1970-9 key events, policies and acts - add liberal surge and election stuff and decimilisation Flashcards
(27 cards)
the industrial relations act
3 clauses
- completed ‘in place of strife’
- restricted the rights of wokrers to strike by introducing a new concept of unfair industrial practise
- a national industrial relations court was created with the authority to judge the validity of strike action
- unions were rrequired to put themselves on a government register if they wanted to retain their legal rights
John Davies as head of the department of trade and industry
- an unconventional politician coming from a business background as director general of the CBI
- one of his first statements was that he intended to advise the government against helping ‘lame ducks’
Barber’s early measures as chancellor in 1970
five measures
- income tax cuts
- reductions in government spending
- scrapping of the Prices and Income Board
- cuts in the subsidies paid to local authorities
- lifting the restrictions on wage bargaining for the unions
Margaret Thatcher as secretary for education in 197-
- ‘margaret thatcher milk snatcher’
- a measure to cut government spending by taking away free milk from primary school children
affects of Barber’s policies
3 points
- tax consessions to high earners
- declining public services
- rise in council house rents
Heath’ Selsdon man and new right ideology
- intended to break with the consensus
- highly advocated in the run up to the 1970 election
- hands off approach to government direction
- would abandon prices and income policy - allowing employers and workers to sort it out themselves with the help of market forces
- limit trade union power though so they don’t have an unfair advantage in disputes
Heath’s U turn
- returns to a policy of controlling prices and incomes in 1972
- bailed out Rolls Royce
- subsidies given to companies like upper Clyde shipbuilders
what was the TUC’s (trade union congress) immediate response to the Industrial Relations Act
they resisted by formally votingnot to cooperate with the government on measures and calling on the individual unions to refuse to register
- the unions responded with a collective rejection of registration
- this made it impossible to enforce or apply the act
after his U-turn, what was Heath’s new attitude to the unions
now appealed to them to cooperate with the government and the CBI insolving their common problems
Battle of Saltley gate
- led by Arthur Scargill they called a strike which effectively used flying pickets to prevent the movement of coal from the mines
- this considerably reduced industrial production and disrupted fuel and electricity supplies
what does the government do in response to the strikes in 1973
introduces a 6 month pay freeze to combat inflation
the oil crisis
since Britain supported Israel in the Yom Kippur, Arab-Israeli war, the Arab dominated OPEC increase fuel prices by 70% overnight in retaliation
what do the miners do in response to the oil crisis
increase their wage demands, thinking the government will now have to give in
the three day week
- Heath hoped to defeat the miners by not giving in
- he calculated that the government would be able to survive the strike longer than the miners
- in December 1973 he announces that ‘most industrial and commericial premises will be limited in the use of electricity to three specified days a week’
affects of the three day week
four affects
- recalled austerity of wartime and the late 1940’s
- many forced to live without electricity for long periods
- this made it difficult for most of the general public to sympathise with the miners
- support for the strike was strong in the mining communities
how did the three day week come to an end
- gave the NUM a 21% pay increase - nearly 3x what they had initially demanded
- this was a majjor defeat for Heath and his government
what made Heath call the February 1974 election
when the NUM went on strike again early in 1974 in pursuit of further wage demands Heath asked the country who ran the country: the miners or the government
how did Heath reform local government
Local Government Act passed in two stages in 1972-3
- destroyed many historical local landmarks
- many familiar place names disappeared
- removed many layers of bureaucracy
how did people react to local government reforms
- many saw it as an attack on local identity
- there were protests, particularly from Tories on the right
Britain and the EEC
- Heath told his party that the economic situation made it essential for them to join as they could not survive on their own
- expresses these ideas to the conservative party confererence in 1971
- sign the Treaty of Accession in 1972
- this came into effect on New Years Day 1973
Britain’s weak bargaining position in EEC negotiations
- had little ability to negotiate as a newcomer
- in particular, commonwealth goods could no longer enter Britain without an EU tariff
- thus they had sacrificed economic ties with the commonwealth
- mainly accepted the political implications due to desperation at poor economic situation
effects of internment
four effects
- increased tension in Northern Ireland
- a feeling amongst catholics that they were being persecuted
- strained relations between the Irish and British governments
- breaking of the cross party understanding in the commons since many Labour MPs opposed internment and presence of troops
bloody sunday
a prohibited civil rights march in Londonderry ended in carnage with 14 demonstrators shot and killed by British troops
Widgery report
the first inquiry into bloody sunday - found that the demonstrators had fired first
