A Very British Coup is a 1982 novel by British politician Chris Mullin. The novel has twice been adapted for television; as A Very British Coup in 1988 and as Secret State in 2012. Plot Harry Perkins is the left-wing Leader of the Labour Party and Member of Parliament for Sheffield Central. Beating all the odds, Harry becomes Prime Minister following a landslide victory in the 1989 general election, and sets out to dismantle media monopolies, establish Britain as a neutral country through withdrawal from NATO, the removal of American military bases from British soil and unilateral nuclear disarmament, achieve public control of finances, revive manufacturing by withdrawing from the Common Market and imposing import controls, and create an open government. Many people in the media, financial services, and the intelligence services are deeply unhappy with Harry's win and his policies, and they unite with the United States government to stop him by any means. Shortly after entering office, Perkins hires Independent Socialist journalist Fred Thompson as an aide to answer his letters and to keep an eye on the Civil Service at the Cabinet Office. After Perkins undiplomatically rejects the pleas of the US Secretary of State to reconsider his defence policies, a run on pound sterling and a resultant balance of payments crisis are engineered to discredit him, with the US and other NATO members refusing to offer standby credit. The International Monetary Fund offers to grant Britain a loan only on the condition of cutting public spending by £10,000,000,000 (approximately £24,000,000,000 in 2022) over two years. Foreign Secretary Tom Newsome, feigning illness, embarks on a secret tour of Algeria, Libya and Iraq, securing £10,000,000,000 in standby credit in support of Labour's policies of the removal of American military bases and the creation of a Palestinian homeland. In retaliation, DI5 reports Newsome's affair with Maureen Jackson, a young member of the Hampstead Labour Party, to Perkins. Although Perkins is reluctant to accept Newsome's resignation, he is left with no choice after the story is reported in the newspapers, implying a security threat due to Maureen's flatmate being a member of the Workers' Revolutionary Party. Following his resignation, Newsome returns home to find his wife having committed suicide by overdosing. Reg Smith, the Secretary of the United Power Workers' Union, calls for a work-to-rule by power workers in protest against the Perkins ministry's proposed ten per cent pay increase