Nigel - when considering conservative "reforms" you have to understand what they were trying to do. Thatcherite and subsequent "reforms" to trade union law were about one thing only - to stop workers successfully combining, since only by combining with other workers could workers have enough power to negotiate in meaningful terms with capital. The secret ballot is innocuous enough (so long as it is honest) but in union law secret ballots came with other baggage all with one objective: to give power to the bosses.