 16 Eritrean asylum-seekers were arrested at a protest against their country’s dictatorship and its supporters here. Since then, questions have been raised about whether the British authorities are doing enough to protect activists and asylum-seekers from the ‘long arm’ of the regime in Asmara
Similar stories
EVEN FURTHER RIGHT: Margaret Thatcher meets the press outsid
Features / 16 February 2025
16 February 2025
KEITH FLETT looks back 50 years to when the Iron Lady was elected Tory leader…
(left-right) Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer, deputy La
Eyes Left: Election Special / 6 June 2024
6 June 2024
ANDREW MURRAY gives the lowdown on the Labour rightwingers – selected with zero democratic input – attempting to parachute themselves into seats up and down the country
Diane Abbott
Britain / 28 May 2024
28 May 2024