There is something deeply troubling about the disclosure in the newly released papers from the Thatcher government era showing that the claim by the N.U.M. that there was a hit list of seventy odd pits, ridiculed at the time by officials at the very highest level, was true. Government in a democracy must be based on truth and honesty and time and again on issue after issue it is proved that government of the United Kingdom is not.
There is an inbuilt culture among the political establishment, including both civil servants and politicians, which says if you have to hide the truth or lie in the public interest, it is in order to do so. At any time this is insulting to the governed, but in the modern day and age it will be found out.
Politicians have some lessons to learn. Their untrustworthiness has made them among the least respected in the wider community and their party memberships are falling fast. While the political class has destroyed its credibility, the voting class has up rated its ability to find out the truth. This is the era of viral communication and trends in which the whistle blower holds the cards and becomes the hero.
Whitehall needs to think about this. Thatcher had a reputation for honesty and integrity. She was thought to have beaten Scargill in a fair fight. To discover that even she cheated comes as a shock.