Civil servant who served under Harold Wilson and Edward Heath, and advised Margaret Thatcher during the 1984 miners’ strike
Sir Peter Gregson, who has died aged 79, was a quintessential high-flying civil servant, objective, balanced and brilliant in writing a succinct case to ministers whether they were Conservative or Labour. He played a pivotal role advising Margaret Thatcher in handling the 1984 miners’ strike.
Asked by the then prime minister to prepare for the confrontation with the National Union of Miners, he chaired a secret cabinet committee of senior civil servants codenamed MISC 57. Before the first miners went on strike in 1984, the committee had made sure there was a huge stockpile of coal for the power stations and looked into building new oil- or gas-fired power stations.
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