1970-1974

Question 1

name 5 facts about heath

Answer 1

• not a wealthy background, father carpenter/mother maid
  -intelligent, grammer school then oxford, known to be good at policies but not politics ‘too honest for his own good’
  -served in ww1
  -in charge of EEC negotiations under macmillan, good knowledge of economy
  -went from shadow chancellor to leader of the opposition in 1965 (lost 1966 election) (youngest ever tory leader) but backbenchers wanted to force thatcher into power (hated each other)

Question 2

what was the selsdon conference and what were the outcomes

Answer 2

‘new type of conservatism’ was created and discussed before the 1970 election
-tories advocated more radical monetarist/ free market(government don’t interfere to encourage personal freedom and competition) policies to solve unemployment/inflation=break away from Keynesian/consensus/end of public subsidy of ‘lame duck’ industries/use market forces(natural supply and demand) not an incomes policy to reduce prises

Question 3

what’s the dif between monetarism and keynesian

Answer 3

Monetarism focuses on controlling the money supply to control the economy. Keynesianism focuses on government spending to control the economy.

Question 4

what were 5 aims in their 1970 manifesto

Answer 4

-‘utterly reject the philosophy of compulsory wage control’ - good management of tu
-more jobs/higher wages/lower costs/reduce taxation
-cut unnecessary state spending
-increase opportunities / bring prosperity
-stop nationalisation
^became manifesto for future conservatives

Question 5

what was said at the blackpool conference

Answer 5

october 1970 heath talked of a ‘quiet revolution’- his gov would lay the foundations for generations

Question 6

what was the first policy to anger the tu and why

Answer 6

-industrial relations act 1971 by robert carr (minister of labour)
- CONTEXT wanted to abandon incomes policy/didnt want to interfere with pay settlements/allow market forces to control prices and wages which meant trade unions shouldn’t have unfair advantages
-act was passed for moderate trade union reform/cut strikes/curb wage demands
-set up NIRC (national industrial relations court) with the power to enforce ballots for strikes+60 day cooling period+unions had to put themselves on gov register for their legal rights

Question 7

what was a consequence of the industrial relations act

Answer 7

feb 1971 140,000 members of unions marched through london saying ‘kill the bill’

Question 8

who was john davies and what did he push for

Answer 8

head of department of trade and industry-advocated not helping lame duck industries

Question 9

what was the barber boom

Answer 9

-wanted to promote growth before eec app
-anthony barber reduced taxes eg income tax, reduced gov spending, scrapped prices/incomes/cuts in subsidies =economic growth rise to 7.4%

Question 10

who was c of e

Answer 10

anthony barber

Question 11

why was a u turn necessary and what did it involve

Answer 11

*caused massive stagflation (15%/unemployment 1mil)/ wage demands/ declining industrial output
-statutory incomes/prices and pay policy reintroduced 1973 (abandoned gov non-interference)
-wage freeze
-1972 industry act aimed to involve gov and unions in agreeing wages
-rollys royce was nationalised in 1971 when orders were failing and subsidies granted to other private companies eg 34mil to upper clyde shipbuilders
=unemployment halfed/investment in modernising industry working?

Question 12

what was b of p by 1974

Answer 12

1.5bil

Question 13

name 3 facts about the strikes

Answer 13

-first strikes jan/feb 1972 but strikes followed involving miners/civil servants/hospital workers led by the NUM
-arthur scargill created system of ‘flying pickets’ where members meet at coal depots and prevent the movement of coal stocks=reduced industrial production/electricity supplies
-The Battle of Saltley Gate was the mass picketing of a fuel storage depot in Birmingham, February 1972 =success for miners,closed because of large numbers of flying pickets

Question 14

why were there strikes and when were they

Answer 14

-decline in coal industry reduced workforce
- miners pay lagged behind other workers
-unions hostile after industrial relations act, TUC voted to not cooperate with cabinet

Question 15

what are flying pickets

Answer 15

(union members travel to workplaces where there is an industrial dispute to persuade others to strike)

Question 16

what was the highest number of days lost to strikes and when was it and what did they gain

Answer 16

23,909,000-1972
-earnings increased to 16% 1972

Question 17

what was the oil crisis and when was it

Answer 17

-britains entry into the eec made them susceptible to events in the outside world
-trigger was the yom kippur war in middle east
-after arab israeli war 1973 OPEC(oil producing economic countries) showed anger towards western countries who supported israel and britains oil imports were cut by 15% and the cost of oil imports trebled

Question 18

what was the consequences of the oil crisis

Answer 18

-inflation rose to 16%=increased wage demands
-petrol shortage, oil prices increased from $2 to $35 a barrel (oil products more expensive)
-b of p=£1 bill deficit
-value of sterling dropped to $1.57
-74-76 unemployment figures doubled to 1.4mil

Question 19

what caused the 3 day week

Answer 19

-miners strikes (after wage restraints/oil crisis) they asked for a pay increase sep 1973
-NUM introduced overtime ban, followed by electricity workers/railway drivers=shortages, 14 power stations had closed, 17 had days supply left of fuel, black outs interfered with industrial production and left people with no light or heating
-heath declared state of emergency and refused to compromise

