... tackling the immediate problems it faced when taking over power, it also limited their ability to deliver their promised reforms and social improvements. When Labour came to power it inherited from the Tories the 'gravest situation Britain had faced since the war'. This situation was partly the result of the previous Tory government in passing the Industrial Relations Act of 1971. The implication of this act was widespread industrial action by a much more left-wing union, imprisonment of striking workers and the threat of a general strike. The dispute between the previous Tory government and the miners had not been settled and the country was working a three day week. Unemployment was over one million, the government faced rising prices and wages demands. The economy was in a mess, with the biggest balance of payment deficit since the war. Industry had suffered from years of neglect and underinvestment and productivity ...

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