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 2501 - 2550 of 3726

Per page:

File name	File title	Begins	Ends	Release date	Any docs withheld?	Classification	Pages
PREM19/2532	Soviet Union (Soviet economy: grain harvest)	Begins: 1979 Dec 1	Ends: 1987 Jun 16	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 1	Classification: Top Secret - UK Eyes A	Pages: 16
PREM19/2533	Soviet Union (Soviet intentions towards Iran)	Begins: 1980 Apr 16	Ends: 1987 Sep 30	Date of release: Retained		Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2534	Soviet Union (Soviet military expenditure and capabilities) (Part 1)	Begins: 1979 May 24	Ends: 1988 Dec 7	Date of release: 2017 Dec 29	Any docs withheld? 5	Classification: Top Secret	Pages: 218
PREM19/2535	Soviet Union (Domestic scene: Soviet leadership succession (Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko, Gorbachev)) (Part 2)	Begins: 1979 Jun 20	Ends: 1987 Aug 5	Date of release: 2017 Dec 29	Any docs withheld? 6	Classification: Secret	Pages: 337
PREM19/2536	Soviet Union (Soviet visa applications)	Begins: 1979 Jun 13	Ends: 1987 Jan 12	Date of release: Retained		Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2537	Soviet Union (Arrest and exile to Gorky of Andrei Sakharov and his wife Yelena Bonner: Prime Minister's meetings with Mrs Bonner and other family members)	Begins: 1980 Jan 23	Ends: 1987 Jan 5	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 121
PREM19/2538	Soviet Union (UK/Soviet relations; internal situation) (Part 6)	Begins: 1986 Jun 2	Ends: 1987 Jan 30	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20	Any docs withheld? 15	Classification: Top Secret	Pages: 218
PREM19/2539	Soviet Union (UK/Soviet relations; internal situation) (Part 7)	Begins: 1987 Feb 3	Ends: 1987 Apr 21	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20	Any docs withheld? 12	Classification: Top Secret	Pages: 162
PREM19/2540	Soviet Union (UK/Soviet relations; internal situation) (Part 8)	Begins: 1987 May 5	Ends: 1987 Oct 30	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20	Any docs withheld? 16	Classification: Top Secret	Pages: 301
PREM19/2541	Soviet Union (UK/Soviet relations; internal situation) (Part 9)	Begins: 1987 Nov 2	Ends: 1987 Dec 30	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20	Any docs withheld? 2	Classification: Top Secret	Pages: 241
PREM19/2542	Soviet Union (UK/Soviet relations; internal situation) (Part 10)	Begins: 1988 Jan 1	Ends: 1988 Jun 29	Date of release: Reconsideration 2027		Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2543	Soviet Union (Relations between the Soviet Union and India)	Begins: 1987 Jun 10	Ends: 1987 Jun 17	Date of release: Retained		Classification: Retained Sec 3.4
PREM19/2544	Soviet Union (Visit to UK by Dr Anatoly Koryagin: meeting with Prime Minister; abuse of psychiatry in USSR)	Begins: 1987 Sep 29	Ends: 1987 Nov 4	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Restricted	Pages: 21
PREM19/2545	Soviet Union (Visits to UK by President Gorbachev) (Part 1)	Begins: 1987 Nov 20	Ends: 1988 Oct 30	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20	Any docs withheld? 3	Classification: Top Secret	Pages: 259
PREM19/2546	Soviet Union (Visits to UK by President Gorbachev) (Part 2)	Begins: 1988 Nov 10	Ends: 1988 Dec 29	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20	Any docs withheld? 3	Classification: Secret	Pages: 368
PREM19/2547	Soviet Union (Women's Campaign for Soviet Jewry: Prime Minister's interest in cases of Ida Nudel, Anatoly Shcharansky, Alexander Paritsky) (Part 1)	Begins: 1979 Jun 25	Ends: 1987 Jan 23	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20	Any docs withheld? 3	Classification: Secret	Pages: 331
PREM19/2548	Syria (Internal situation: military capability; UK/Syrian relations)	Begins: 1980 Mar 14	Ends: 1988 Oct 25	Date of release: Retained		Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2549	Syria (Internal situation: UK/Syrian relations; Syrian involvement in the Hindawi affair and other terrorist activities; diplomatic and commercial measures by UK, USA, Canada, and European Community states)	Begins: 1979 May 7	Ends: 1987 Jul 27	Date of release: Retained		Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2550	Trade (Government purchasing policy and the 'Buy British' policy) (Part 4)	Begins: 1986 Aug 18	Ends: 1987 Oct 29	Date of release: 2016-07-2016		Classification: Restricted	Pages: 102
PREM19/2551	Trade (Multilateral trade negotiations)	Begins: 1979 May 17	Ends: 1987 Nov 19	Date of release: 2016-07-2016		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 69
PREM19/2552	Trade (UK's international trade policies: non-tariff barriers and restraints on imports; consideration of export problems; recycling of OPEC surpluses) (Part 5)	Begins: 1985 Jul 1	Ends: 1987 Jan 26	Date of release: Retained		Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2553	Trade (Proposed guidance on open-ended contracts: non-competitive government contracts; political (non-commercial) clauses in local authority contracts)	Begins: 1980 May 2	Ends: 1987 Jun 22	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential & Commercial in confidence	Pages: 95
PREM19/2554	Trade (Coordination of Ministerial trade promotion visits overseas; reports on major civil overseas sales prospects)	Begins: 1981 Apr 15	Ends: 1988 Oct 6	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 250
PREM19/2555	Transport (Autoguide route guidance system)	Begins: 1988 Feb 5	Ends: 1988 Feb 22	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 22
