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 2626 - 2650 of 3726

Per page:

File name	File title	Begins	Ends	Release date	Any docs withheld?	Classification	Pages
PREM19/2661	Environmental Affairs (The litter problem in the UK: briefing on the City of Westminster Bill; Westminster Initiative Report; part 1. Note: With photographs) (Part 1)	Begins: 1985 Dec 11	Ends: 1989 Apr 24	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 319
PREM19/2662	European Policy (European Community budget: developments in the European Community; Cabinet Office brief on Community competence) (Part 41)	Begins: 1989 Mar 1	Ends: 1989 May 31	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 387
PREM19/2663	European Policy (European Community budget: developments in the European Community) (Part 42)	Begins: 1989 Jun 1	Ends: 1989 Sep 29	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2664	European Policy (European Community budget: developments in the European Community) (Part 43)	Begins: 1989 Oct 2	Ends: 1989 Nov 30	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2665	European Policy (European Council meeting, Madrid, June 1989) (Part 32)	Begins: 1989 Jun 7	Ends: 1989 Jun 22	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Secret	Pages: 289
PREM19/2666	European Policy (European Council meeting, Madrid, June 1989) (Part 33)	Begins: 1989 Jun 23	Ends: 1989 Jun 27	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20		Classification: Secret	Pages: 348
PREM19/2667	European Policy (European Council meeting, Madrid, June 1989) (Part 34)	Begins: 1989 Jun 27	Ends: 1989 Jul 17	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2668	European Policy (European Council meeting, Strasbourg, December 1989) (Part 35)	Begins: 1989 Nov 3	Ends: 1989 Dec 11	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2669	European Policy (European Council meeting, Strasbourg, December 1989) (Part 36)	Begins: 1989 Dec 12	Ends: 1989 Dec 15	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2671	European Policy (Proposals for a common format for the passports of European Community member states: abolition of frontiers formalities within the European Community)	Begins: 1980 Apr 14	Ends: 1989 Mar 23	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2672	European Policy (Meeting of European Community leaders to discuss the situation in Eastern Europe, Paris, 18 November 1989)	Begins: 1989 Nov 13	Ends: 1989 Nov 30	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2673	European Policy (European Convention on Human Rights) (Part 2)	Begins: 1986 Jun 6	Ends: 1989 Sep 29	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20
PREM19/2675	European Policy (European Monetary System (EMS)) (Part 3)	Begins: 1987 Jun 10	Ends: 1989 Feb 28	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Secret	Pages: 327
PREM19/2676	European Policy (European Monetary System (EMS)) (Part 4)	Begins: 1989 Mar 1	Ends: 1989 Aug 31	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Secret	Pages: 376
PREM19/2677	Food (Food safety) (Part 1)	Begins: 1989 Jan 30	Ends: 1989 Mar 30	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2678	Food (Food safety) (Part 2)	Begins: 1989 Apr 3	Ends: 1989 Jun 30	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2680	Foreign Policy (Allegations concerning war criminals: Simon Weisenthal Center; War Crimes Inquiry) (Part 1)	Begins: 1986 Oct 22	Ends: 1989 Jun 29	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2681	Foreign Policy (Allegations concerning war criminals: War Crimes Inquiry) (Part 2)	Begins: 1989 Jun 30	Ends: 1989 Dec 22	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2682	Foreign Policy (East/West relations) (Part 9)	Begins: 1988 Dec 2	Ends: 1989 Nov 17	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20	Any docs withheld? 8	Classification: Secret	Pages: 347
PREM19/2685	Foreign Policy (Prime Minister's visit to Morocco, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Namibia, March-April 1989) (Part 1)	Begins: 1989 Jan 20	Ends: 1989 Mar 21	Date of release: 2018 Jul 24	Any docs withheld? 15	Classification: Secret - Cab One	Pages: 342
PREM19/2686	Foreign Policy (Prime Minister's visit to Morocco, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Namibia, March-April 1989) (Part 2)	Begins: 1989 Mar 22	Ends: 1989 May 16	Date of release: 2017 Jul 20	Any docs withheld? 12	Classification: Top Secret - Cab One	Pages: 331
PREM19/2687	Foreign Policy (Correspondence with and about George Soros: economic proposals concerning the Soviet Union and Poland)	Begins: 1987 Sep 3	Ends: 1989 Sep 8	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30		Classification: Confidential	Pages: 108
PREM19/2688	Foreign Policy (Consular Fees (Amendment) Bill: increases in consular fees)	Begins: 1979 Jul 10	Ends: 1989 Mar 31	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2689	Foreign Policy (Policy towards bilateral summits)	Begins: 1988 Mar 28	Ends: 1989 Apr 18	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30
PREM19/2690	Foreign Policy (Prime Minister's visit to Australia, Bahrain, Oman, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Dubai, August 1988: policy. Note: With photograph)	Begins: 1988 Aug 1	Ends: 1989 May 17	Date of release: 2016 Dec 30	Any docs withheld? 2	Classification: Secret	Pages: 250

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