MT's official files as Prime Minister, 1979-90

MT's official files as PM can be read on this site as they are released, in full and free to all - the confidential files originally stored at No.10, the core record of her premiership.

The files have been copied at the British National Archives (TNA) at Kew in London and can be downloaded precisely as they appear in the reading room.

We are doing something more to help people make sense of this mass of information. The files are subject-based, logically enough, but that system makes it difficult to reconstruct the flow of paper across the Prime Minister’s desk at any point in time, depriving us of a sense of context, of the political cross-winds, some of them overwhelming.

To combat this effect we are uploading a large selection of the most important documents from these files – thousands in total – to our powerful site database. You can search and sort by date, subject and other parameters, getting as close as anyone can now get to reconstructing the Prime Minister’s daily "Red Boxes", the rich diet of foreign and domestic policy papers submitted to her by the No.10 Private Office.

List and links to the PM’s files

Below are links to the downloadable files in numerical order. The subject terms are those used in the original filing system.

An average file has around 200 pages.

You can read here an account of how filing worked at No.10, and the system for archiving MT’s Prime Ministerial papers, both of which had their quirks.

Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Private Office files, 1979-1989

1979-89: Chancellor’s Private Office files [links to hundreds of digitised files from the Chancellorships of Sir Geoffrey Howe and Nigel Lawson]

Engagement Diaries

An alternative way through the material is to read MT’s engagement diaries, jumping day to day.

The engagement diaries link directly to relevant documents in the site database, so this is a good way to recover the perspective from the Red Box.

Showing items 1801 - 1850 of 3726

Per page:

