1951-64 Flashcards
economic prosperity
-Churchill: full employment and rising salaries, salaries of ministers cut by 20% and food rationing ended 1954
-Macmillan: his premiership saw a vast improvement in ‘the condition of the people’
leadership
-appeared strong and united even in times of crisis (Suez-1956) compared to Labour’s infighting
-deferential politics worked in favour of the tories
-Lord Woolton’s reforms in 1951 made sure the party was unified
housing policy
-rebuild after WW2
-Rent Act 1957: abolished rent control putting 6 million properties on the market
-300,000 houses built annually
-created conditions for property owning democracy
-but
-60% of the homes built were private and rents rose considerably
unemployment policy
-committed to full employment
-but
-unemployment rose heavily, peak in 1963 of 878,000 and those living in working class cities found it hard to get full time employment
education policy
-tripartite system
-robbins report 1963: recommended more funding to universities and an emphasis on scientific education
1950s post war boom
-rationing ended 1954
-global economy booming
-by 1955 full employment
-huge expansions in electrical and engineering works
-rising wages as a result in economic growth and low unemployment
chancellors 51-64
-R.A. Butler (51-55): 55 election ‘give away’ budget, £134m tax cuts
-Macmillan (55-57): for Eden
-Thorneycroft (57-58): Thorneycroft and Macmillan disagreed over budget cuts leading to his resignation
-Heathcoat Amory (58-60): low unemployment, stable prices, favourable balance of payments
-Lloyd (60-62): dismissed by macmillan due to tax increases and public expenditure cuts
-Maudling (62-64): 1963 budget cut taxes by £260m
stop-go economics
-go: expanding economy with low interest rates and rising consumer spending
-stop: when the economy overheats, wage and imports exceed productivity and exports, government slows down the economy using spending cuts and higher interest rates
economic problems after 1961
-government introduced a pay pause to prevent wage inflation (unpopular)
-commonwealth trade insufficient
-macmillan applied to join EEC, rejection in 1963 was a serious setback
-1963 Beeching report: recommended massive cuts in British railways, 30% of lines closed led to public outrage especially in rural areas
NEDC
-National Economic Development Council
-consisted of government representatives, academics,employers and trade unionists, responsible for long term planning
NICKY
-National Incomes Commission
-role to keep an eye on wages and prices
successes of economic policy
-inflation and unemployment remained low, and living standards improved
-expansion in electrical and engineering work
-purchase tax reduced from 100% in 1951 to 25% in 1963
-on average wages grew by 72% whilst prices only increased by 45%
failures of economic policy
-1961 pay pause to hold back inflation was highly unpopular
-application for IMF loan in 1961
-1961 EEC application rejection in 1963
-balance of payments deficit of £750m by 1964
-instability of stop-go economics
1951 election figures
-Churchill
-Con 48%
-Lab 48.8%
1955 election figures
-Eden
-Con 49.7%
-Lab 46.4%
1959 election figures
-Macmillan(though he was PM from 1957, Eden resigned)
-Con 49.4%
-Lab 43.8%
1964 election figures
-Wilson
-Lab 44.1%
-Con 43.4%
evidence for post war consensus
-con and lab both pursued decolonisation
-con and lab committed to full employment
-con somewhat accepted atlee’s nationalisation programme
-con accepted that the unions had an important role to play
-con accepted the existence of the welfare state
evidence against post war consensus
-1953 con privatised iron and steel industries
-housing under con was private housing, lab mainly controlled by local authority
-disagreement over education, con wanted grammar schools maintained, lab wanted comprehensives
-labour’s defence policy in the early 1950s involved unilateral disarmament, opposed by con
reasons for labour remaining in opposition: internal divisions
-Bevanites vs Gaitskellites
-Bevanites: further nationalisations, anti nuclear weapons and defence spending, anti-EEC
-Gaitskellites: consolidation of Attlee’s reforms,pro nuclear weapons,move away from clause 4,pro-EEC
-entry into the Korean war (1950-53) angered the Labour left
-such a broadchurch of ideas effected the voting
-Bevan resigns on the introduction of prescription charges (1951)
reasons for labour remaining in opposition: image problems
-‘cloth cap’ image associated with manual working class
-party of rationing and austerity
-party divisions were obvious
-average age of cabinet was 60, compared to younger fresher conservatives
-Gaitskell was no match for Macmillan on TV
causes of affluence
-give away budgets of 1955 and 59 stimulated feelings of affluence via tax and interest rates cuts
-wages for working class men rose by 95%
-1956 34,100 immigrants came to live in Britain
-post war baby boom, created more teenagers
positive impact of affluence
-introduction of ITV in 1955 saw adverts for new consumer goods, driving up demand
-by 1968 over 90% of households owned at least 1 TV
-more disposable income meant more tourism, in the 1950s 60,000 people a week holidayed at Butlins
