The Neoliberal Experiments (1979-96)

Abstract

By the end of the 1970s, the politics of private security revolved around an increasingly intense regulation debate, which had by now captured the attention of some of the most prominent political actors in the country. On the pro-regulation side were the executives of the large private security companies, the main industry trade association, an ever-growing number of parliamentary actors, the Police Federation and a collection of academics and media commentators. On the anti-regulation side were the Home Office and ACPO. At this time, the comparatively small but extremely powerful anti-regulation alliance was just about controlling the debate. By the mid-1990s, however, the pro-regulation alliance had finally managed to turn the tables by establishing a consensus in favour of regulating the private security industry (which included a reluctant Home Office and an enthusiastic ACPO). Yet the path to this consensus was by no means straightforward, for the ascendance of the neoliberal political-economic project during the course of the 1980s impacted upon the politics of private security in a number of unpredictable ways. This chapter will chronologically analyse this fourth phase of the political negotiations over the constitution of the British security sector.