1964-1970 Flashcards
Was Harold Wilson on the left or the right of the Labour party?
Left.
True or false - Wilson had been a Bevanite and resigned in 1950 over prescription charges.
True.
Did Wilson serve under Gaitskell’s cabinet?
Yes.
In what year did Wilson challenge Gaitskell for leadership from the left in and did he win or lose?
1961 and lost but became the future obvious candidate from the left.
Wilson didn’t appear to be of the left. What policies did he support that are examples of this?
Supported nuclear deterrent.
Attempted to reform Trade unions.
How did Wilson refer to the 13 years of conservative governement?
Called them the ‘wasted years’.
Wilson successfully linked the party to modernisation and was seen as classless. What examples of this were there?
Relaxed on TV.
Removed from Edwardian image of Eden, Macmillan and Home.
Smoked a pipe.
State school educated.
Yorkshire accent.
Wilson conscience about balancing his rivals in the party to remained unchallenged. Who did he rely on?
Trusted advisors from outside the government and civil service.
Dominated by Marcia Williams who was his personal political secretary.
Kitchen cabinet - economic advisors and inner circle MPs. These kitchen cabinet meetings reinforced his suspicions of inner party rivalries and prevented ministers from access to him.
The party inherited a deficit of how much?
£800 Million.
Classic solutions of a deficit were deflation and devaluation, what did James Callaghan want to do?
Neither.
What is Devaluation?
Decrease value of pound.
Increases import cost but helps making British exports cheaper in other countries.
Makes Britain look and be weaker as would have to scale back activities around the globe.
Labour did not want to do this as feared reputation of devaluation like Atlee in 1949.
What is Deflation?
Supports the value of the pound and prevents inflation.
However Labour not favourable as was part of the old ‘stop-go’ economics that Labour wanted to break away from.
Also would prevent Labour from sticking to their manifesto of extra spending on the welfare state and technology.
True or false - Labour wanted to continue Stop-go cycle.
False. Reorganising the economy to break out of cycle was on of Wilson’s key aims in 1964.
Affluence of the post war boom was not seen in the growth rates of Britain. What countries was Britain lagging behind economically?
West Germany and Japan.
What was Wilson’s solution to the economic issues left by the conservatives?
The DEA (Department of economic affairs).
Who was the DEA led by?
George Brown who had a working class trade union background.
What was the plan by the DEA?
National systems of economic planning councils.
Tried to establish voluntary agreements about wages and prices with industrialists, trade unionists and civil servants.
Aimed to secure the restraint needed to prevent inflation which the government would need to stop with controls.
Done to prevent stop-go.
Did the DEA fail?
Yes.
Why did the DEA come to nothing?
Didn’t have united government support and was always at competition with chancellor Callaghan.
Some blamed Wilson for trying to make people happy rather than pick the best man for the job.
Some blamed brown for being impulsive and inconsistent. He moved to the ministry of foreign affairs after.
Some blamed the old fashioned anti Labour civil servants at the bank of England for undermining Brown’s efforts.
Who was Callaghan replaced by in 1967 who was strongly in favour of Devaluation?
Roy Jenkins.
What policies did Jenkins implement?
Increased taxes and tightened up government spending prioritising balance of payments.
Did Roy Jenkins policies make Labour popular or unpopular?
Unpopular.
Was Jenkins economic policy successful?
Achieved balance of payments surplus in 1969
Key reason as to why Labour were confident going into 1970 election.
Although inflation was still 12% 1969-1970.
What did Labour implementing devaluation with Roy Jenks do to their credibility?
Damaged it as they had tried to avoid it previously.
What else other than devaluation damaged Labour’s credibility just weeks after it was implemented?
Rejection to the EEC
Application made on economic grounds - rejection made the governments economic efforts look futile.
What was Wilsons view on joining EEC?
Wilson was Luke warm on Europe.
What was most of Labour’s view on joining EEC?
Most didn’t want to join however application made on economic grounds.
What was the prices and incomes board’s job?
Keep inflation down.
When was the sterling crisis and what was it caused by in part?
1966 and caused in part by long strike from national union of Seamen.
The government defeated the Seamen strikes. What arose from this?
Some on the left shocked by Wilson’s critical attitude on strikes.
Why did Frank Cousins resign from the cabinet?
Frank Cousins resigns from the cabinet over the incomes policy of freezing incomes.
Relations between the government and trade unions was breaking down.
