During the past decade there has been a major debate about political freedom in Britain. This study examines the changes in the laws on civil liberties under the Conservative government, and explores the extent to which legislation on the police, public order, terrorism, official secrecy, telephone tapping and the security services has altered the relationship between individuals and the State. It offers a legal analysis of the various changes, placing them in historial and political context to provide both an overview of the impact of "Thatcherism" on political liberty, and a guide to the restrictions on freedom that are likely to become relevant in the 1990s.