1997-2007 Labour government Flashcards
In the 10 years Labour were in power how much did GDP grow by?
20% in real terms
How much did the 20% rise in GDP equate too?
Everyone in January 2010 would have had £3,840 more than they had in May 1997.
What was Annual GDP growth per capita?
1.6%
What was the annual GDP growth per capita between 1948-1998?
2.2%
average Unemployment between 1992-1997?
9%
average Unemployment between 1997-2007?
5.5%
How much did average unemployment fall by between 1997 and 2007?
3.5%
What was different from previous Labour governments?
Corporation tax was very low. It was the second lowest among the G7 near the end of Labours run in power.
How did Labour continue new right economic policies?
-Profits for companies increased massively along with investment into the future with modern technology.
-Guaranteed returns for the companies owning water, nuclear and train companies.
-Soft-pedaled on competition inquiries in defence, communications and energy.
What major part of the economy did Labour leave behind?
Manufacturing industries
What happened due to a lack of government confidence in the manufacturing industries?
People took early retirement and sold out to foreign companies rather than buy new machinery and invest into the future and compete with the new global international market.
Why did Labour have so little confidence in the manufacturing industries?
The government believed manufacturing was all over as a result of globalisation.
When Labour came into power how much did tax amount to of total GDP?
35%
What was the highest amount of Tax GDP amount under labour?
36%
What was the trouble with the low tax economic plan?
Low tax economic plan but it’s hard to sustain good public services. You simply can’t have low levels of tax with good public services, the problem was labour were fattening the beast of the public services by borrowing money whilst this happened the appetite of services and benefits exceeded the money available for it.
How did Labour try and pay for more public services?
-increase in privatisation
-Contracting
-PFI schemes
-Borrowing
-Stealth taxes
What is a stealth tax?
indirect taxation such as VAT.
Successes of the Labour government economic policies?
-Increased GDP
-Rising middle class
-Rising house prices
-People had more money
Failures of labour governments economic policies?
-Heavy borrowing
-House price bubble
-Privatisation [wasn’t ideologically Labour]
-Unregulated financial services led to worsening of the 2008 financial crash.
Evaluation of Labour’s economic policies?
Whilst public services did undoubtedly improve and more money was in the pocket of the ordinary person it was Clear that the services and growth could not be a real long term possibility mainly due to the demand of the public for higher public services but lower taxes.
Did labour leave the NHS in better shape?
Yes
how much did spending increase by per year from 2000 onwards?
7%
How much did capital spending on the NHS increase by over the decade?
£1.1 billion at the start of the decade to £5.5 billion at the end.
How many hospitals were built under New labour?
100
What was a major concern for the NHS spending?
Labour bequeathed social care costs and conundrums to their successors. As for value for money, they stuffed the clinicians’ mouths with gold.
What was the main problem with the NHS spending?
Labour spent a lot on the NHS but what was likely the problem was that it got too fat [spending] too quickly.
Reforming the NHS and improving with a medium level of spending was likely the better option.
How did Labour fail to help public health?
British people were eating and drinking too much, this caused a rise in obesity and a large strain on the NHS. Labour failed to help with this problem as they didn’t want to upset the big food and drink corporations.
What was the root of the rise of obesity?
Social inequality
Stats behind the argument for social inequality being the root of obesity?
The gap in life expectancy between men in poorest areas and the average grew by 2%.
How much did primary school pupil spending go up by after 2000?
Spending per pupil went up by a third.
How many more teachers were there from 1997 to 2008?
32,000
How many more teachers assistants were there from 1997 to 2008?
100,000
How many more support staff were there from 1997 to 2008?
70,000
By 2008 what was the capital investment in education?
£8 billion
How much did education capital investment go up by between 1997 and 2008?
8 times more.
In 2004 how many 16-18 year old were in one of a ind learning or another?
80%, they had hit their election targets.
Number of undergraduate and postgraduate people in 1997?
1.8 million
Number of undergraduate and postgraduate people in 2007?
2.4 million
what was the government target for uni graduation, ages 18-30?
50%
Did the government ever reach those graduation levels?
No, they reached a height of 45%
How much did teachers wages rise by between 1997 and 2007?
£5000 a year more.
How many kids left primary school neither literate nor numerate enough to cope with secondary education?
1/5
How many secondary school pupils left with five good GCSEs minimum?
50%
How did education tackle social inequality?
Progress was fastest in poor areas, especially in London.
How was social inequality still there?
More children stayed on longer and learnt more under Labour, but successive ministers were defeated by the same hard old truths about British society: background and parental income trump classroom.
How many poor children had Labour inherited in 1997?
3.4 million children
How many poor children were there in 2007?
2.9 million
Was this a success they fall in poverty?
Half a million children no longer lived in poor households, an achievement: a cut of quarter compared with that promise of half.
What was the main problem with Labour’s social policies?
Too overambitious with their statistics and this led to them undershooting many keys policy commitments.
What was still clear at the end of Blair’s reign?
Britain was still unequal, there was no shift in Britain’s social geology.
when was the civil partnership act brought in?
2005
When was the adoption and children’s act brought in?
2002
When was paid paternity leave for men Brought in?
2005
When was section 28 repealed?
2003
When was the equal age of consent Brought in?
2001
Why were cuts to lone parent benefits brought in?
Promoted mothers going to work and their was more free professional childcare in order to facilitate this
What was the working family tax credit?
Encouraged both partners in a family married or not to work though it did remove the incentive to get married and stay married.