What deflationary policies did Labour implement that did not look dissimilar to stop-go?
Defence cuts, hire purchase restrictions and increased interest rates.
What were the results of the 1967 war in middle east?
Cut oil supplies.
Major dock strikes 1967 affected balance of payments.
Devaluation couldn’t be avoided and £ dropped by 14% - now £2.40 to the $ but was £2.80 to the $ previously.
What percent of people in polls viewed unions favourably in the early 1960s?
60%.
What priority of governments had made unions happy?
Full employment.
True or false - unions were a key element of the post war consensus.
True.
Wilson relied on trade unions for cooperation with his prices and incomes policy. Who did he appoint as head of technology in 1964 to appease them?
Frank Cousins.
In what years did relationships with the unions begin to deteriorate?
1966-1967.
Who lobbied the control of the Seamen and Dockers?
Old stile union bosses.
What policy did Heath announce to undermine Wilson with the unions and workers?
‘Fair deal at work’ including fair wages, job security, and better working conditions.
What were the Wildcat strikes?
Activists who would not take orders from the top.
How did Wilson and Barbera Castle plan to ban unofficial strikes.
Use the law with ‘in place of strife’.
What factors of ‘in place of strife’ did trade unions not like?
Strike ballots could be imposed.
28 day cooling off period before strikes went ahead.
Industrial relations court able to prosecute those who broke the rules.
What did Barbera castle say about her ‘in place of strife’?
Could be ‘political suicide’
Did Labour MPs support ‘in place of strife’?
Supported by many such as Roy Jenkins.
However at least 50 Labour MPs were ready to rebel.
How did the Unions react to ‘in place of strife’?
Union leaders such as Jack Jones the leader of the TGWU hated them.
Did ‘in place of strife’ go through?
Rows went on for months until Wilson gave in.
June 1969 TUC negotiated a compromise however everyone knew it was a humiliating clime down by government.
Cost of research and development was high and Britain could no longer compete with the US. However what project did go through with France?
Concorde.
Who replaced Frank cousins as minister of technology in 1966?
Tony Benn.
Why were there less tensions over division than the past in Labour?
Wilson minimised tensions over Clause IV.
Deaths of Gaitskell 1963 and Bevan 1960.
Why did Wilson have fears of a leadership challenge?
Brown was resentful that he lost the leadership challenge to Wilson and then not offered foreign secretary role 1964. Rumours of Wilson undermining his reputation.
Wilson was also suspicious of Jenkins who was a Gaitskellite. After Seamen strike Jenkins tried to get cabinet behind devaluation. Wilson saw this as a plot to replace himself and Brown with Jenkins and Callaghan. Highlights Wilson’s paranoia as it was highly unlikely that Callaghan and Jenkins would work together due to their contrasting views.
True or false - Wilson spent too much energy and attention in keeping part united.
True.
True or false - Wilson faced an obvious challenger from the left.
False. Wilson never faced an obvious challenger from the left.
How did Wilson increase the likelihood of a divide between the left and the right?
Those on the left of trade unions, local government and youth were frustrated by his government.
How was there discrimination against Catholics in Northern Ireland?
In employment, housing and electoral boundaries drawn to prevent Catholics from being elected.
Accusations of RUC the Northern Ireland police being bias against Catholics.
Why did tensions rise in Northern Ireland?
Loyalists feared IRA would start a new campaign.
They set up their own paramilitary to defend the Loyalists.
What happened at the Northern Ireland 1968 civil rights marches?
Catholics marched against the discrimination and got attacked by the Loyalists.
Catholics argued the RUC (Northern Ireland police) failed to protect them.
What happened in 1969 at Bogside in Northern Ireland?
Apprentice boys (Loyalists) attacked by Nationalists in catholic area of Bogside. RUC tried to storm Bogside but were held back by 2 days of rioting.
Riots spread to other towns and cities. The Stormont government offered concessions of the housing and electoral boundaries causing Loyalists and Nationalists to riot.
In August 1969 Wilson sent British army troops to try and keep the peace.
True or false - Wilson’s government were starting to doubt the post war consensus identifying the need for trade union reform. Furthermore Britain’s economic issues were not being solved by the consensus.
True.
How many seats and what percentage of the vote did the Conservatives get in the 1970 election?
330 seats.
46.4% of the vote.
How many seats and what percentage of the vote did the Labour party get in the 1970 election?