-youth fashion waves e.g. Teddy boys and Mods
-consumer spending on cars and motorcycles quadrupled 1939-59
negative impact of affluence
-full employment meant that in reality the UK had a labour shortage, had to appeal to people of the commonwealth
-by the 1960s many middle class families could no longer afford servants
-traditional role of women reinforced in the media
reasons for tory victory 1955: the party
-Eden was a popular replacement for Churchill due to his reputation as Foreign secretary
-tory party was united and working together
reasons for tory victory 1955: economy/affluence
-marked economic improvement, trade recovered, industries supplying consumer goods were thriving and unemployment was low
-Butler’s 1955 budget intended to have electoral appeal: cut taxes significantly, new mood of optimism
reasons for tory victory 1955: labour divisions
-split continued after Bevan’s resignation
-right of the party wished to revise clause 4, TUC opposed to its abolition
-decision by government to develop H-Bomb raised another issue
reasons for tory victory 1955: reasons to vote tory
-‘united for peace and progress’
-evidence of getting rid of rationing highlights freeing progress made since 1951 election
-record employment, pensions, wages and savings up, taxes down
-increased house building
reasons for tory victory 1955: other
-labours outdated image
-tories utilized TV
-timing of election coincided with wakes week, causing a natural gain for the tories
reasons for tory victory 1959: campaign
-spent £500,000 getting their message out before it had officially started
-vast majority of people ‘never had it so good’
-campaign posters: ‘life’s better with the conservatives-don’t let labour ruin it’
-Gaitskell’s credibility trashed when he promised to increase public spending without increasing taxes
reasons for tory victory 1959: personalities
-Macmillan was an asset to the tories,gentlemanly, almost Edwardian
-Gaitskell had a seemingly cold and arrogant manner and did not appear well on `TV like Macmillan
class and the establishment
-society was deferential and overly hierarchical, monarchy at the top and ‘the establishment’ (including leading politicians, churchmen, landowners, aristocrats etc.) was just below
-by the early 1960s attitudes towards the establishment began to change, hostility grew towards the system, criticism increased
women
-continuing conservative attitude in society shown by the continuation of the subordination of women
-average female wages were less than 2/3 of that of a males
-women worked for ‘pin-money’ to enable the house to buy little luxuries
-% of women in the workforce did rise from 26-35%
immigration
-end of the war it was estimated between 20,000-30,000 non-whites were living in Britain, and in the minds of some this threatened the structure and stability of British society
-the anxiety surrounding immigration highlights an underlying racial prejudice within society
racial prejudice and violence
-mostly the discrimination was based off ignorance and a lack of experience, but even so ‘no coloureds, no irish’ were common signs on housing
-notting hill riots in 1958 gave the ministers the reasoning to implement legislation to attempt to curb the discrimination, The Commonwealth Immigrants Bill came in response
youth culture
-the description ‘teenager’ came to use, with negative connotations
-youth did certainly benefit from the improving economy, and enjoyed greater affluence and opportunities than those before
-the youth were seen to have too much time (end of national service in 1960) and too much money on their hands
youth and crime
-young people were seen as an easy scapegoat for Britain’s rising crime
-‘teddy boys’ caused widespread alarm, and were though to carry flick knives
-the issue came with generalisation in the media, though there may have been a small group of youth that did aid the increase of crime, many kept the socially conservative attitude of their parents
why did Britain not join the EEC in the first place
-wary of europe, germans were the wartime enemies and france had been occupied by them during ww2
-misconceptions of britain being a world power
-not in the national interest, CAP was more suited to more agricultural nations
-heavy focus on the cold war, empire and USA
economic reasons for britain joining EEC
-britain’s trade was gradually moving towards europe
-the economic imbalance was a chronic problem, alongside stagflation, low growth rates and this was accompanied by a sterling crisis in 1961
-britain’s economy was in poor shape
-hoped that joining would boost industrial production for a large scale
political reason for Britain joining EEC
-americans believed britain could steer the EEC towards more liberal trading policies, which would aid the US in correcting its balance of payments deficit
-if britain could join the EEC and become a leader, she could regain her status with the US
-US believed britain being in the EEC would stop France having so much influence
political reason for Britain not joining EEC
-britain’s relationship with the US
-both the main parties were ambiguous and divided on the issue
-charles de gaulle firmly believed there was no place for britain or america’s influence
