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The House of Lords' decision in favour of the railway company, in Taff Vale Railway Company versus Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants et al, 21 Jul 1901, AC 426, was the culmination of a decade of judicial whittling away of the rights granted to trade unions by the Trade Union Act 1871 (34-35 Vic., c.31) and the Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act 1875 (38-39 Vic., c.86). The Lord's decision limited legal picketing so that it was ineffective and opened union funds to damages sustained by a company during a strike. The decision, which led to a large increase in membership of the Labour Representation Committee (the Labour Party), was reversed by the Trade Disputes Act 1906 (6 Edw.VII, c.47).

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[See also MSS.127/NU/GS/3/23].