5.3 The Extent of Political and Social Division in Britain Flashcards
1
Q
National Unity
How did Thatcher encourage national unity in her speeches (also which speeches)
A
- speeches about russian communism
- Falklands War of 1982 presented the Argentinian invasion as an attack on British values, and she wanted to defend national honour
2
Q
the problem of class
How did Thatcher undermine national unity in terms of the miners?
how were the unions bad…
A
- the unions were undermining national unity by putting the interests of the working class about the national interest.
Thatcher increased class conflict and inequality through this resentment.
3
Q
the problem of class
Scotland and Wales voting for which parties?
-
A
- nationalist parties
- they felt the conservatives didnt represent their interests
4
Q
the problem of class
what did thatcher argue about obeying the law?
A
- thatcher argued citizens had a moral duty to obey the law regardless of their economic circumstances
5
Q
the problem of class
How did the right to buy scheme increase class conflict?
A
- a gap was opened up within the working class between those who could afford this and those who couldn’t
- it took the right to rent decent, affordable housing away from the poorest in society.
6
Q
the miner’s strike - long term causes
what turned public opinion against the trade union movement?
A
- 1978-1979: ‘winter of discontent’
- Thatcher felt she had a public backing in adopting an anti-union opinion
- also the NUM had brought down Heath’s governemnt, Thatcher wanted to succeed where Heath failed.
7
Q
the miner’s strike - long term causes
Nicholas Ridley (close supporter of Thatcher) prepared for dealing with the NUM. How?
3 main methods
law, power, stocks.
A
- law against secondary action
- alternative sources of power, such as nuclear, so the country wasn’t completely reliant on coal.
- the reserve of coal stocks so the country couldn’t be blackmailed
8
Q
the miner’s strike - short-term causes
Why was the government in control of the British Coal Corporation?
A
- because Attlee had nationalised coal in 1946
9
Q
the miner’s strike - short-term causes
Who did Thatcher appoint as head of the National Coal Board
A
- Ian MacGregor (scottish buisinessman) as head of the national coal board to reform the industry
10
Q
the miner’s strike - short-term causes
what was Thatcher determined to reduce to the mining industry?
A
- reduce state subsidies
- this meant pits would close, and devastation would be caused in South Wales, Scotland, and the North of England
11
Q
the miner’s strike - short-term causes
the fight between Scargill and MacGregor: MacGregor’s pit closures and Scargill’s (right) claims?
A
- MacGregor announced a plan to cut subsidies and close 20 pits
- Scargill claimed he was lying and the real plan was to close 70
- 30 years later papers were released to confirm this claim
- to respond to this, Scargill announced a strike
12
Q
the ballot
Scargill and the ballot: what happened? what did he claim?
A
- Scargill didn’t hold the ballot because he suspected a majority wouldn’t approve because miners in pits that didnt close needed to work to earn a living
- he didn’t hold a ballot but claimed the strike was legitimate, and this was the fatal flaw.
13
Q
the ballot
what did the 1984 Trade Union Act enforce?
A
- all unions must conduct a secret ballot of their members before announcing a strike, and it had to be approved by the majority.
14
Q
the strike
When did it begin? what did Scargill organise?
A
- May 1984
- Scargill organised pickets from pits on strikes to protest at pits that stayed open
15
Q
the strike
who were NACODS
what did it stand for
A
- National Association of Colliery Overmen, Deputies, and Shotfire
16
Q
the strike
what did NACODS choose to do?
A
- not strike, causing immense anger towards members who continued to work
17
Q
the strike
how did the government respond to the strikes?
A
- it was illegal. So the government could confiscate some NUM funds
- the government employed MI5 officers to infiltrate the NUM and find out its strategy
- tens of thousands of police officers were sent to yorkshire and other major coal producing areas to police strikes
- this meant further conflict, as officers were armed with horses, riot shields, and truncheons
18
Q
the battle of orgreave
what happened? what was the battle/
A
- a conflict between police and miners that took place in Orgreave, South Yorkshire, on 18th July 1984
- 5000 police officers and 5000 miners clashed
- the police led horseback charges against the miners, who threw bricks and stones at the police
19
Q
the battle of orgreave
what was the result of the battle of orgreave?
