80s - Social Changes

Question 1

What kind of society did Thatcher aim to create?

Answer 1

A property-owning democracy

Question 2

What was the 1980 Housing Act?

Answer 2

Gave council tenants the right to buy their council house with a 33-50% discount, depending on how long they had lived there.

Question 3

By 1988, how many had taken advantage of housing scheme?

Answer 3

2 million.

Question 4

What did the housing scheme symbolise and who opposed it?

Answer 4

It symbolised the success of Thatcherism and Labour initially opposed it under Foot, then dropped their objections due to its popularity.

Question 5

What were the limitations of the Housing Act?

Answer 5

Only used in better-off areas
Councils used profits to reduce debts, not build new council houses.
Number of homes available reduced.
People housed in B&Bs for the time being which was expensive & unsuitable.

Question 6

Who did Thatcher’s economic reforms arouse hostility in?

Answer 6

COHSE (Collective Organisation of Health Service Employees) and NUPE (National Union of Public Employees) became militant and teachers unions had a long dispute over working conditions.

Question 7

Which regulations/attitudes constrained the unions?

Answer 7

1980 - secondary picketing outlawed.
1984 - forced to hold ballots pre-strikes.
Employers tried to keep unions out of workplaces.

Question 8

What did newspapers try and do against unions?

Answer 8

Murdoch tried to reduce the power of print unions and there was a major confrontation at Murdoch’s Wapping Plant in 1986. Strikes failed to prevent publication or distribution and the strike collapsed after 13 months.

Question 9

What did Thatcher compare the 84-85 strikes to?

Answer 9

The Falklands, referring to the miners as the ‘enemy within’.

Question 10

In 1981, what did the NCB warn of?

Answer 10

The need to close 23 pits.

Question 11

What were the 1972-73 actions that Thatcher wanted to avoid?

Answer 11

Heath compromised by reducing the amount of coal imported and protecting the NCB subsidy, preventing the closures.

Question 12

What was Thatcher’s attitude facing the miners?

Answer 12

The gov were confident. Huge coal reserves had built up and power stations & North Sea Oil made an energy crisis unlikely. Ian McGregor, NCB chairman, had been given permission to take a tough line.

Question 13

What did the NCB announce in 1984 which sparked the strikes?

Answer 13

The closure of 20 pits.

Question 14

What issues did Scargill face?

Answer 14

He did not have the popular support for a national strike so refused to hold a strike ballot. The Nottinghamshire miners also formed a breakaway union called the UDM.

Question 15

What was the role of police that Thatcher was widely criticised for?

Answer 15

Thatcher politicised the police - an unpopular move as they were no longer seen as an impartial body.

Question 16

What was the Battle of Orgreave?

Answer 16

In June 1984 a mass picketing at Orgreave, South Yorkshire had 5000 miners striking. They were faced by 8000 police officers and conflict ensued. Over 50 picketers and over 70 police were injured.

Question 17

What were the long and short term outcomes of the Battle of Orgreave?

Answer 17

Short term - Scargill failed to close the mine as trucks kept regular transport patterns.
Long term - Yorkshire Police had to pay reparations in 1991 for allegations of police brutality.

Question 18

What is secondary picketing?

Answer 18

Striking and protesting but at a secondary site, possible a depot, warehouse or supply centre.

Question 19

What happened during the last months of the strike?

Answer 19

Many miners began drifting back to work as they needed the pay so only the core strikers remained and without numbers they had little bargaining power.

Question 20

What are some statistics backing up Scargill’s failure in the campaign?

Answer 20

200,000 miners in 1979 - 60,000 miners in 1990.
Union membership decreased by 1/3rd.

Question 21

Which two industries had significant reorganisation?

Answer 21

British Airways and British Steel, which was possible because of the reduced influence of the unions.

Question 22

What year was the Poll Tax introduced?

Answer 22

1989 in Scotland and 1990 in England and Wales.

Question 23

Under the old rates system what was taxation based on?

Answer 23

Property ownership so only paid by homeowners.

Question 24

What did Thatcherites believe about the Poll Tax?

Answer 24

That if everyone paid it it would be fairer, and councils would become more efficient and responsible in their spending.

Question 25

What was the reaction of the Conservative party?

Answer 25

Conservative councils were known to increase the Poll Tax themselves, and Cons ministers couldn’t justify to the press why a poor pensioner would pay the same as a millionaire.

Question 26

How many people didn’t pay in some areas?

Answer 26

Up to 30%.

Question 27

What happened in March 1990?

Answer 27

Anti-Poll Tax demonstration in Trafalgar Square with 200,000 in attendance. It quickly turned into a riot, with 5000 injured and 300 arrested. Comparisons were made to Orgreave and police brutality claims were levelled again.

Question 28

What did Oxford not do for Thatcher as a result of higher education budget cuts?

Answer 28

Give her an honorary degree, as they had done for every Oxford alum PM previously.

Question 29

Why were the Arts anti-Thatcher?

Answer 29

There were cuts in public spending in creative sectors.

Question 30

Who was the playwright who wrote satirical plays about Thatcher?

Answer 30

David Hare.

Question 31

What was the name of the TV show which shows the social consequences of Thatcherism?

Answer 31

Boys from the Blackstuff.

Question 32

What was the Church’s opinion on Thatcher?

Answer 32

CofE published ‘Faith in the City’ in 1985 calling on the government to help deprived communities, which they had not been doing so far.

Question 33

What were the pressure groups Shelter and Age Concern lobbying the government for?

Answer 33

Shelter - preventing increasing homelessness
Age Concern - against pensioner poverty.

Question 34

What gave CND a new rise to be able to fight for?

Answer 34

Thatcher’s backing for deterrence and beginning to rearm with the USA for the upcoming Cold War.
CND-organised marches in 1979 to combat American Cruise Missiles based in Br.

Question 35

Who were the Greenham Women?

Answer 35

In April 1983, as the missiles arrived, over 70,000 protestors formed a human chain 14 miles long from Greenham, the proposed missile base, to Aldermaston, the location of the 1958 marches. In 1984, Newbury Council demolished the camp just for it to be rebuilt during the night. After the missiles left in 1991, the camp switched their focus to protesting against Trident.

Question 36

What happened in Bhopal, India that helped raise awareness of the deteriorating environment in 1984?

Answer 36

A gas leak killed 8000 in a factory

Question 37

What happened in Chernobyl, Ukraine in 1984?

Answer 37

Nuclear meltdown and fire which polluted the surrounding area with radioactive material and has been responsible for thousands of cancer diagnoses since.

Question 38

What helped contribute to the beginning of our understanding of the long-term impacts of CC?

Answer 38

The 1985 discovery of the hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica due to CFCs. In 1987 the Montreal Protocol phased out usage of CFCs and was fully ratified by all UN countries by 2009.

Question 39

Which two environmental pressure groups experienced significant growth?

Answer 39

Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth.