Britian 1990-97 (KO)

Question 1

What were the key events of 1990?

Answer 1

• Poll tax crisis
• UK joins ERM
• Howe’s resignation
• Thatcher resigns and Major becomes prime minister

Question 2

When was the citizens charter?

Answer 2

1991

Question 3

When did coalition forces liberate Kuwait?

Answer 3

1991

Question 4

When did the UK withdraw from the ERM?

Answer 4

1992

Question 5

When was the Maastricht Treaty?

Answer 5

1992

Question 6

When was the Euro-rebellion and ratification of the Maastricht Treaty?

Answer 6

1993

Question 7

When did Blair become Labour Party leader?

Answer 7

1994

Question 8

When did Major win party leadership election?

Answer 8

1995

Question 9

When was NATO intervention in Bosnia

Answer 9

1995

Question 10

When was the Labour election victory?

Answer 10

1997

Question 11

Who were the Euro-sceptics? Who were the Euro-rebels?

Answer 11

1) Those who thought closer European integration would not serve Britain’s best interests.
2) Conservatives MPs led by Bill Cash who fought against the ratification of the Maastricht treaty (supported by Euro-Sceptics)

Question 12

What is a subsidiarity?

Answer 12

The principle that in matters of special concern to a particular member state, they could ignore EC decisions.

Question 13

What is decommissioning?

Answer 13

The giving up of weapons

Question 14

What was Cash for questions?

Answer 14

When, in return for payment, Conservative MPs asked questions in the commons with the intention of promoting particular commercial interests.

Question 15

What was the Social Chapter?

Answer 15

The part of the Maastricht Treaty which committed EU member states to introducing extensive welfare schemes.

Question 16

When was Major’s ‘back to basics’ speech?

Answer 16

1993

Question 17

What factors contributed to the 1992 election loss for Labour?

Answer 17

• The Labour Party’s ‘razzmatazz style’ campaign.
• Labour’s shadow budget - suggested increased taxes.
• Major literally got on a soap-box to suggest the Conservatives should be trusted with the economy.
• The sun switched its support from Labour to Conservative.

Question 18

How many seats did the Conservatives get in the 1992 election?

Answer 18

336

Question 19

What did Major achieve in Kuwait? What made this even more successful?

Answer 19

• He cooperated with the US to create an invasion force, which in 1991 ended the illegal occupation of Kuwait by Hussein.
• He did this within UN regulations.
• He kept opposition leaders, Kinnock and Ashdown, informed.

Question 20

What was the Maastricht Treaty in this period?

Answer 20

• A treaty involving full European integration, single European currency and European Central Bank.

Question 21

What happened in Bosnia in this period?

Answer 21

• Britain contributed to a massive set of NATO attacks on Serbian forces.
• ‘Operation deliberate force’
• 3500 sorties flown - Serbians decided to negotiate
• Major was a signatory of the following Dayton Peace Agreement (keeping fighting to certain areas)

Question 22

What was the Mitchell report? Why was this good of Major?

Answer 22

• A report by Senator Mitchell which suggested that decommissioning was the only way forward.
• Generous acceptance of American aid - example of his diplomacy.
• 1996

Question 23

What IRA action happened in this period? (Close to Major). What was the public response?

Answer 23

• An IRA mortar bomb attack on No.10 Downing Street - followed by a sustained bombing campaign in England.
• Peace rallies in London, Belfast, and Dublin.

Question 24

What was the Taoiseach of Northern Ireland at this time? What was his relationship with Major?

Answer 24

• Albert Reynolds
• They had very similar characters, both looking for peace.

Question 25

What did the Downing Street Declaration aim for?

Answer 25

- Remove Westminsters influence. - If a democratic decision was made, the South should drop its claim that the North was part of them.

Question 26

When did the IRA declare a ceasefire? Was it kept to?

Answer 26

- 1994 - very fragile, frequent outbursts of violence

Question 27

What was the unrealistically high rate we joined the ERM at in 1990? What did this lead to?

Answer 27

DM2.95 - exports became overpriced

Question 28

What happened in 1992 with the ERM? What were interest rate raised to?

Answer 28

- Black Wednesday - 10% then 15%

Question 29

What needed to happen to the Maastricht treaty after signing to make it binding? What coinciding event made this problematic?

Answer 29

- Ratification by parliament - The ERM crisis

Question 30

How did Major get the Maastricht bill passed?

Answer 30

He attached it to a vote of no confidence, and so it was forced through as the Euro-rebels did not want to bring down government and lose their jobs.

Question 31

What were the results of Majors leadership contest? Why did he call it?

Answer 31

He defeated Redwood 218 to 89 - but with 22 abstentions it showed over 100 members were not fully committed to him as a leader.

Question 32

Who were the Euro-sceptics it was assumed Major was referring to as ‘bastards’?

Answer 32

Lilley, Portillo, Redwood, Howard

Question 33

What was some of the most damaging ‘Sleaze’ of this period?

Answer 33

- ‘Cash for questions’ - Milligans hanging himself - Arms-to-Iraq - Resignation of Tim Yeo

Question 34

What was the Cash-for-Questions Affair?

Answer 34

1994 - The Guardian newspaper alleged that Conservatives members of parliament had taken bribes to ask specific parliamentary questions on behalf of the owner of Harrods.

Question 35

What was the resignation of Tim Yeo scandal?

Answer 35

Yeo was forced to resign after news of his ‘love-child’ with a councillor emerged - three years prior he had announced to his constituency how it was in everyone’s interests to reduce broken families.

Question 36

What was the arms-to-Iraq scandal?

Answer 36

Members of a British company were put on trial for supplying equipment to Iraq, however this collapsed when it was revealed that the company had been advised by the government on how to sell arms to Iraq.

Question 37

What happened with Milligan’s hanging?

Answer 37

Promising young Tory MP Milligan was found having accidentally strangled himself to death in some sort of sexual act.

Question 38

What were the conservative handicaps in the 1992 election? (Briefly)

Answer 38

- divisions over Europe - ERM criss - squabbles over the ratification of Maastricht treaty - Major’s uninspiring leadership - loss of all by-elections since 1990 - small majority - reliant on Ulster Unionists - Sleaze - Delayed reaction to Thatcherism

Question 39

What were reasons for the Labour 1997 victory?

Answer 39

- Use of spin doctors - electoral imbalance - John Smith had modernised the party, e.g. removing trade union block vote. - Blair represented ‘cool Britannia’

Question 40

What is a key quote from Majors back to basics speech?

Answer 40

‘It is time to return to those old core values, time to get back to basics’