ABSTRACT
No one needs to be reminded of the government decision of 25 January 1984 to ban national trades unions at GCHQ, the signals intelligence (Sigint) centre at Cheltenham. It has become an entrenched part of British political and trades union mythology; the sight of First Division civil servants marching in Cheltenham with the National Union of Mineworkers in the annual rally of protest sums up its lasting effects. Re-unionization is well established as Labour's policy in opposition and will happen sometime; national unions were all set to offer attractive packages of cut-price membership after the expected Labour victory in 1992. The fact that Cheltenham is a marginal seat now gives the situation extra spin. Politics apart, the affair has a bearing on a raft of issues: trade union structures; patterns of public sector management; control of intelligence agencies; judicial review; the place of ‘national security’ in law and constitutional practice. In all these contexts a proper account of the affair is badly needed.
