Britain: New Labour Flashcards
Blair
. His father was a Conservative
. Blair joined Lab after graduating Oxford uni
. He + fellow Lab modernisers Brown + Mandelson argued change was necessary for Lab to remain relevant - could no longer rely on working class vote
Blair as leader
. Charismatic, comfortable with media, portrayed himself as ordinary
. In touch w electorate: paid tribute to Princess Diana after her death, calling her “the people’s princess”
. His popularity soared to 93% in polls
Blair ideology
. Much of Cons’ trade union reform was accepted, no renationalisation of industries - the Third Way
. Critics argued he didn’t rly stand for anything: jettisoned traditional Lab policies + accepted Thatcherite ideas to win power
Labour after 1997 election
. Many worried success wouldn’t last
. Tight control over media messages, splits within party (eg Blair and Brown) hidden
Devolution - Scotland
. Inc. unpopularity for Cons called for it
. Referendums held in 1997: voted in favour of devolving power to a Scottish parliament + this parliament having tax raising power
. New Scottish Assembly established at Edinburgh, system of proportional representation
Devolution - N.I. and Wales
. Welsh referendum agreed to set up Welsh Assembly in Cardiff but with limited power
. Gov in N.I. devolved after Good Friday Agreement
Devolution - results
. In Scotland SNP and in Wales Plaid Cymru got more support
Mayor of London
. Intro of elected Mayor in 1999
. First election in 2000, Blair blocked Ken Livingstone from running - fear he’d tarnish image of New Labour
. He ran as an independent + won - Blair forced to accept him back in the party
House of Lords
. Tried to reform it in 1999
. Hereditary peers not abolished but cut to 92
. Unsatisfactory to almost everyone
Reforms to Parliament
. Pre-election discussions had been held w Lib Dems about possible reforms to electoral system
. Commission led by Roy Jenkins set up to examine alternative voting systems
. It reported in 1998 + recommended that first past the post be replaced w a more proportional system
. No changes were made
Freedom of Information Act
. Passed in 2000
. Gave ppl the right to request info from public bodies
. By 2006 100,000+ requests made each year
. Blair later saw it as a mistake + him as “naive, foolish”
. He argued it would prevent politicians from making diff decisions bc they feared their actions would become public knowledge
European Convention on Human Rights
. Incorporated into UK law through Human Rights Act 1998
. However the way judges interpreted this sometimes created unexpected difficulties for the gov
. Eg 2004 the gov had to amend anti-terrorist legislation allowing indefinite detainment of UK non-nationals suspected of terrorism bc the House of Lords ruled this was incompatible w the Act
1997 Pledges
. Not overly ambitious - developed many policies of previous Con govs
Education
. ‘education, education, education’ key commitment
. In ed, Lab gov kept league tables + inspections intro’d by Major’s administration
. Targets extended + more specialist schools encouraged
Crime
. ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’
. Designed to counter belief that only Con Party was strong on law and order issues
. Measures to reduce social exclusion - a cause of crime
. But also longer prison sentences
Education and Health Reform
. Promised more teachers, doctors + nurses
. Improving exam results + shorter waiting times for operations
. July 2001: a special delivery unit set up to ensure reforms were implemented + increasingly targets were used to try + enforce change
. Blair disappointed by how slow reforms were
Crises
. Rising fuel prices led to blockade in 2000 by farmers + lorry drivers; foot + mouth disease hit farmers of cattle + sheep led to culling of 10mil animals
. People in countryside felt Lab was too urban + didn’t properly understand their issues
. Worsened when Lab tried to ban hunting with dogs
Banning Hunting with Dogs
. Long battle with House of Lords over the issue
. The pressure group the Countryside Alliance organised a march, half a mil ppl attended in 2002
. Ban was passed in 2004
Brown’s Initial Priorities
. Keep inflation low
. Keep gov spending under control and prove to Middle England that Lab was pro-business + could be trusted w running the economy
. This would enable Lab to escape from previous image as ‘tax-and-spend’ party
Gordon Brown
. Allowed to be chancellor from 1997-2007 w complete control over economic policy in return for not running against Blair as party leader
. Inherited very favourable economic circumstances
Brown and the Bank of England
. He made it independent from gov
. Meant gov would set target for inflation but up to the Bank of England to decide where to set interest rates to meet this target
. He also set the Treasury rules abt how much could be borrowed by the gov
. In effect he was kinda following Thatcherite policy that supply of money needed to be controlled
‘Prudence with a Purpose’
- Brown
. Purpose of a stable growing economy was to improve public services
. After 2001: injection of money into public services
. Big inc. in investment reflected in new schools + hospitals + pay rises to nurses, docs + teachers
Result of Spending
. Exam results went up, waiting lists went down
. The Lab gov argued this spending was necessary to make up for years of under-funding + neglect under the Cons administration of 1979-1997
In order to avoid raising taxes
. Lab, like Cons, continued to use private sources of funding for improvements to public services
. Some criticism of funding of new projects through Private Finance Initiative (PFI)
. The buildings usually got completed quickly but debts were stored up for the future