File name	File title	Begins	Ends	Release date	Any docs withheld?	Classification	Pages
PREM19/1803	Industrial policy (Future of British Leyland/Rover Group) (Part 12)	Begins: 1986 May 1	Ends: 1986 Dec 16	Date of release: 2015 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 1	Classification: Secret and Personal	Pages: 294
PREM19/1804	Industrial policy (Moratorium on applications for support and innovation: research and development) (Part 1)	Begins: 1984 Nov 8	Ends: 1986 Jan 20	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 238
PREM19/1805	Industrial policy (Moratorium on applications for support and innovation: research and development) (Part 2)	Begins: 1986 Feb 18	Ends: 1986 Sep 30	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 268
PREM19/1806	Industrial policy (Short Borthers Ltd)	Begins: 1980 Nov 6	Ends: 1986 Aug 1	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 280
PREM19/1807	Industrial policy (Proposed government strategy for industry and developments in high technology)	Begins: 1985 Jul 10	Ends: 1986 May 9	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 65
PREM19/1808	Iran (Internal situation: Anglo-Iranian relations) (Part 9)	Begins: 1981 Feb 23	Ends: 1986 Dec 12	Date of release: 2018 Jul 24	Any docs withheld? 4	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 144
PREM19/1809	Ireland (Meetings with the Taoiseach) (Part 12)	Begins: 1985 Nov 15	Ends: 1985 Nov 30	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Secret	Pages: 628
PREM19/1810	Ireland (Meetings with the Taoiseach) (Part 13)	Begins: 1985 Dec 1	Ends: 1986 Feb 14	Date of release: 2017 Dec 29	Any docs withheld? 3	Classification: Secret	Pages: 316
PREM19/1811	Ireland (Meetings with the Taoiseach) (Part 14)	Begins: 1986 Feb 17	Ends: 1986 Feb 28	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Secret	Pages: 255
PREM19/1812	Ireland (Meetings with the Taoiseach) (Part 12)	Begins: 1986 Mar 1	Ends: 1986 Apr 30	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Secret	Pages: 307
PREM19/1813	Ireland (DeLorean sports cars) (Part 1)	Begins: 1980 Jul 1	Ends: 1986 Jan 21	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 310
PREM19/1814	Ireland (Situation in Northern Ireland) (Part 20)	Begins: 1985 Apr 1	Ends: 1986 Jun 27	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 11	Classification: Secret	Pages: 417
PREM19/1815	Ireland (Situation in Northern Ireland) (Part 21)	Begins: 1986 Jul 2	Ends: 1986 Oct 31	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/1816	Israel (Prime Minister's visit to Israel, May 1986)	Begins: 1986 Mar 6	Ends: 1986 Jun 16	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Secret	Pages: 239
PREM19/1817	Israel (Internal situation and relations) (Part 1)	Begins: 1981 Jan 1	Ends: 1986 Jan 16	Date of release:		Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/1818	Italy (Anglo-Italian relations: Italian political scene; British contribution to Italian earthquake relief, 1980-1981) (Part 1)	Begins: 1979 Jun 5	Ends: 1986 Nov 6	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Top Secret	Pages: 387
PREM19/1819	Italy (Anglo-Italian Summits) (Part 3)	Begins: 1986 Feb 2	Ends: 1986 May 27	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 104
PREM19/1820	Japan (Anglo-Japanese relations) (Part 5)	Begins: 1985 Jun 7	Ends: 1986 Dec 31	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 264
PREM19/1821	Japan (Visits to the UK by Japanese Foreign Ministers, Masoyashi Ito and Shintaro Abe)	Begins: 1981 Aug 24	Ends: 1986 Oct 22	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Secret	Pages: 64
PREM19/1822	Jordan (UK/Jordanian relations: West Bank study paper by Crown Prince Hassan) (Part 1)	Begins: 1979 Dec 28	Ends: 1986 Feb 25	Date of release: Due for reconsideration 2018		Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/1823	Jordan (Visits to the UK by King Hussein) (Part 3)	Begins: 1984 Dec 3	Ends: 1986 Aug 29	Date of release: Due for reconsideration 2018		Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/1824	Lebanon (United States concerns)	Begins: 1983 Sep 15	Ends: 1986 Apr 23	Date of release: Reconsideration in 2025		Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/1825	Lebanon (Internal situation: Israeli/Lebanese hostilities; UK/Lebanese relations) (Part 7)	Begins: 1984 Mar 1	Ends: 1986 Apr 1	Date of release: Due for reconsideration 2018		Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/1826	Legal Procedure (Possible reform of the law on rape)	Begins: 1981 Jan 6	Ends: 1986 Nov 11	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 151
PREM19/1827	Legal Procedure (Publication of the Calcutt Report: survey of use of peremptory challenges of potential jurors by defence counsel)	Begins: 1985 Dec 16	Ends: 1986 Jul 9	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 41
PREM19/1828	Libya (Internal situation: Anglo-Libyan relations; aftermath of shooting of WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside Libyan People's Bureau, 17 April 1984; severance of diplomatic relations) (Part 3B)	Begins: 1984 May 31	Ends: 1986 Apr 1	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/1829	Libya (Internal situation: Anglo-Libyan relations; release of UK hostages) (Part 4A)	Begins: 1985 Feb 1	Ends: 1986 Apr 1	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/1830	Libya (Internal situation: Anglo-Libyan relations; United States response to Libyan terrorism) (Part 4B)	Begins: 1984 Apr 12	Ends: 1986 Apr 16	Date of release: Due for reconsideration 2018		Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/1831	Libya (Internal situation: Anglo-Libyan relations; United States response to Libyan terrorism) (Part 5)	Begins: 1986 Apr 17	Ends: 1986 Apr 30	Date of release: Reconsideration in 2028		Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/1832	Libya (Internal situation: Anglo-Libyan relations) (Part 6)	Begins: 1986 Apr 17	Ends: 1986 Apr 30	Date of release: Due for reconsideration 2018		Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/1833	Local Government (Correspondence from Sir John Sainsbury on planning controls: general planning enquiries) (Part 2)	Begins: 1985 May 1	Ends: 1986 May 2	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 290
PREM19/1834	Local Government (Correspondence from Sir John Sainsbury on planning controls: general planning enquiries) (Part 3)	Begins: 1986 Jul 23	Ends: 1986 Dec 23	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 369
PREM19/1835	Local Government (Relations with central government, organisation & finance) (Part 29)	Begins: 1985 Dec 2	Ends: 1986 May 28	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 344
PREM19/1836	Local Government (Relations with central government, organisation & finance) (Part 30)	Begins: 1986 Jun 6	Ends: 1986 Oct 31	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Secret	Pages: 266
PREM19/1837	Local Government (Future of the rating system: rating revaluation; Community Charge) (Part 4)	Begins: 1986 Jan 3	Ends: 1986 Aug 23	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 258
PREM19/1838	Local Government (Water industry: structural change) (Part 3)	Begins: 1985 Dec 2	Ends: 1986 Apr 21	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 265
PREM19/1839	Mapower (Employment policy: enterprise and employment measures; feasibility study of a 'Workfare' scheme to replace long term unemployment in UK) (Part 3)	Begins: 1985 Aug 5	Ends: 1986 May 30	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Secret	Pages: 415
PREM19/1840	Manpower (Employment policy: employment measures; review of employment policies) (Part 14)	Begins: 1986 May 2	Ends: 1986 Oct 29	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Secret	Pages: 235
PREM19/1841	Manpower (Rayner Scrutiny of payment of benefits to the unemployed people: study by Department of Employment and Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS)) (Part 1)	Begins: 1980 Oct 16	Ends: 1982 May 27	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 191
PREM19/1842	Memoirs (James Callaghan's memoirs)	Begins: 1986 Dec 9	Ends: 1986 Dec 15	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 1	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 10
PREM19/1843	Mexico (Anglo-Mexican relations: internal situation in Mexico) (Part 1)	Begins: 1981 May 29	Ends: 1985 Jun 11	Date of release: 2014 Dec 30		Classification: Secret	Pages: 229
PREM19/1844	Defence (Project Moonflower)	Begins: 1986 Feb 3	Ends: 1986 Dec 9	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Top Secret	Pages: 14
PREM19/1845	Defence (Defence Budget) (Part 11)	Begins: 1984 Apr 16	Ends: 1985 May 21	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 64
PREM19/1846	Defence (Policing of demonstrations at military bases: activities of anti-nuclear demonstrators) (Part 1)	Begins: 1983 Feb 17	Ends: 1986 Mar 26	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21	Any docs withheld? 1	Classification: Secret	Pages: 297
PREM19/1847	Defence (Higher organisation for defence)	Begins: 1984 Feb 24	Ends: 1986 Oct 2	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21	Any docs withheld? 5	Classification: Secret	Pages: 176
PREM19/1848	Memorials (Lord Shinwell's memorial service)	Begins: 1986 May 21	Ends: 1986 Jun 18	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Unclassified	Pages: 4
PREM19/1849	Memorials (General Sir Brian Horrocks' memorial service)	Begins: 1985 Jan 24	Ends: 1985 Jan 31	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Unclassified	Pages: 6
PREM19/1850	Memorials (WPC Yvonne Fletcher memorial)	Begins: 1984 May 1	Ends: 1985 Feb 13	Date of release: 2015 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 2	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 112
PREM19/1851	Middle East (Situation in the Middle East) (Part 14)	Begins: 1985 Oct 1	Ends: 1986 May 30	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Secret - Cab One	Pages: 335
PREM19/1852	Ministers (Market and Opinion Research International Ltd (MORI): requests for Geoffrey Finsberg MP and Lord Young to participate in surveys on a range of issues affecting British industry)	Begins: 1980 Jun 2	Ends: 1986 Jul 16	Date of release: 2016 Feb 19		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 18

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