The legal status of trade unions in the United Kingdom was established by a Royal Commission in 1867, which agreed that the establishment of the organisations was to the advantage of both employers and employees. Most British unions are members of the TUC, the Trades Union Congress, and where appropriate, the Scottish Trades Union Congress and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, which are the country's principal national trade union centers. The Labour Party arose from the organised labour movement and still has extensive links with it. Margaret Thatcher's governments weakened the powers of the unions in the 1980s and some within the British trades union movement criticise Tony Blair's Labour government for not reversing some of Thatcher's changes since taking office in 1997. In countries that are Commonwealth Realms a Royal Commission is a major government inquiry into an issue. ... Trades Union Congress headquarters at Congress House in Great Russell Street near Tottenham Court Road, Camden, London. ... The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is the co-ordinating body of trade unions in Scotland. ... The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trade Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is the organisation to which trade unions in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland affiliate. ... A national trade union center is a federation of trade unions in a single country. ... The Right Honourable Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925), is a British stateswoman. ... The 1980s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1980 and 1989. ... The Right Honourable Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...