Blair Flashcards
What did Labours pledge card say about class sizes
Cut class sizes to 30 for under 5,6 and 7 year olds by using money from the assisted places scheme
What did Labours pledge card say about the NHS
Cut NHS waiting lists by treating an extra 100,000 patients as a first step by releasing 100 Million saved from NHS red tape
What did Labours pledge card say about benefits
Get 250,000 under 25 year olds off benefits and into work by using money from a windfall levy on the privatised utilities
What did Labours pledge card say about tax
No rise in income tax rates
Cut VAT on heating to 5% and inflation and interest rates as low as possible
What had Labour moved away from
“Socialist extremism”
What were 2 conservative arguments against Labour
That Labour had “stolen Conservative policies”
That “new labour” was “old labour” in disguise
Who defeated the “big beast” Michael Portillo
Stephen Twigg
What was tactical voting like in the 1997 election
Labour voters were voting Liberal democrat and vice versa
How many Seats did Labour win in the 1997 election
418
How many seats did the Conservatives win in the 1997 election
166
What did Blair ensure that Labour wasn’t perceived as
“Tax and spend” economics
What song did Labour use in their election campaign
Things can only get better
Popular pop song
Who improved Labours relations with the media
Former journalist
Blairs press secretary Alastair Campbell
What was Aids reffered to in the 1980s
“The gay plague”
What kind of character was Blair
Charismatic leader who was comfortable with the media
How did Blair present himself
Portrayed as an ordinary person despite his privileged background
What phrase did Blair say about princess Diana increased his popularity
“The peoples princess”
What did Labour promise regarding devolution
Promised new referendums on devolution
Remember constitutional change- learned in politics
When was the freedom of information act
2000
What did the freedom of information act do
Gave people the right to request information from public bodies
How many requests had been made from the public per year for information
100,000
What did Blair describe himself for passing the freedom of information act
“Naïve, foolish, irresponsible nincompoop”
What had Blair said about education
“Education, education, education”
What had Blair said about crime
“Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”
What did rising fuel prises lead to in 2000
A blockade by farmers and lorry drivers
- Foot and mouth disease hit farmers of cattle and sheep leading to a cull of 10 million animals
What did Gordon Brown try to prove regarding the economy
That Britain was pro business and could be trusted with running the economy
What did Brown do to the economy after 2001
Injected money into the economy to improve public services
What were the key elements of the Good Friday agreement
Independent commission to oversee reform of policing
Devolved assembly along with a power sharing executive would be set up
Both the UK and ROI would give up their claim on northern Ireland as it would be up to NI
When was the referendum for the good Friday agreement
22nd May 1998
In Northern Ireland what percentage of people voted for the good Friday agreement
71%
What was an incident following the good Friday agreement
The Omagh bombing
How many people were killed in the Omagh bombing
30
When was the Northern Ireland assembly suspended
2002
What brought the Northern Irish assembly back
The St Andrews agreement of 2006 which reiterated the key elements of the good Friday agreement
Who carried out the Omagh bombing
dissident republicans
In 1999 who delivered a speech criticising Thatcherism
Peter Lilley
What did Peter Lilley say in his speech in 1999
That the public was suspicious of further reform that was Thatcherite despite accepting previous economic reforms
What was the result of Peter Lilleys speech
Caused huge uproar within the conservative party
How did Hague feel even more threatened in 1999
Portillo was elected to parliament in a by election
What did some think about Portillo
He should’ve been leader in 1997
When did William Hague resign from being Conservative leader
2001