287 seats.
43% of the vote.
How many seats and what percentage of the vote did the Liberal party get in the 1970 election?
6 seats.
7.5% of the vote.
How many seats and what percentage of the vote did other parties get in the 1970 election?
7 seats.
3.1% of the vote.
Evidence to suggest Labours loss of the 1970 election was a surprise?
Wilson’s government had come through its difficult times. Jenkins credited for achieving economic and financial stability.
Wilson considered a master campaigner, much better than Heath.
Evidence to suggest Labours loss of the 1970 election was not a surprise (excluding conservative strengths)?
Labour were fragile.
1966 a series of perceived or real failures of Wilson’s government.
What were the conservative strengths of the 1970 election?
1968 Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of blood’ speech. Although Powell was sacked, some believe this made some voters more likely to vote conservative.
People open to new conservative ideas as post war consensus not working.
Heath had a hard working image of competence even if perceived as dull.
How did back benchers get the Liberal reforms through?
‘Private members bills’ and Jenkins sympathetic support.
Vast majority through government bills.
When was the end of capital punishment and when was it made permanent?
Ended on trial period 1965.
Permeant 1969.
who was convicted of murdering their abusive boyfriend and when?
Ruth Ellis in 1955. Had a significant contribution to the end of capital punishment.
Which backbencher campaigned for the end of capital punishment?
Sydney Silverman.
When was the divorce reform?
1969.
What were the old and new rules of the divorce reform?
Old rules: stated there must have been evidence of adultery.
New rules: If they had lived apart for 2 years and both agreed to divorce, if they had lived apart for 5 years and one of them agreed to divorce. Not all MPs in favour but passed.
When was the legislation for abortion?
1967.
Prior to 1967 what were the annual number of illegal abortions and number of people emitted to hospital as a result of illegal abortions?
Between 100,000 and 200,000 illegal abortions each year.
35,000 annually emitted to hospital as a result of illegal backstreet abortions.
1958-1960 how many women died from backstreet abortions?
82.
What disaster helped sway public opinion on abortion?
Thalidomide disaster.
Who led the abortion reform and stayed up all night in the house of commons to pass it?
David Steel.
What were the terms for the abortion reform?
Legal termination was within 28 weeks of pregnancy and justification of mental suffering was needed with the consent of 2 doctors.
When was the sexual offences act and who led it?
1967 led by Leo Abse.
Until the sexual offences act how long could you be in prison for homosexual acts?
2 years.
What conditions had to be met for homosexuality to be legal?
No one in same building.
Had to be in private.
Both had to be over 21.
Both partners had to consent.
What did LEAs or Local Education Authorities establish?
Comprehensive schools.
In 1964 how many were educated in comprehensive school?
1 in 10.
How many more went to comprehensive schools in 1964 than 1951?
10 times more but still the minority.
Who became minister of education in 1965?
Tony Crosland.
In 1970 how many comprehensive schools were there?
1145.
By 1970 how many of all secondary school pupils were state educated?
1/3.
In the period what schools were the middle class still going to?
Direct grant.
What did Wilson say about secondary education with comprehensive schools?
‘A grammar school education for all’.
What was the issue with the tripartite system?
Schools didn’t have equal status.
Grammar school students from middle class backgrounds.
Secondary modern pupils seen as 11+ failures.
What did the Robbins report 1963 show?
Showed that too many were doing arts related courses. Not enough science and technology.
Britain lagged behind Germany, France and the US in university places.
How did Labour respond to the Robbins report?
Polytechnics replaced collages of technology and would focus on education over research.
New unis founded.
9 collages of advanced technology became universities and Royal collage of science in Scotland became Strathclyde University.
By 1968 how many Polytechnics and universities were there?
30 polytechnics.
56 universities.
New opportunity for those who didn’t get a higher education.
What new degrees were available?
Agriculture and town planning.
What did the open university allow?
Equal opportunity in education, modernisation and ‘the white heat of technology’.
Where and when was the Open university officially established?
In Milton Keynes 1969.
When did studies begin in open universities as there was enough students?
1971.
Was open universities a success?
Yes - it was a rapid success with them also having distance learning through TV and radio and also part-time students.
Who did the open university attract?
Mature and disadvantaged women. It also raised self-esteem for those who considered themselves academic failures.
In 1980 How many students were in open university?
70,000. Awarding more degrees than Oxford and Cambridge combined.