-
A
100+ miners and police injured
- dozens of miners arrested
20
Q
the battle of orgreave
how did thatcher present the miners?
A
- an undemocratic ‘mob’ and that ‘the rule of law must prevail over the rule of the mob’
21
Q
public opinion and the strike
who supported hte miners?
RTC, WAPC, LGSM
A
- Race Today Collective (black radicals supported the wives of the miners)
- Women Against pit Closures organised rallies in support of miners - formed by Anne Scargill
- Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners organised marches and fundraising - formed by Mark Ashton and Mike Jackson
22
Q
Public opinion on the strike
Divisions within Labour over the strike
A
- left: supported Scargill arguing he was defending jobs across the industry
- right: against the stirike because it was illegal and therefore unjustified
23
Q
Public opinion on the strike
media and the publics opinion on the strike
A
- the press and the majority of the british public opposed it
- surge of support for the government
24
Q
the end of the strike
Scargills hopes vs reality
A
- hoped the strike would starve the economy of coal and bring industry to a standstill
- Ridley’s strategy of stockpiling coal before the strike meant the economy kept running
25
# the end of the strike
divisions within the miners... Scargill's methods and the Union of Democratic Mineworkers
- Scargills methods weakened support for the strike within mining regions in Lancashire and North Wales, where miners were far less interested in strike action
- the Union of Democratic Mineworkers was founded in December **1984**
- UDMW went back to work in early **1985** demonstrating divisions within the movement.
26
# the end of the strike
**1984-1985**: the end of the strike
- late **1984**/ early **1985** strikers (some) returned to work
- March **1985** the NUM voted to call off the strike, against Scargills reccommendations
27
# the impact of the strike
impact on the unions.. militancy? illegal striking? the NUM membership?
- militancy began to decline
- practices such as striking without a secret ballot and secondary picketing died out
- the NUM lost 84% of its members between **1985-1990**
28
# the impact of the strike
Laws that reduced the rights of unions..
**1988, 1989, 1990, 1993** Acts
- **1988**: unions were given legal protection fro crossing picket lines
- **1993**: unions were forced to conduct strike ballots by post, and submit their voting process to independent scrutiny
29
# the impact of the strike
union membership **1979-1997**
- union membership declined by almost 40%
30
# the impact of the strike
Impact of the strike on the labour party
- from **1985** Labour took steps to distance themselves from the unions
- **1993**: Labour leader John Smith rejected the union block vote showing a decisive break
31
# the impact of the strike
mining industry decline... **1985-1990**
- 94/170 total pits were closed
32
# the impact of the strike
What did it show about the conservative government?
- they were prepared to deal with the unions uncompromisingly.
- She was rewarded for her approach by public and political support
- **Stuart Hall**: *'authoritarian populism'*
33
# Thatcher and colonialism
overall feeling around colonialism and thatcher
- from **1960s** radicals argued the british police acted like a colonial army in places such as Brixton, Notting Hill or Southall which large black or asian comunities
34
# the black rights movement
what happened between **1918-1979**?
- millions of people across the world moved to Britain
- lots of groups emerged to fight against discrimination from those with more authority
35
# the black rights movement
What did a rise in Black and Asian protest reflect?
| RD, CU, EP, SP
- continued **racial discrimination** in housing, employment, education, and the police
- thatcher's emphasis on **cultural uniformity** and assimilation
- thatchers **economic policies** disadvantaged black and asian people to a far greater extent than white people.
- thatchers **support of the police** that targetted black peopl.e
36
# the new cross fire
what happened?
**18th Jan 1981**
- fire swept across New Cross Road in southeast London
- 13 black (mostly teenagers attending a party) were kiled
- the local community believed it was a racist arson attack by the National Front
37
# the new cross fire
what did this lead to the establishment of?
- the new cross massacre action committee
38
# the new cross fire
what did Thatcher do?
- nothing
- this contrasted when the deaths of white dublin teenagers led to official letters in support from the Queen and the governmnet
39
# the new cross fire
what did the police do?
