so i never thought i d be like that. you had to be in a union. when ijoined, a fellow came up to me and said, you re the apprentice electrician. the other five or six, whatever they were, were mechanical fitters. you had tojoin the union. we made printing presses and we had a printing establishment, we had all the print unions, and when we went to install presses they would be closed shop printing houses. so if i went to fleet street to put some machinery in, your card would be inspected. and i would expect it to be inspected, i wanted it to be inspected, because i didn t want a nonunion person coming into that setup. all of that was made impossible by margaret thatcher. the laws were changed to do away with the closed shop, the obligation to be the member of a union. are you nostalgic for the pre thatcher days? i m nostalgic for the power
we made printing presses and we had a printing establishment, we had all the print unions, and when we went to install presses, they would be closed shop printing houses. so if i went to fleet street to put some machinery in, your card would be inspected. and i would expect it to be inspected, i wanted it to be inspected, because i didn t want a non union person coming into that setup. all of that was made impossible by margaret thatcher. the laws were changed to do away with the closed shop, the obligation to be the member of a union. are you nostalgic for the pre thatcher days? i m nostalgic for the power that we had, and what i more that we had, and more nostalgic for the control and the values that we had. people talk about the winter of discontent and the excesses of the trade union movement as it s styled and as it was caricatured by the press, which was extremely hostile. i m nostalgic for the balance that we were creating. i think society was becoming rebalanced in the 70s.
in your teens, your late teens. 16. do you go straight into a union? did you have a sense that, actually, yourfuture might be running a union, or at least being a shop steward on the way to that? well, when i was a kid, trade union general secretaries vic feather and jackjones and all those people, these were big people. these were national figures. so i never thought i d be like that. you had to be in a union. when ijoined, a fellow came up to me and said, you re the apprentice electrician. the other five or six, whatever they were, were mechanical fitters. you had tojoin the union. we made printing presses and we had a printing establishment, we had all the print unions, and when we went to install presses they would be closed shop printing houses. so if i went to fleet street to put some machinery in, your card would be inspected. and i would expect it to be inspected, i wanted it to be inspected, because i didn t want a nonunion person coming into that setup. all of that was made
where we agree on things. there will be people who say nadine doris is wrong, they will argue that rupert murdoch already meddles in our democracy and this decision could give him more power to do so. it s not true. you need to remember, with a whopping revolution, murdoch essentially saved the press and enabled the other titles to become much more successful enabled the sunday times to become multi sectioned, and all newspapers to flourish. it was a very positive thing. it wasn t written like that at the time. some people will disagree with you. the print unions had their boot on our throats at the time. and that got rid of it and all the others followed suit. the fact is, he doesn t interfere, he doesn t interfere in the times or the sunday times. so he doesn t get on the phone and talk to you about stories that are in the papers or.?
to become multi sectioned, and all newspapers to flourish. it was a very positive thing. it wasn t written about that at the time. some people will disagree with you. the print unions had their boot on our throats at the time. and that got rid of it and all the others followed suit. the fact is, he doesn t interfere, he doesn t interfere in the times or the sunday times of sensibility. so it is a get on the phone and talk to you about stories that are in the papers or. no, he ll ask what s going on what s happening in government and general things. he doesn t interfere. i give you a good example one of the most important decisions that this country is taken in the century was brexit. rupert murdoch was pro brexit and indeed the son was. but the times was pro remain, but it argued that it was better to remain for economic reasons and better