1997-2007 Flashcards
In what ways did Blair seem ‘normal’ despite his upbringing?
- Supported his local football team Newcastle
- Made appearances in non political TV shows
- wore everyday clothes
- Was in a rock band in Uni
What event in the early months of Blairs premiership make him seem in touch with the people?
The death of Diana after In August 1997 he was in power showed he was in touch. He used the Phrase ‘the people’s princess’ and urged the queen to make a public apperance contrasting the Royals seeming lack of Empathy
This led to Labour’s popularity to soar to 93%
What was ‘the third way’?
A term used by Anthony Giddens at LSE to describe a middleway between the socialism of Old Labour and the Thatcherite policies of the Conservatives. Blair did not reverse Thatcherite policies or undo trade union reform - arguing it did not matter whether the state of private sector ran an industry as long as its quality was sufficient
Why did many criticise Tony Blair’s Third way?
Many thought that he did not believe in anything and that he jettisoned ttraditional Labour policies and accpeted Thatcherite ones to stay in power.
What were the constitutional changes made by NL?
- Devolution
- Parliament reforms
- Citizens rights
- ‘Sofa Government’
What were the reasons behind devolution?
Scotalnd was becoming increasingly upset they were being ruled by Westminster, with 0 CON MPs elected in 1997
Explain the process of devolution under NL?
Referendums were held in 1997:
- Scotalnd voted in favour of a devolviing power that had tax setting power with scottish parliament eastablished in Edinburgh
- Wales had a parliament set up but without tax setting power
- NI government was given devolved powers after the Good Friday agreement
- 1999 Election of an elected Mayor of London
In what ways was devolution unsuccesful?
Labour hoped devolution would mean they would gain increased support, but Plaid Cymru and SNP gained the most
In 2000, Blair blocked Ken Livingstone becoming Mayor of London as he believed Livingstone represented the Loony Left but Livingstone ran independently and won with the official LAB candidate coming 3rd, Blair was forced to accept Livingstone back into the party.
Why did NL decide to reform parliament?
Pre election discussions were held with Lib Dems and a comission led by Roy Jenkins reccomeded the FPTP system should be replaced.
How succesful were the reforms to parliament?
Despite Roy Jenkins’ comission, it was met with a lukewarm response and no changes were made.
Were the attempts to reform the house of lords succesful?
No, there was a messy compromise where hereditary peers were not abolished but instead limited to 92 - this was dissatisfactory for all
What was the Citizens rights act?
A freedom of information act in 2000 that allowed the right to request information from public bodies. This meant in theory the public sector had to work at a higher standard
What were the drawbacks of the citizens rights act?
Blair later described the act as a mistake as it prevented polticians from making difficult decisions, as they were fearful their decisions would be viewed by the public.
What was the Human rights act?
The European Human rights convention was passed into British law within the Human rights act of 1998.
What was the drawbacks of the 1998 Human rights act?
Some judges interpreted things differently, e.g. the UK government had to ammend anti - terrorist legislation which allowed the indefinite detainment of UK non nationals suspected of terrorist activities
What was the ‘Sofa Governement’ of NL?
Blair substantially increased the size and influence of the PMs political office, policy office and press office which created a PM department. Many new staff positions were created like Jonathon powell being appointed head of staff and the emergence of intellectual influences that reformed downing street. The Cabinet was often only used once decisions had been made.
What were the Drawbacks of the Sofa Government?
It has been described as the least experience Labour government that by passed long standing government structures.
During the Iraq war, Lord Butler accused the Sofa Govt of important decisions being made without proper ministerial discussions.
What are the main areas of domestic policies under Blair?
- Education
- Health
- Law and Order
- Employment
- Citizens rights
What was the ‘new deal’?
Term Labour applied to its social policies where it built on existing structures to provide fresh adminstration after 18 years of Conservatism
What education policies did NL follow?
- Kept League tables and encouraged targets and specialist schools
- 2001 special delivery unit tried to insure reforms (increased accountability for parents) were delivered
- Funding increases
- Changes to teachers remunerations (salaries) to introduce a sort of performance related pay and more generous pay scale.
- Targets for more people to go to university
- New scheme to allow for deferred payment and bursaries for Low income families going to Uni
How much did Education spending increase under NL?
- £21.43 Bn in 1997
- £34.36 BN in 2006
What conservative education policies did Labour follow?
league tables
National cirriculum
Regime of regular testing and inspections
financial delegations to schools rather than LEAs
What is evidence for success in education?
