As Director-General, Milne was involved with a series of controversies with the British government. Contentious programme-making included the "Nationwide" general election special with Margaret Thatcher in 1983, the coverage of the miners' strike of 1984–85, the "Real Lives" fracas, the "Panorama" libel action, the reporting of the U.S. bombing of Libya and the controversy surrounding the programme "Secret Society" which took place in light of MI5's vetting of BBC employees.