An error in a recent article in The New Statesman was corrected by Alistair Lexden in a letter published in the magazine on 11 October.
Robert Colls (The Critics, 20 September) ascribes the legal immunities that trade unions enjoyed before Thatcher to “Liberal Acts of 1871, 1875 and 1906”. The 1875 legislation, which completed the decriminalisation of trade unions, was passed by Disraeli’s second government. Disraeli hoped the legislation “would gain and retain for the Conservatives the lasting affection of the working classes”. But he took little interest in it, falling asleep in cabinet when it was under discussion.
Alistair Lexden, Conservative Party historian
House of Lords