- Funding increased from £21.4 bn to £34.36 bn
- Teachers had a more generous pay scale
- better results and consistently higher pupil attainment
- Deferred payments and bursaries meant more went to university than ever before
What is evidence for failures in education under Blair?
- Blair himself was not happy with the speed of change
- Critics argued pupils were just becoming better at specific tests, arguing schools were exam factories more concerened with their position in the league tables.
- Higher education took a backseat under Blair despite his aims and the conservative budget cuts
- University income + attendance remained lower than the 50% goal but there was a growth in overseas students
Why was spending on the NHS variable during Labour’s time in power?
Despite their Hyperbolic ‘24 hours to save the NHS’ campaign, there was little change from 1997 -1999 because of spending cuts. Policy was mostly unchanged until 199 with old labour secreatry for health Frank Dobson taking charge. Labour feared reform of the NHS would have to occur in their second term, but Blair announced without consulting Brown that spending would be increased to average EU level of TV interview.
What happened to Health spending under Blair?
Health spending tripled in a decade from £30 billion to £90 Billion
What is the evidence that the 3x increase in health spending was succesful?
- Improvements in cancer survival and heart diesease rates (although this was a global trend)
- A+E waiting times were reduced as serious injuries were prioritised
In what ways was Health under Blair unsuccesful?
- Blair wanted to encourage the notion of ‘competition’ between hospitals which many interpreted as a step toward privitisation
- Many believe the NHS reforms would have been more succesful if policy changes were implemented before funding was injected to encourage greater efficiency
- Explosion in obesity and diabetes rates were left untackled
- Ageing population, (1/6th of britain now senior) increase in medical and treatement costs due to improving tech meant massively increased government spending.
- The cost of the Private finance intiatives increased costs for hospitals in the long term as they had high debt repayments.
What was Blair’s personal outlook on the issue of Crime?
Blair promised he would be ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ as he believed social exclsuion was a key cause of crime and the poor suffered the most from crime.
This contrasted the notion that conservatives were the only party that were tough on crime
What were the successes of law and order (crime) under Blair?
- estimates suggests that the 40 law and order acts passed meant 3000 new criminal offences were created
- Crime rates were lower in 2007 than they were in 1997
- 2002 police reform act created police community support officers (PCSOs) who had limited power and weren’t police officers but it reduced the feeling of ‘them and us’ within local communities
What were the failures of law and order under Blair?
- Vairations in the wy crimes were recorded and the global trend of decreasing crime rates suggest that Blair’s government was not solely responsible for the decrease in crime
- After 9/11 Blair had to balance civil liberties vs public safety - > A commons defeat in 2005 that attempted to increase the time for detention without trial to 90 days suggests that blair may have gotten this balance wrong with 49 LAB MPs voting against him.
- Greater immigration from the EU and areas of conflict created a further unease. Blairite home secretary Charles Clarke resigned in April 2006 over his departments inabillity to deport convicted criminals.
List all the improvements to citizens rights that took place under Blair?
- Winter Fuel allowance 1997
- Human rights act 1998
- Freedom of information act 2000
- Working families tax credit and child tax credit 1998
- Repeal of section 23 2008
- Civil partnership act 2004
- Gender recognition act 2004
What was the winter fuel allowance?
In 1997 the govt introduced a winter fuel allowance for seniors granting them £100 to pay for fuel
What were the disadvantages of the winter fuel allowance?
Criticised for being a universal payment when not all seniors needed it - it was attacked for being a waste of public money
What was the 1998 human rights act?
The UK was put under the existing European convention of human rights.
What was the Freedom of information act 2000?
Act required public authorities to grant right of access to they information they held as long as it didn’t breach confidentiality laws
Disadvantages of the freedom of information act 2000?
Many Libertarians despised this and used stipulations within the act to avoid full discolsure
Blair later regretted the act, as it meant politicians often stopped making hard decisions, fearing the public would be able to see what they’ve done
What were the working families and child tax credit schemes 1998?
Both aimed to reduce child poverty by offering families with dependent children who’s income was below a certain threshold to be entitled to a tax allowance that in effect increased their wages, this was based on number of children and income
This helped tackle social exclusion.
What did Blair do to the social exclusion unit to make it more effective?
He combined the Social exclusion unit with all parts of the welfare system - while it mostly failed at this, it was useful at defining what social exclusion would and that it was not solely an economic problem
What were the disadvantages of the working families and child tax credit?
Many criticised it for increasing the UK’s ‘dependency culture’
What was section 23?
A Thatcherite policy that declared an Local Authority could not intentionally promote or teach homosexuality.
What happened to section 23 under Blair?
Section 23 was repealed in 2003 after being delayed in the house of lords and helped remove stigmas, paving the way for the ‘tolerant society’ started by Jenkins
What was the 2004 civil partnership act?
Allowed same sex couples the same legal rights and protections as a male female partnership, this was contreversial in the general public, but passed relatively easily in the HOC
What was the 2004 gender recognition act?
Gave transsexuals’ the legal right to change their gender and marry someone of a Newley assigned gender.
What were criticisms of Blair’s domestic policies?
- Critics on the left were uncomfortable that the gap between rich and poor was widening
- The right argued reforms increased dependency culture and stifled work incentives -> this caused the resignation of Frank Field (minister of welfare) in 1998
- The left believed that in reforming itself as new Labour, traditional Labour policies were being left behind.
What were the 6 key areas of Blair’s economy?
**- 1997-2001 (period of low spend)
- 2001-2007 (period of high spend) **
**- Pensions
- Employment **
- Borrowing
- Gold prices
What were the economic aims of Labour during their first four years in power?
Purpose was ‘ prudence with purpose’ so that more money could be injected into the economy during their second term
Also to remove the image that LAB would increase taxes and borrowing to further spend
What is the general consensus on Brown after his first four years as chancellor?
Brown was widely seen as a succesful and competent chancellor - sticking to Labour’s promise of sticking to conservative spending plans, keeping inflation down and increasing Britain’s reserves
why do some criticise Brown’s first four years as chancellor?
He inherited an inflation of 2.8% and a generally favourable economic position. John major said in his final downing street speech ‘the incoming government will inherit the most benevolent set of economic statistics of any incoming government since before the First World War’
Why did tensions rise between Brown and Blair regarding economic management?
Often, Brown would devise economic policy within his own circle without consulting blair - like in the 1999 budget which brown kept under wraps from blair
What did Brown do with the Bank of England?
Brown made the BofE seperate from the government in 1998, TMT the gov would set an inflation target and the BofE would set the interest rates to reach this point.
What was Gordon Brown’s ‘golden rule’?
Brown established the ‘Golden rule’ which stated the government would only borrow money for investment and not day to day spending.
What were the reactions to Brown’s golden rule and BofE policy?
Met with high applaud - as chancellors had often used it to manufacture short term booms for political gains. The BofE also passed on regulatory powers to the FSA
What quote suggests the period of ‘prudence with a purpose was greatly succesful?
The IMF said ‘The American Neo Liberal model of deregulation and incentivised capitalism had elevated Britain’s attractiveness for foreign capital to that of the Cayman Islands’
When did the Labour government start to increase its spending?
In July 1998 Brown announced £40 billion in spending over 3 years, leading to an increase in spending in schools and hospitals, improving exam results and waiting lists.
How did the Labour government spend more without raising taxation or borrowing?
LAB continued the Private finance initiative - but this often led to buildings having a large debt
Why do some people criticise the spending period of Gordon Brown’s time as chancellor?
Govt spending did not reach the same levels as Major’s government until 2002
How did Brown’s policy affect pensions?
Brown announced a tax on dividens which companies paid to their investors. As pension funds invest in the stock exchange, pensions became less valuable.
what is some evidence that the tax on dividends negatively impacted pensions and other parts of the economy?
- £8bn in pensions lost by 2007
- the savings ratio fell from 9.7% to 3.7% from 1997-2007
- The total value of UK shares were £120bn lower than they otherwise were
What was the tax on Dividends payments and example of?
One of NL’s ‘stealth taxes’
What happened to employment under NL?
Employment increased by 2.5 million to 29.1million
In what ways were employment levels not as positive as they initially seemed?
- the rise in unemployment had not been focused among the unskilled an youth, with 5.4mn people of working age who had never had a job
- Many jobs were created in the public sector, Britain became a ‘client state’ with 37% working in pubic sector which is considered unproductive by some
What meant the government had to borrow?
The increase in public sector workers improved services but increased government costs
How much did Brown have to borrow and why was it impactful?
Brown borrowed £100 million, which was initially unnoticed thanks to relative stabillity in the global market, but in 2007 the GFC hit Britain harder as it had a greater debt level
Explain what happened to gold prices with Labour?
Between 1997-2002 gold prices were falling, so Britain sold of 13 million ounces (half of its reserves) to China.
By 2003 prices recovered, and Britain had lost $3billion worth of assets
Explain the positives of the economy under Blair?
