Introduction

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The so called "Winter of Discontent" in 1978-79 led directly to the downfall of Jim Callaghan's Labour government and ushered in Margaret Thatcher as British Prime Minister.  It provides a rich political and cultural backdrop in which to recreate a dystopian future-past of hypothetical class conflict in the UK

The ever objective and balanced British press of the time was reporting anarchy and revolution on every picket line and looking behind every uncollected rubbish bin for 'Mad Trots'. That in the corridors of power and offices of industry there was talk of private armies and winks at MI5 dirty tricks.

The Conservative victory on 3rd May, 1979 was in essence a bloodless coup. Riding high on the "Falklands Factor" the following Tory landslide at the polls in 1983 gave the government carte blanche to  militarise the police, subvert the laws of the realm, take on the unions and provoke conflict with the miners in the Miners Strike of 1984-85.

So it doesn't take too much of a stretch of imagination to pull together coherent scenarios from civil disobedience and riot to armed insurrection and open civil war for tabletop battles in miniature.

We are not interested in what actually happened, the politics of rights and wrongs. This blog will attempt to be bi-partizan, though we will of course put a slant on things if it blags a good wargame scenario.

Let me say now, clearly and emphatically that we do not endorse any of the political parties or beliefs that will be mentioned during the course of  this blog. Our aim, with a sowewhat sly eye is to recreate the what-if's of 1979-1985, through the medium of model soldiers, Airfix kits and punkrock/mod revival soundtracks. 

Cheers

Mark

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