1979-1987 Flashcards
what economics policies did thatcher implement
- lower tax
- privatisation
- deregulation
what economic ideology did thatcher implement and what was it
monetarism- when in recession there is no government intervention, free market
why did thatcher not prop up the mines
didn’t want to waist money on a failing buisness and it had a large opportunity cost
who were the sdp
a more centrist left wing group led by jenkins who opposed foots far left stance
why were demographic changes a reason for labours struggles
- due to economic boom more considered themselves middle class, and therefore voted conservative
- unions lost power and influence
- labours traditional voters started not voting for them
name 3 of foots major policies
- nuclear disarmament
- withdrawal from eec
- re-nationalisation
reasons for labour defeat, ‘83
- foot performed bad on tv
- had 5/7 major newspapers against them
- success of the falklands made nuclear disarmament seem like a bad idea
which were the 7 major news papers and who did they side with
daily mail-C guardian-L the sun-C daily mirror-L the times-C
who were the ‘wets’ and ‘drys’
- wets were one nation conservatives who disliked thatchers traditional ideology
- drys were those who sided with thatcher
what was ‘the new right’
reformation of conservatives to believe in traditional views
who was bobby sands
ira activist, arrested for firearm possession
what were the h-block hunger strikes
led by bobby sands, a number of imprisoned IRA members went on hunger strike with the aim of being treated as political prisoners
how did the hunger strike end
Thatchers- i don’t negotiate with terrorists- policy led to bobby sands and 9 other strikers dying before the strike was called off
name some times republicans have raised tensions in northern ireland
- brighton bombing
- hyde park bombings
- london harrods bombings
- lots of soldiers killed by ira bombs
name some ways the british gov. increased tensions in northern ireland
- 8 ira and one civillian killed by sas
- not granting ira demands in hunger strikes
name ways unionists increased tensions in northern ireland
- ian paisley speech ‘where do terrorists come from’
- 200,000 protest march and set up ulster resistance in protest of uk involvement
what did the top tax rate fall from -> to and why
fell from 83% to 40% as thatcher believed people spent their money more efficiently than local governments
what is rate capping
thatcher put a limit on how much local councils could tax their residents
what were the main businesses that thatcher privatised
-British Telecom
-Rolls Royce
-British airways
-British Gas
what were the disadvantages of increasing interest rates to 17% in 1979
-businesses had difficult exporting and borrowing
-many went bankrupt causing high unemployment
-led to inflation peaking in 1980 at 22%
what were the industrial effects of britain moving to a service based economy
-manufacturing output fell 15%
-steel production fell 30%
-unemployment rose to 13.5%
what was the 1980 housing act
gave people the chance to buy the option to buy their council house with a discount between 33-50%
how did thatcher oppose and limit union power
-1980 secondary picketing was outlawed
-1984 unions were forced to ballot before a strike
-refused to give in to miner strikes
why did thatcher see a need to limit union power
-with out limiting union power, the government would no longer rule the country, unions would have all the power
what was the single european act
-the opening of a single european market
how was thatcher seen as pro EU
-supported the single european act
-renegotiated a new EEC deal
-close cooperation with France led to the building of the channel tunnel
how was thatcher seen as anti eu
-opposed european federalisation
-bruges speech
-opposed the european central court
why did the miner strikes fail
-Scargills cause was weakened after he refused to hold a ballot
-did not have full support of miners
-thatcher refused to negotiate