- nothing
- made no attempt to follow up on reports of witnesses of arson
40
# the black people's day of action
What was it? who organised it? what did it force?
- New cross massacre action committee led by Darcus Howe organised this
- **2 March 1981**, 20,000 people across the country marched through London and demanded justice
- largest black protest in Britain
- forced the government to acknowledge what happened, and hte police were unable to prevent the march
- it alerted the media
41
# stop and search
who were stop and search powers used against?
- disproportionately against young black people in the 1970s and 1980s
42
# stop and search
police introduction of Operation Swamp '81: what was it?
- a mass stop-and-search campaign aimed at black people in London
- Black MPs such as **Bernie Grant** believe the operation was to reassert police authority after the march
| the campaign led to riots
43
# 1981 riots
what were the rumours surrounding the riots/
- a black teenager, Michael Bailey, had died in police custody
44
# 1981 riots
what happened? what were the numbers?
- 300 black and white youths clashed with over 1000 police officers
- 299 officers were injured, and 70 members of the public
- over 100 cars were destroyed
- 28 shops and homes burnt
- 100+ more looted
45
# 1981 riots
three months later, what happened?
- more riots broke out in some of Britains most deprived inner-city areas with high ethnic minority populations, such as Manchester, Handsworth, Moss side, etc.
- along wth Wolverhamption, Leeds, Leicester, Bedford, and more
46
# v1981 riots
what were the causes?
- tension and alleged police discrimination
47
# the scarman report **1981**
what did Lord Scarman's enquiry report?
- clear evidence of disproportionate and unncessary use of stop and search against young black and ethnic minority men
- poverty, unemploymnet, poor housing were key factors causing the riots
Scarman urged the governemnt to do more to address inequality
48
# ongoing social division
lack of action from THatcher
- Scarman's proposals were not implemented
- little improvement in urban areas or in conditions for black communities in the 1980s
49
# ongoing social division
rioting in **1985**
| what happened?
- Broadwater Farm housing estate in north london following the death of 2 black women Cynthia Jarrett and Cherry Groce (seperate incidents)
50
# ongoing social division
Cherry Groce
was shot by armed police
51
# ongoing social division
cynthia jarrett
died of a heart attack during a police raid on her home
52
# changing attitudes
increasing number of black and asian MPs?
**1987**
- Dianne Abbot, Bernie Grant, paul Boateng and Keith Vaz became MPs
53
# changing attitudes
Channel 4 **1982**: what was its responsibility? Farrukh Dhondys role?
- channel 4 had a responsibility to provide TV programmes for minority groups
- Farrukh Dhondy (editor for mulitculutral programming) commissioned TV programmes from leading black and asian writers
- **Eg.** *The Bandung File* and *Demonds*
54
# changing attitudes
music?
- acid house saw black musicians from across the country leading a new movement
55
# changing attitudes
*Cop Killer*
Dotun Adebayo and Steven Pope
56
# changing attitudes
literature and politics?
- nigerian born author Ben Okri won **1991** Booker Prize for *The Famished Road*
- British politicians mostly the Lib Dems rallied to support the British Indian novelist Salman Rushide when he was placed under a *fatwa* for his **1988** novel *The Satanic Verses*
57
# the murder of stephen lawrence
what happened?
- a young black man from Southeast London was stabbed to death in Eltham
- the gov and media immeidately condemned lawrence's murder
58
# the murder of stephen lawrence
Macpherson Report
| **1999**
- stated the Metripolitan police was 'institutionally racist'
- the murder suggested racism still existed in society and the police twelve years after the new cross fire
this response showed Major's governmetns were more wiling to address racism than thatcher
59
# Thatcher and Northern Ireland
why did Thatcher have personal problems with the IRA
- close friend Airey Neave, Tory MP, was murdered in a car bomb at the HoC
60
# Thatcher and Northern Ireland
what did Thatcher believe was the resolution?
force was the only way, negotiations had no place here
61
# Bobby Sands
who was he? what did he do?
