Against the Tide

This third volume of Benn's political diaries brings us to a watershed in British politics - the post-war consensus is finally buried, with the defeat of Heath, the stormy resignation of Wilson and Callaghan's brief rule preparing the way for a new era of Thatcher domination. 1973 saw Ted Heath's ailing government locked in confrontation with the miners and the three day week, incapable of responding to the OPEC oil crisis. Candle-lit offices and power cuts finally forced a general election on the issue of "who governs Britain", returning the surprised Labour party back into power. But Tony Benn himself is under attack from all sides - an increasingly hostile and crafty press, the CBI, the Treasury and, most important, Number 10 itself - as he attempts to pursue the radical policies in Labour's election manifesto. The first two volumes of Benn's political diaries are entitled, "Out of the Wilderness" and "Office Without Power".