1970-79

Question 1

When did Heath come in?

Answer 1

1970

Question 2

Heath’s manifesto

Answer 2

In his manifesto, heath promised to:
* Tax reform
* Better law and order
* Reforms to trade unions
* Immigration controls
* cuts to public spending
* end to subsardizing lame duck industries

Question 3

Political and economic policies under heath

Answer 3

• The school leaving age was raised to 16
• 1971: Decimalisation, previously 144 pennies:pound
• Barber boom in 1970, cuts in GS and Tax, aiming for more investment from firms.
  This led to Stagflation.

The Famous U turn. (Rolls royce nationalised in 72, Upper clyde shipbuilders nationalised too).

Question 4

The U turn

Answer 4

Unemployment started to near 1 million in 1971, leading to the government:
* Nationalising rolls royce
* Saving upper clyde shipbuilders from bankruptcy.

By 1973, unemployment dropped back to 500,000

However this short lived period of growth ended with the oil crisis.

Question 5

The Oil Crisis of 1973

Answer 5

The Yom Kippur war of 1973 led to an oil embargo from OPEC.

The price of oil quadrupled.

Using the oil embargo as an
opportunity, the NUM chose to strike.

24 million days of work were lost in 1972

Question 6

Industrial relations under heath.

Answer 6

1970:
* Dockers strikes
* Paysettlements for dustmen
* Postal workers strikes
* Go slow by power workers.

1972:
* Miners strike
* Ambulance drivers
* firefighters
* power workers

In response, the government brought in the Industrial Relations act and abolished the board for national prices and incomes

Question 7

The industrial relations act

Answer 7

The industrial relations act set up:
* An industrial relations court and provided for strike ballots and a ‘cooling off period’ before official strikes could occur.

Hugely opposed by the TUC and CBI.

Question 8

Industry act 1972

Answer 8

An act which aimed to involve the government, the TUC and the CBI in agreeing wages, prices, investment and benefits.

Hugely opposed by the right wing (Enoch Powell).

Industrial disputes continued and in 1973, the miners enforced an overtime ban.
Heath did not want to give them higher wages to avoid inflation

Question 9

The 3 day week

Answer 9

In response to the oil crisis and miners strike, Heath was forced to impose the 3 day week, where electricity only worked for 3 days.

Heath attempted to end the miners strike by moving willie Whitelaw from Northern Ireland, but the miners continued to strike, which became a national strike in 1974.

Question 10

Imapcts of the 3 day week.

Answer 10

• 50 MPH speed limit on all roads
• TV closed at 10;30pm
• Increased unemployment
• Less hours, as no electricity for 4/7 days of the week

Coal shortage + high oil prices led to a BOP crisis.

Question 11

The 1974 election.

Answer 11

Heath called an election, hoping to attain a huge majority and answer ‘who governs britain?’

Despite Polls favouring the conservatives..
* Labour won 5 more seats than conservatives

Conservatives: 37.9%
Labour:37.1%

Hung parliament formed.

Question 12

The Troubles.

Answer 12

Heath inherited NI as an issue from Wilson.

He imposed internment in 1971, which was unsuccessful as it pushed more to join the IRA.

30th January 1972, Bloody sunday occurs, and 26 unarmed civilians were shot.

After Bloody sunday, the british embassy in Dublin was burnt down. Support for the IRA grew and more funs came in from Irish Americans.

Question 13

1972 The troubles statistics

Explosions, Shootings, killings

Answer 13

1382 explosions
10628 Shootings
480 killings.

Direct rule had to be brought in and the Northern Irish “stormont parliament” was shut down.

Willie Whitelaw was made head of state.

Question 14

1973, Sunningdale agreement

What was it, what did it promise, who was it between?

Answer 14

• A power-sharing executive of both nationalists and unionists both sides would be guaranteed representation
• A new northern Ireland assembley elected under a system of proportional representation
• A council of Ireland that would have some inpout from the Republic of Ireland.

Question 15

Why did Sunningdale fail

Answer 15

In 1974 general election, anti sunningdale parties put up 1 candidate in each of the 12 constituencies. Pro sunningdale had a variety.

This meant that 11/12 constituencies had anti-sunningdale candidates.

Sunningdale lost the conservatives the support of the UUP, damaging their 1974 election prospects.

Economic and union problems diverted attention.

Question 16

When did Wilson come in (for the second time)?

How large was his majority?

Answer 16

1974, with an overall majority of 3.

Question 17

Industrial relations 1974-76

Answer 17

Wilson aimed to demonstrate that Labour was more in tune with the unions than the conservatives were.

In 73, whilst in opposition, he negotiated the social contract with the TUC.

The social contract would reduce pays but repeal the Industrial act and pay board.

This pacified the unions, allowing wilson to end the 3 day week.

Question 18

Economic reform 1974-76

Answer 18

The social contract led to a sudden increase in wages, leading to inflation.