britain’s relationship with the US, developments
-korean war, together against communism
-cold war, capitalism vs. communism
-1949 founding member of NATO, 1952 first atomic bomb tested, 1957 H Bomb tested
-April 1957, Sandy’s review of defence strategy: spending 10% of national income on defence was unrealistic and unsustainable
-1963 test ban on nuclear weapons
-failure of bluestreak in 1960, failure of US skybolt 1962 adopted polaris missiles from US in 1963
nuclear deterrent timeline
-britain decided to develop their own until burgess and maclean affair
-britain was 3rd behind US and USSR to develop nuclear weapons
-CND (protest group formed in 1958) supported unilateralism, organised a protest at Aldermaston
britain’s world power status, the debate
-traditional argument: decline of britain as a world power, in 1945 she was a vast world power
-by the 1960s, the empire had gone and britain became a junior partner in the relationship with the US
-continuity argument: britain’s role had not changed significantly, evidence of britain attempting to remain a world power
-delusional, britain refused to accept its declining world power
‘wind of change’
-macmillan embarked on a new phase in Britain’s decolonisation journey, 1957-64, 20 colonies gained independence
-trade pattern changed, % of trade with the empire almost halved in the 1960s
the korean war
-1950-53
-stalin established a hard-line communist state, in 1950 attitudes to reunification changed, with Stalin’s backing the north launched a surprise attack
-the conflict placed enormous strains on Britain’s resources, economic and military
the suez crisis
-july 1956, colonel nasser nationalised the anglo-french suez canal company, response in britain was universally hostile
-eden’s reputation had been formed on his supposed opposition to appeasement in 1930s
-military response would be lengthy,and delay proved fatal, majority opinion moved towards a UN settlement, but Eden was plotting with France and Israel
-eden ignored several warnings from the US and went ahead with his plan, to say america was annoyed was a severe understatement
night of the long knives
-13th july 1962, macmillan announced he would be sacking seven cabinet ministers, setting in motion a wholesale reshuffle involving 52 people affecting 39 ministerial posts
-seen as ultimate display of power of PM over colleagues
vassal affair
-1963
-John Vassal (civil servant in the admirality) caught spying for soviet union
-suggestions of senior figures trying to protect him
-inquiry found the government was not in control of its departments
kim philby
-jan 1963, Philby (minister in foreign office) had been passing info to USSR and recruiting spies, fled to Moscow
-Macmillan’s government took the brunt of the blame for failing to spot a traitor at the heart of the establishment
argyll divorce case
-1963, duke of argyll filed for divorce on the grounds of adultery
-list of 88 men she had slept with, including two unidentified cabinet ministers, one appearing in a pornographic photo
profumo affair and its impact
-march 1963 Profumo’s (minister for war) sexual liaison with Christine Keeler was exposed, this proved a risk to national security because of Keeler’s soviet clients
-Profumo swore it was not true, but admitted three months later and resigned
-Dr Stephen Ward’s association with other members of the party ruined them as he recruited clients for the girls
1963/4 end of conservative dominance: decline
-defence: criticism mounted after the failure of blue streak, american dependency and britain’s status asa nuclear power seemed certain
-economy: difficulties encountered in 1961, adverse balance of payments, countered by tax increases and public expenditure cuts, new initiatives e.g. NEDC failed, and rejection from the EEC 1963
-scandal: profumo affair caused embarrassment for the macmillan government
-opinion polls: labour gained a lead for the first time in a decade
factors leading to the end of conservative dominance: downturn in the economy
-macmillan pushed the ‘go’ period 1959 election, overheated economy
-poor by-election results because of Lloyd’s deflationary policies 1961
-1962 night of the long knives severely damaged macmillan’s reputation
-1962, unemployment reached 800,000
-1963 rejection from EEC, ended hopes of quick solution for declining economy
factors leading to the end of conservative dominance: conservative party weakness
-reputation damaged by scandals e.g. profumo
-loss of effective leadership, macmillan became out of touch
-douglas-home was ineffective at TV campaigning, and was a hindrance to the party as he was very out of touch, compared to wilson who was young and vigorous
-douglas-home was portrayed as an expert in defence and foreign affairs, when he was a mediocre foreign secretary
factors leading to end of conservative dominance: revival of labour
-new unity under Wilson, at ease on TV, political commentator David Frost summarised the election campaign as ‘smart alec against dull alec’
-election manifesto, ‘the new britain’ based upon Wilson’s ‘white heat of technology’ speech proved popular focusing on economic planning and ignoring labour’s foreign policy divisions
