ABSTRACT
The British state in the nineteenth century had certain special characteristics which developed out of the long evolution of Britain into a parliamentary democracy. Keith Middlemas's general argument that modern British society has witnessed the 'marginalisation' of radical protest, dissent and extra-parliamentary activity applies as much to unions as to working-class politics. Indeed, since the trade unions have always 'worried' the business community and their politicians much more than has the Labour Party, it is especially the unions to which the Middlemas analysis applies. The liberty and freedom extolled by bourgeois philosophers, and practised by politicians, extended, of course, to the conditions of the marketplace, and in particular to conditions in the labour market. Restrictive practices, including the use of 'ca-canny' as a weapon in industrial relations, are talked about relatively little by labour historians. But after 1900 when productivity in general was stagnant, or falling, some economists have laid great emphasis upon the relevance of restrictive practices.