In 1975, Chancellor Dennis Heeley imposed steep taxation to control public spending.
Public spending was also cut.

The NEB (new enterprise board) was also set up, they monitored government shares in companies. However, their effectiveness was put into question. The nationalisation of British Leyland, a failing car company, could be seen as the government supporting a lame duck industry.

Question 19

Successes and failures of the social contract

Answer 19

Successes:

• Put an end to the 3 day week
• Solved the problem on a surface level, as the NUM strike ended.

Failures:

• In 1975 another more formal pay restrait policy was introduced, as the social contract was not limiting wage demands, causing inflation and unemployment.

This caused party divisions as left wingers like Michael Foot did not want to put so much pressure on the unions.

Question 20

Callaghan’s premiership

Answer 20

1976: Secured an IMF loan of 3 billion
* conservatives denounced this as national humiliation
* Callaghan actually handled the crisis well, and the economy recovered.

Question 21

Callaghan’s economic successes

Answer 21

1978: Nine oilfields in the north sea bringing in huge sums of money
Unemployment was falling, despite being at 1.6 million.
Days lost to strikes hit a 10 day low.

Question 22

Devolution under Callaghan

Answer 22

• 1977: LibLab pact is signed, allowing Callaghan to defeat a vote of no confidence from the conservatives.
• The liberals wanted devolution in scotland and wales.

Labour MPs rigged it so that more than 40% of the electorate had to vote for the bill to pass.

Referendums were held in scotland and wales. The welsh were against it (20% for)

The scottish were for it (51.6% for).

However the scottish were not granted devolution, resulting in the nationalist parties withdrawing their support for Labour.

(This is significant as Labour now had even less support during the winter of discontent).

Question 23

The winter of discontent

Answer 23

TUC rejects callaghan’s proposed wage increase limit of 5%

• Grave diggers strike
• lorry drivers strike
• dustmen and gravediggers strike

It was minor compared to the miners strike of 74, but the newspapers attacked labour for it.

Callaghan was also quoted as saying that “it isnt that bad”

It only ended when an average pay rise of 10% was agreed upon in march 1979.

Question 24

The 1979 election

Answer 24

• The labour party faces a vote of no confidence.
• They have lost the support of the liberals and nationalists.
• most newspapers, including the sun, backed the conservatives

The conservatives won a comfortable majority of 43 seats.

Question 26

The collapse of the sunningdale agreement.

Answer 26

• The UWC declares a strike in may 1974. This severely limited power and telecommunications, leading to a state of emergency being declared.

Wilson was forced to reimpose direct rule, causing sunningdale to collapse.

Question 27

Wilson’s solution to the troubles 1974

Answer 27

Wilson created the Northern Irish constitution convention, an elected body that would determine the future of government in northern ireland.

It failed as the elections in 1975 resulted in a majority for unionists who were opposed to power sharing.

The convention was dissolved in 1976.

from 1976, special category status was removed from IRA prisoners.

This led to the “blanket protest” (prisoners were nude or in blankets), which escalated to the dirty protest after 1978.
(Bobby Sands died.

Question 28

Race and immigration in the 70s.

Answer 28

the 1971 Immigration Act replaced employment vouchers with work permits

• 1972: 1 million immigrants arrive, majority south asians from Uganda.

National front gains notoriety, with some skinheads joining

1976 nottingham carnival riots with 300 injured and some calling to ban the arrests.

Question 29

Feminist progress from 1970-79

Answer 29

Heath
* 1970: Equal pay act
* 1971: Birth control Pill available on the NHS

Wilson
* 1975: Employment protection act
* 1975:Sex discrimination act
* 1975: Equal pay act

Callaghan

1979: TUC publishes charter, Equality for women within trade unions.

Question 31

Heath and the EU
(Plus Wilson’s referendum)

Answer 31

In 1973, britain joined the EU. Heath was very pro europe. He was able to join because:
* Pompidou thought that Britain needed europe as much as europe needed britain
* He was joining with ireland and denmark, turning the 6 into the 9.

However:
* Labour remained very divided over the issue
* Enoch Powell stood down as a conservative candidate in 74 and told his supporters to vote labour.

In order to unify the party whilst it was in opposition, Wilson promised to hold a referendum in 74. He did so, and the turnout was over 2:1 people voting for europe.

However, those who were anti europe (michael foot, barbara castle) held onto this sentiment, but could not be vocal as the public had spoken.

Question 32

Heath and the USA

Answer 32

• Heath got on well with Nixon
• Heath refused Kissingers attempt to use britain as a “go between” for the USA and Europe, worsening their relationship
• Things got bad during the Yom Kippur war (1975), when Heath refused to allow the US to use british air bases to airlift supplies to Israel, as it could result in a reduction in the supplies of oil.

Question 33

Wilson/Callaghan and the Special relationship

Answer 33

Wilson and Callaghan were much more “us orientated” than heath,

• They maintained good relationships with Kissinger and negotiated the replacement of polaris nuclear missiles with trident in 1979.