1979-1987

Question 1

what economics policies did thatcher implement

Answer 1

• lower tax
• privatisation
• deregulation

Question 2

what economic ideology did thatcher implement and what was it

Answer 2

monetarism- when in recession there is no government intervention, free market

Question 3

why did thatcher not prop up the mines

Answer 3

didn’t want to waist money on a failing buisness and it had a large opportunity cost

Question 4

who were the sdp

Answer 4

a more centrist left wing group led by jenkins who opposed foots far left stance

Question 5

why were demographic changes a reason for labours struggles

Answer 5

• 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

Question 6

name 3 of foots major policies

Answer 6

• nuclear disarmament
• withdrawal from eec
• re-nationalisation

Question 7

reasons for labour defeat, ‘83

Answer 7

• foot performed bad on tv
• had 5/7 major newspapers against them
• success of the falklands made nuclear disarmament seem like a bad idea

Question 8

which were the 7 major news papers and who did they side with

Answer 8

daily mail-C
guardian-L
the sun-C
daily mirror-L
the times-C

Question 9

who were the ‘wets’ and ‘drys’

Answer 9

• wets were one nation conservatives who disliked thatchers traditional ideology
• drys were those who sided with thatcher

Question 10

what was ‘the new right’

Answer 10

reformation of conservatives to believe in traditional views

Question 11

who was bobby sands

Answer 11

ira activist, arrested for firearm possession

Question 12

what were the h-block hunger strikes

Answer 12

led by bobby sands, a number of imprisoned IRA members went on hunger strike with the aim of being treated as political prisoners

Question 13

how did the hunger strike end

Answer 13

Thatchers- i don’t negotiate with terrorists- policy led to bobby sands and 9 other strikers dying before the strike was called off

Question 14

name some times republicans have raised tensions in northern ireland

Answer 14

• brighton bombing
• hyde park bombings
• london harrods bombings
• lots of soldiers killed by ira bombs

Question 15

name some ways the british gov. increased tensions in northern ireland

Answer 15

• 8 ira and one civillian killed by sas

- not granting ira demands in hunger strikes

Question 16

name ways unionists increased tensions in northern ireland

Answer 16

• ian paisley speech ‘where do terrorists come from’

- 200,000 protest march and set up ulster resistance in protest of uk involvement

Question 17

what did the top tax rate fall from -> to and why

Answer 17

fell from 83% to 40% as thatcher believed people spent their money more efficiently than local governments

Question 18

what is rate capping

Answer 18

thatcher put a limit on how much local councils could tax their residents

Question 19

what were the main businesses that thatcher privatised

Answer 19

-British Telecom
-Rolls Royce
-British airways
-British Gas

Question 20

what were the disadvantages of increasing interest rates to 17% in 1979

Answer 20

-businesses had difficult exporting and borrowing
-many went bankrupt causing high unemployment
-led to inflation peaking in 1980 at 22%

Question 21

what were the industrial effects of britain moving to a service based economy

Answer 21

-manufacturing output fell 15%
-steel production fell 30%
-unemployment rose to 13.5%

Question 22

what was the 1980 housing act

Answer 22

gave people the chance to buy the option to buy their council house with a discount between 33-50%

Question 23

how did thatcher oppose and limit union power

Answer 23

-1980 secondary picketing was outlawed
-1984 unions were forced to ballot before a strike
-refused to give in to miner strikes

Question 24

why did thatcher see a need to limit union power

Answer 24

-with out limiting union power, the government would no longer rule the country, unions would have all the power

Question 25

what was the single european act

Answer 25

-the opening of a single european market

Question 26

how was thatcher seen as pro EU

Answer 26

-supported the single european act
-renegotiated a new EEC deal
-close cooperation with France led to the building of the channel tunnel

Question 27

how was thatcher seen as anti eu

Answer 27

-opposed european federalisation
-bruges speech
-opposed the european central court

Question 28

why did the miner strikes fail

Answer 28

-Scargills cause was weakened after he refused to hold a ballot
-did not have full support of miners
-thatcher refused to negotiate