- high profile IRA prisoner
- sentenced to 14 years in prison in **1976** for his part in the IRA bombing in Dunmurry
- **1981**: he led a protest in prison against the repeal of *'special category stauts'* that prisoners convicted of terrorist offencves were granted
62
# Bobby Sands
what did Sands and the other IRA members demnad in hunger strike?
- the right to not wear a prison uniform
- the right to not do prison work
- the right of free association with other prisoners, and to organise recreational and educational pursuits
- the right to one visit, one letter, and one parcel per week
63
# Bobby Sands
how did Thatcher recognise IRA members?
- not as political prisoners, as ordinary criminals
64
# Bobby Sands
what did the hunger strike mean for the government?
- lots of negative publicity
- Foot urged Thatcher to compromise in order to save Sands' lofe
65
# Bobby Sands
Sands as MP?
- he won the Fermanagh and South Tyrone seat whilst in prison
66
# Bobby Sands
Sands death, and other IRA prisoners, and opinions on Thatcher
- sands died **5 May 1981** as a result of hunger soon after being elected
- 9 IRA prisoners died on hunger strike nad Britain was condemned internationally.
- the common perception was thatcher 'let' the prisoners die.
67
# the brighton hotel bombing
what happened?
**12 October 1984**: the IRA tried to assassinate Thatcher and her cabinet
- several conservative MPs and their wives were killed, but Thatcher was not
- motivation was Bobby Sands death
this strengthened her uncompromising attitude
the conservative party conference continued the next day
68
# Anglo-Irish Agreement
what was it? who signed it?
- gave the Republic of Ireland a consultative role in Northern Ireland for the first time
- Thatcher and her irish counterpart Dr Garret Fitzgerald signed it **15 Novembe 1985**
69
# Anglo-Irish Agreement
why did it fail
- no sharing of power
- nationalists weren't considered
70
# reactions to the agreement
Ian Paisely DUP leader said
| M T T U T T R M H S S I O P? W S N N N N'
*'Mrs THatcher tells us that the republic must have some say in our province? we say never, never, never, never'*
71
# reactions to the agreement
republicans response
they were also hostile to the agreement, believing it recognised and legitimised the state of Northern Ireland.
72
# Miscarriages of Justice
bombs **1970s**
IRA bombed crowded pubs in Guildford and Birmingham in **1975**
73
# Miscarriages of Justice
Guildford Four? Birmingham Six? Maguire Seven?
- pressure from the public for speedy arrest led to the wrongful arrest of these groups
- they all spent **14-16** years in prison
74
# Miscarriages of Justice
public pressure
- to overturn the wrongful arrests in Britain, Ireland, and America
- TV programme *World in Action* doubted the Birmingham Six convictions in **1985**
75
# Miscarriages of Justice
freeing of the prisoners and public reactions
- **1991** Court of Appeal accepted the accused men were coerced into signing statements and evidence had been suppressed
- Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were freed after their convictions were found by Presiding judge Lord Lane to be 'unsafe' they concluded the police who investigated the bombings in **1975** 'must have lied'
76
# 3.3 Thatcher and sexuality
what was Thatcher's problem with LGBTQ+ values?
- she wanted to promote traditional family values
- she was concerned 'liberal' values would breakdown self-discipline
- she didn't want to recriminalise homosexuality but thought the encouragement of it would lead ot 'moral anarchy' where British citizens wouldn't be able to tell right from wrong
77
# HIV and AIDS
when was the first case of HIV diagnosed
- **1981** (it was associated with gay people until the **1990s** when heterosexual people were being diagnosed)
78
# HIV and AIDS
**1987** survey on attitudes towards homosexuality?
3/4 of the people believed it was 'always or mostly wrong'
79
# section 28
public pressure meant the banning of discussion of homosexuality in schools: what was section 46 of the **1986 Education Act**?
- sex education should promote 'the value of family life'
80
# section 28
**section 28** of the **1988 Local Government Act** outlawed what
- the promotion of homosexuality
- also outlawed educational activity promoting the acceptability of homosexuality
81
# section 28
pushback? what were the acts passed in response to? (book), BBC 6 o clock news protest?
- response to books such as *jenny lives with eric and martin*
- lots of protest included the 'invasion' of bbc 6 o clock news studios
- gay community became more politicised
82
# section 28
who fromed the gay riots group Stonewall **1989**?
