3.9 Heath's government, 1970-79

Question 1

By the time he became PM, how long had Edward Heath been leader of the opposition?

Answer 1

5 years

Question 2

Heath was good at … but not at ….

Answer 2

Heath was good at policies but not at politics

Question 3

Why did Heath know the issues surrounding the EEC inside and out?

Answer 3

He had been the chief negotiator in 1961 to 1963

Question 4

In the January before the 1970 election, where was a Conservative conference held?

Answer 4

Selsdon Park

Question 5

Selsdon Park Agenda/Programme (+ basis of Conservative Manifesto)

Answer 5

• tax reform
• better law and order
• reforms to trade unions
• immigration controls
• cuts to public spending
• end to public subsidy of ‘lame duck’ industries

Question 6

What did Heath still believe in?

Answer 6

One Nation Toryism + post-war consensus - the Selsdon Park Programme not intended to be an all-out rejection of post-war consensus politics

Question 7

reforms made under Heath’s government

Answer 7

• school leaving age raised to 16
• local government reorganised
• decimalisation (agreed in 1965, into force 1971)

Question 8

How did the Barber Boom begin?

Answer 8

Chancellor Anthony Barber initially introduced cuts in public spending + also tax cuts to try and encourage investments –> rapid rise of inflation, not accompanied by economic growth + unemployment actually went up (stagflation)

Question 9

As unemployment started to edge towards a million, what did the government do?

Answer 9

Rolls Royce was nationalised in 1971 and government money was poured in to prevent Upper Clyde Shipbuilders going bankrupt
The famous U-turn

Question 10

By 1973, what showed that the investment into modernising industry was working?

Answer 10

Unemployment had fallen back to 500,000

Question 11

What caused the oil price crisis of 1973?

Answer 11

the Yom Kippur War –> prompted OPEC to declare oil embargo.

Question 12

After OPEC’s oil embargo, how did the price of oil increase?

Answer 12

exports suddenly stopped + price of oil rocketed to four times the usual levels.

Question 13

when did the NUM demand a huge new pay rise?

Answer 13

November 1973

Question 14

When did Heath bring in the Industrial Relations Act?

Answer 14

1971 - was very similar to ‘In Place of Strife’

Question 15

What did the Industrial Relations Act 1971 do?

Answer 15

Set up an Industrial Relations Court + provided for strike ballots + a ‘cooling off period’ before official strikes could begin

Question 16

Why did the Industrial Relations Act not work as expected?

Answer 16

Both the TUC and CBI were opposed to it. There were major strikes in 1972.

Question 17

1972 saw the highest number of days lost in strikes since the General Strike of 1926: ..,…,…

Answer 17

23,909,000

Question 18

When did the miner’s strike in 1972 start? how did it end?

Answer 18

January 1972 at time of harsh winter weather - by 9 February - State of Emergency, 3 day week –> NUM leader was able to negotiate generous wage settlement

Question 19

What Act aimed to manage wage demands by including the government in agreeing wages, prices, investment, + benefits?

Answer 19

Industry Act of 1972 - Heavily criticised by Right of Conservative Party, such as Enoch Powell

Question 20

What led to a further increased wage demand from the workers? when? how did they strengthen their demands?

Answer 20

November 1973 - continued oil crisis –> introduced overtime ban

Question 21

When was the 3-day week reintroduced

Answer 21

at the beginning of 1974

Question 22

When did the NUM call a national strike?

Answer 22

refused the pay offer negotiated by Willie Whitelaw (moved from NI office) - January 1974, NUM called national strike

Question 23

When did Heath call a general election for?

Answer 23

28 February 1974

Question 24

What was the question + issue Heath posed with the 1974 election?

Answer 24

‘Who governs Britain?’

Question 25

For most of the campaign, who did the opinion polls favour?

Answer 25

the Conservatives; but the final result showed a small swing against them

Question 26

How many more seats did Labour win than the Conservatives in the February 1974 election?

Answer 26

5 more seats - but led to a hung parliament, in which no party had an overall majority

Question 27

What happened after the 1974 election?

Answer 27

Heath attempted to make a deal with the Liberals, but failed - Labour, as the largest party, formed a minority government

Question 28

In Northern Ireland, who did Heath back at first?

Answer 28

The UUP leader Brian Faulkner

Question 29

What of Faulkner’s policies did Heath initially go along with?

Answer 29

• imposing night-time curfews
• introduction of internment in 1971

Question 30

How many of those interned between 1971 and 1975 were Catholic?

Answer 30

95% - Jim McVeigh, an IRA commander, is quoted as saying that internment was ‘among the best recruiting tools the IRA ever had’

Question 31

What effect did the measures of night-time curfews and internment have?

Answer 31

meant that the British Army came to be regarded as an enemy occupying power by Catholics + nationalists

Question 32

What event made the situation worse? When?

Answer 32

30 January 1972 - attempts to control a march resulted in British soldiers firing, killing 26 unarmed civilians, 13 on the day - Bloody Sunday

Question 33

What happened following Bloody Sunday?

Answer 33

• British Embassy in Dublin was burned down
• Support for the IRA grew
• The IRA were able to raise a lot of funds from the USA

Question 34

1972 was the bloodiest year of the troubles - how many people were killed?

Answer 34

480

Question 35

How many explosions were there in 1972? How many shooting incidents?

Answer 35

1382 explosions
10,628 shooting incidents

Question 36

When did Heath suspend the Stormont Parliament?

Answer 36

March 1972, bringing in direct rule from Westminster

Question 37

When was the Sunningdale negotiated?

Answer 37

1973 - complex plan for power-sharing government

Question 38

Who opposed Sunningdale?

Answer 38

Both republican and loyalist extremists, the UVF and the UDA, 11/12 candidates from the constituencies in NI after February 1974 election?

Question 39

What did concern surrounding Sunningdale mean for the Conservative government?

Answer 39

Conservative Party could not rely on the support of the UUP, preventing the Conservatives from continuing in government