In 1973 a group of North Wales building workers were arrested for picketing-related offences
during the first and only national building workers strike in Britain the year before. It was a
turning point for halting the growth of trade unionism in the building industry from which it
has never recovered. A Very British Conspiracy is the first book to tell the full story of how
the state prosecuted these workers and the campaign that was established to overturn this
miscarriage of justice. Turnbull uncovers government and police documents that show the careful
planning of the prosecution of the 24 men. She forensically reveals how the state used the
criminal justice system to secure convictions. It shows how in the absence of hard evidence
the Police and prosecution went to extraordinary lengths to criminalise trade unionists. The
premature death of the lead picket Des Warren was the catalyst for a group of North West
trade unionists and several of the pickets to come together in 2006 to organise a campaign to
achieve justice. In March 2021 the convictions were finally quashed by the Court of Appeal.
The book describes how the pickets and their families felt after forty-eight years being
ostracised and considered as criminals in their communities as well as the response of the six
core Campaign committee members who had brought this historic victory about.