Ian McKellen (actor) Peter Tatchell and Michael Cashman
83
# section 28
what did Stonewall campaign for?
- the repeal of section 28
- attacks against LGBT to count as hate crimes
- repeal of a ban on homosexuality in the armed forces
84
# section 28
thatchers view on homosexuality + division
- she would not recognise people chose different ways to live
- she discouraged alternatives to her view of family life
85
# section 28
what did it mean for LGBTQ representation: clubs, literature, life
- clubs were forced to disband
- literature taken off shelves in libraries
- positive depictions of LGBT life were wiped out in schools
86
# section 28
the effects of section 28 on the community
- LGBTQ+ made to feel as though they were second-class citizens
- the effects of this lasted for generations
87
# changes in the media
**1985** Stephen Frears' *My Beautiful Laundrette*: recognition?
- featured Daniel Day Lewis
- didn't fearture any big names, but it involved a love affair between 2 gay men
- it was nominated for the Oscars and the BAFTAs
88
# changes in the media
**1989** Eastenders
screened the first ever gay kiss on tv
89
# changes in the media
**1989** *Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit*
- BBC
- lesbian coming-of-age story presentinfg homosexuality positively
90
# changes in the media
pop music artists showcasing gay values
- Boy George and Marilyn were famed for androgynous appearence
- Pet Shop Boys single 'its a sin' challenged perceptions about the wrongness of gay desire
91
# changes in the media
Major and gay values
- much more willing to promote it than thatcher
- invited actor and gay rights campaigner Ian mcKellen to downing street
- he also lowered the age of consent for gay men from 21-18
92
# 3.4 thatcher and feminism
Thatchers views on feminism
- she believed in womens individual equality
- but she assumed the nuclear family was no obstacle to the ambition of talented women
93
# campaigns in the 1980s
Selma James and the English Collective of Prostitutes demanded what?
| DOP, FA, R, S
1. the decriminalisation of prostitution
2. financial alternaticves to prostitution to prevent sex work being the result of poverty
3. recognition of the profession
4. safety for sex workers
94
# campaigns in the 1980s
the International Wages for housework campaign: who did it attract? what did James argue?
- begun in the early 1970s
- attracted supporters on the radical left of the womens movement in the 1980s
- James argued housework wasn't a choice and was as unfulfilling as most kinds of paid manual labour
- women were entitled to be paid for housework
95
# campaigns in the 1980s
feminist filmaker Sally Potter's *Thriller* **1979**
| what did it criticise?
the way Thatcherism undermined the traditional role of women
- she priased traditionally male dominated professions in the finance industry, and stigmatised 'caring professions' which were traditionally held by women
96
# campaigns in the 1980s
what did potter argue about thatcher and 'women's work'
- thatcher treated 'women's work' as part of the problem with modern women, because she blamed welfare services for creating a dependency culture
97
# Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp
what was the campaign?
- to stop US missiles being stationed at the RAF Greenham Common airbase
98
# GCWPC
what was the protest?
- women only to prevent it from being male dominated
- proestors held vigils involving tens of thousands of women who surrounded the airbase in a human chain
- others cut fences and entered the base
99
# GCWPC
how did the press, thatcher, and the police react to the protest?
| when did they stay until>
- the press was hostile, presenting them as abandoning their families and being naieve
- thatcher declared the greenham common women should be 'eradicated'
- police evicted most protestors in **1984**, but some stayed until **1987** when the missiles were removed as part of a disarmamament to deal with the soviet union
100
# womens rights under major
Majors mixed views on women
- 'back to basics' campaign was linked to attempts at blaming women for social problems
- but Majors govenrment also passed significant laws that recognised the rights of women, one being the criminalisation of rape within marriage
101
# conclusion
division? Thatchers moral ideas? consensus?
- thatcher sought to promote social harmony but her policies were designed to promote some values and undermine others, often causing social and political division
- thatchers moral ideas were much less persuasive than her economic ones
- traditional stigmas were in retreat by the mid **1990s** and there was a consensus in favour of equality laws that were passed under Blair.