Question 20

what was the 3 day week and what did it cause

Answer 20

-jan 1974 emergency measures to conserve electricity to resist NUMs blackmail
-industry to work 3 days a week, 50mph speed limit, tv close down at 10;30
-the TUC told heath if he would treat the miners as a special case other unions wouldn’t breach the pay policy but heath rejected this=so miners voted to strike
-Heath called a general election hoping to win public support over unions

Question 21

what were the consequences of the 3 day week

Answer 21

-NUM gained 21% wage increase, 3x original offer
-no benefits to eocnomy
-angered everyone/didnt do what he said

Question 22

who were the nationalists and who were the loyalists

Answer 22

nationalists-republican/catholic/united ireland
loyalists-unionist/protestant-join britain

Question 23

what is sinn fein

Answer 23

main political party in NI, won’t sit in westminster, want united ireland

Question 24

how did heath deal with the ni troubles

Answer 24

-introduced internment august 1971 (arresting suspected troublemakers and holding them without trial) to remove sectarian tensions

Question 25

what was the results of internment

Answer 25

-increased tensions, catholics felt they were being persecuted 95% of those arrested were catholics -strained relations between irish gov and london and internal divisions in the house of commons as many MPs opposed internment and british troops in NI -Bloody sunday 1972, civil rights march in londonderry where 14 demonstrators were shot and killed by british troops / Widgery report may 1972 was an inquiry into the events which concluded it was actions towards the soldiers that caused the violence =anger republicans/catholics -gap between moderate official unions party and the DUP(democratic units party led by ian paisley)widened and the IRA and the non violent social democratic labour party widened

Question 26

what happened after bloody sunday

Answer 26

-heath suspended the unionist dominated stormont parliament (NI parliament) and imposed direct rule of Ni from london -willie white law (heaths NI secretary) tried to produce a working governing arrangement=sunningdale agreement dec 1973 backed by both london and dublin govs ,SDLP led by gerry fitt and official unionists led by brian faulkner would form an executive to govern NI on behalf of catholic and protestant communities

Question 27

what was the result of the sunningdale agreement

Answer 27

-first time since 1921 catholics had a share in gov= frightened unionists, created the ulster defence force by loyalist extremists -violence continued mainly with IRA and loyalists groups, 15 may strike by new ulsters workers council led by harry murray -catholics still felt aggrieved over unemployment/presence of british army/the way the law seemed against them eg diplock courts meant cases could be heard without a jury

Question 28

who were the ira

Answer 28

irish republican army-led by martin mcguiness- catholic

Question 29

who was the ruc

Answer 29

royal ulster constabulary-controversial police force -protestant

Question 30

when and why were britain accepted into the eec

Answer 30

*accepted 1st jan 1973 -stronger economic position, commonwealth less of an issue, people starting to see its benefits -france more prepared to accept them as they'd contribute to costs of CAP and were fearful of german independance so wanted more memberships -de gaulle died nov 1970 and the new leader, georges pompidou was more sympathetic

Question 31

what were the results of the 1974 election

Answer 31

-bitter, who governs britain? miners presented well, showed rise in food prices and a record trade deficit (£318 mil in feb), enoch powell made anti-eec people vote labour -labour gained 4 more seats than cons(hung parliament-both labour and cons lost votes), heath tried to form a coalition with libs who's votes went up but this failed and he resigned -labour formed minority gov

Question 32

what is a hung parliament

Answer 32

a parliament in which no political party has enough seats to secure an overall majority

Question 33

why did conservs loose the 1974 election

Answer 33

economy unions circumstances/disunity/opec/ni

Question 34

who was heaths foreign secretary

Answer 34

alec douglas home

Question 35

when did they join the eec and what was the treaty

Answer 35

signed the treaty of accession 1972-joined 1st jan 1973

Question 36

what were the pros and cons of the eec

Answer 36

P-gained access to european markets P-british workers could work in other eec countries P-more global business, entitled to european development grants N-could no longer buy cheap from commonwealth(had european tariffs on them) N-had to make high contributions (paid 20% of eec revenue but was receiving only 8% of the expenditure) N-had to impose VAT on commodities (started at 8%)

Question 37

what were arguments for and against being in the EEC

Answer 37

F-heath saw cooperation as key to prevent repetition eg nazis and to ensure continued peace F-most cons eg roy jenkins and central labour eg jeremy thorpe (lib leader) saw benefits F-britain needed it for economic survival A-would loose its sovereignty by joining a federal union A-left wing eg Barbara castle/tony benn against because it was bad for workers/trade unions/capitalist club A-enoch powell said heath betrayed country before debating it in parliament

Question 38

how did heath deal with special relationship

Answer 38

-his approach was europe orientated so less inclined to strengthen atlantic alliance eg rejected attempts by us sec of state henry kissinger to use britain as a link with europe however he got on with the president richard nixon - supported us in their policy in vietnam -relations strained during oct 1973 yom kippur war when us wanted to use nato bases in europe for an airlift of supplies to isreal and britain refused permission