PREM19/2556	Transport (British Rail fares: industrial action by the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) and the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF); possible line closures; British Rail finances)	Begins: 1986 Oct 9	Ends: 1988 Sep 29	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/2557	Transport (Policy on roads: White Paper; review of the roads programme) (Part 3)	Begins: 1986 Dec 12	Ends: 1988 Jul 28	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 244
PREM19/2558	Turkey (UK/Turkish relations) (Part 1)	Begins: 1979 Nov 15	Ends: 1987 Jul 8	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 192
PREM19/2559	Turkey (Prime Minister's visit to Turkey, April 1988) (Part 1)	Begins: 1988 Feb 1	Ends: 1988 Jul 4	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21	Any docs withheld? 3	Classification: Secret	Pages: 192
PREM19/2560	United Nations (Call on Prime Minister by Sir Anthony Parsons, UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations, August 1979: valedictory despatch by Sir John Thomson, UK Permanent Representative, April 1987)	Begins: 1979 Jul 6	Ends: 1987 Apr 15	Date of release: 2016 Nov 7		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 25
PREM19/2561	United Nations (Indian initiative for Heads of State or Government to attend a Summit meeting at the United Nations General Assembly, September 1983; President Reagan's invitation to Western leaders to attend meeting in New York, September 1988)	Begins: 1983 Apr 3	Ends: 1988 Sep 26	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 1	Classification: Confidential	Pages: 130
PREM19/2562	United Nations (Special Session on Disarmament, June 1988) (Part 2)	Begins: 1988 Feb 5	Ends: 1988 Feb 28	Date of release: 2016 Nov 7		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 9
PREM19/2563	United Nations (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)) (Part 1)	Begins: 1979 May 9	Ends: 1987 Sep 29	Date of release: 2016 Nov 7		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 244
PREM19/2564	United Nations (World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women, Copenhagen, July 1980: ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW))	Begins: 1980 Jul 8	Ends: 1987 Jul 28	Date of release: 2016 Nov 7		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 147
PREM19/2565	USA (Internal political situation: 1988 Presidential election campaign) (Part 2)	Begins: 1985 Jan 3	Ends: 1988 Oct 31	Date of release: 2016 Nov 7	Any docs withheld? 3	Classification: Secret	Pages: 299
PREM19/2566	USA (Prime Minister's visit to Washington, July 1987) (Part 1)	Begins: 1987 Jun 12	Ends: 1987 Jul 23	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/2567	USA (Prime Minister's visit to Washington, July 1987) (Part 2)	Begins: 1987 Jul 24	Ends: 1987 Nov 30	Date of release: Retained		Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2568	USA (UK/USA relations)	Begins: 1986 Jun 1	Ends: 1987 Jun 26	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/2569	USA (Visit to UK by President Reagan, June 1988)	Begins: 1984 Jun 1	Ends: 1988 Sep 23	Date of release: 2018 Dec 28
PREM19/2570	USA (Visit to UK by Congressman James Wright, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, July 1988)	Begins: 1988 Mar 4	Ends: 1988 Jul 27	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 40
PREM19/2571	USA (Visits to UK by Ambassador Paul Nitze, United States Special Adviser on Arms Control)	Begins: 1983 Jun 28	Ends: 1987 Feb 26	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 3	Classification: Secret	Pages: 128
PREM19/2572	Yemen (Internal situation in the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY): evacuation of British subjects and others)	Begins: 1980 Apr 22	Ends: 1988 Oct 18	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2573	Yugoslavia (Internal situation: relations with UK) (Part 1)	Begins: 1980 Jan 17	Ends: 1988 May 31	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Secret	Pages: 254
PREM19/2574	Zambia (Visit to UK by Prime Minister Kebby Musokatwane, September 1987)	Begins: 1980 May 30	Ends: 1987 Sep 7	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 23
PREM19/2575	Zambia (Internal situation: relations with UK) (Part 1)	Begins: 1979 May 8	Ends: 1987 Aug 30	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2576	Zimbabwe (Possible purchase of UK military aircraft)	Begins: 1987 Feb 18	Ends: 1987 Jul 29	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 4	Classification: Secret	Pages: 27
PREM19/2577	Prime Minister (Personal correspondence with Princess Margaret)	Begins: 1980 Jan 9	Ends: 1980 Feb 7	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2578	Defence (Rundown of Royal Dockyards at Chatham and Portsmouth: Chatham Historic Dockyard)	Begins: 1982 Apr 19	Ends: 1986 Jul 11	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 21
PREM19/2579	Economic Policy (Inquiry into Barlow Clowes Group)	Begins: 1988 Jun 13	Ends: 1988 Sep 30	Date of release: Retained		Classification: Temporarily retained by Department
PREM19/2580	Economic Policy (Public spending) (Part 40)	Begins: 1988 Jul 5	Ends: 1988 Dec 13	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Secret	Pages: 361
PREM19/2581	Sri Lanka (Visits to UK by Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa, July 1987; possible visit by President Jayawardene) (Part 2)	Begins: 1987 Apr 7	Ends: 1988 Sep 6	Date of release: 2016 Jul 21		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 147

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