- General ‘feel good factor’
- Interest rates remained low and £ increased by 14%
- More attractive venue for FDI as BofE made seperate and the creation of the FSA
- 97-07 was a decade long boom
- House prices increased repidly
- Phones and PC’s became more common place and cheaper
- Inflation was kept under control at an average of 1.4% from 1997-2007
- Record number of 29.1 million employed (2.5million more)
- Economic growth was consistently above 2% (higher than all competitors other than USA)
- Living standards boomed
Explain the negatives of the economy under Blair?
- Stealth taxes (live dividends tax) went against promises
- £8bn lost in pensions
- 5.4 million of working age had still never worked
- ‘client state’ creation 37% in public sector
- entered downing street with favourable economic conditions
- Economists argue consumer boom was built on ever increasing debt and house prices
- Effect of brown pension tax meant longer time spent working
- £100 million borrowed
- $3 bn assets of gold lost
- accused of leaving the UK vulnerable to the GFC -> Brown ‘failed to build a roof while the sun was shining’.
What events had taken place that meant the foundations for peace in Northern Ireland had been set up?
John Major had made huge strides toward peace, with the help of Clinton and Senator George Mitchell had meant the principles upon which peace could be founded were established.
How did the Labour government maintain support of Republicans?
Tony Blair had a good working relationship with the Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
How did the Labour government maintain support of the paramilitaries?
The secretary of State for NI Mo mowlam also kept paramilitaries on board by visiting them in the Maze prison.
When were the Good Friday agreement negotiations?
They were in April 1998 and they went on for 17 hours after the deadline set by senator george mitchell had been passed.
Why were there fears the negotiations would break down on April 9th 1998?
On April 9th 1988, Jeffrey Donaldson stormed out of the meeting due to a lack of progress on the IRA decomissioning its arms.
What was Blair’s personal role in the NI good friday agreement negotiatios?
Blair was essential in reasurring the UUP member David Trimble that Sinn Fein could be trusted,
Blair made a dramatic invtervention arriving at belfast to break a deadlock
What event led to the IRA seeing a large decrease in Funding?
After 9/11, Americans stopped offering financial aid after witnessing terrorism first hand, as well as the 7/7 london bombings.
When did the IRA agree to give up its weapons?
On July 28th 2005, the IRA agreed to pledge itself to completely peaceful means.
How did changing demographics affect the situation in NI?
By 2001, 40% of NI was Catholic and 45% was protestant, contrasting to 35% catholic and 63% catholic in 1961. Iain Paisley and other unionists had to accept the growing catholicm.
What made Iain Paisley change his stance and agree to the good friday agreement?
Paisley was persuaded that unless protestants would adapt, they would become the marginalised group. He was told it would be better to become part of a power sharing government than to become a marginalised resistance.
When did the UVF agree to give up weapons?
A year after the IRA in May 2006 it committed to peaceful means, paving the way for the St. Andrews agreement.
What were the main terms of the good friday agreement?
- NI’s union with britain was guaranteed for as long as the people of NI wanted it
- ROI withdrew territorial claim from NI
- A NI assembly with a new power sharing executive was set up as well as a devolved assembly
- All terrorist prisoners were to be released as a gesture of goodwill
- Parties should use their influence to decomission arms
- There would be an independent comission to oversee the reform of policing.
What were the results of the Good Friday agreement Referrendum?
On 22nd may 1998 the results were:
- NI: 71% in favour
- ROI: 94% in favour
Why was there some opposition to the good friday agreement?
Sinn Finn Leader Gerry Adams was concerned of republican backlash of them ‘selling out’
David Trimble and other unionists feared the powerful negative influence of Iain Paisley at the Head of the Hardline DUP
These concerns were realisd in the 1998 Omagh bombing that killed 30 people carried out by the continuity IRA
What were the disagreements in NI after the Good Friday agreement?
- Whether paramilitaries were actually decommissioning arms
- Over the early release of prisoners
- The rights of the protestant orange order to march on their traditional route
- The devolved government in Stormont had to be suspended from 2002-2006 until the St. Andrews agreement reiterated key elements of the good Friday agreement.
When was the St Andrews agreement signed?
October 2006
What did the St Andrews agreement do?
Restored the NI assembly in Stormont
Sinn Fein accepted the authority of the police service of northern ireland which had replaced RUC
What were the results of the St Andrews agreement election?
DUP won with 36 seats
Sinn Fein 2nd with 28
Official unionists 18
SDLP = 16
