Introduction

Abstract

This is a book about sex and politics. It is a study of the Thatcher government, the pressure groups concerned with questions of family and morality and the issues they have brought to the fore. The debates which it examines — ranging from abortion to sex education — have received considerable media attention and raise important issues. Yet, while much has been written in the area, there has long been a need for a more substantive account. Material has lain scattered in press reports, parliamentary minutes and the publications of campaigning organisations. Relatively little study has been made of the campaigning bodies while discussions of the Thatcher government often tend to neglect issues of family and morality altogether. The work that follows has both an empirical and an analytical purpose. In part, it is a study of the activities of moral crusading organisations in recent years. In attempting this, one of our main concerns has been to set out, in as accurate and balanced a way as possible, how moral campaigners see the issues and the arguments they make. But it is also intended to challenge previous interpretations of the relationship between Thatcherism, sexual morality and moral crusading organisations.