Britain: New Labour

Question 1

Blair

Answer 1

. 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

Question 2

Blair as leader

Answer 2

. 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

Question 3

Blair ideology

Answer 3

. 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

Question 4

Labour after 1997 election

Answer 4

. Many worried success wouldn’t last

. Tight control over media messages, splits within party (eg Blair and Brown) hidden

Question 5

Devolution - Scotland

Answer 5

. 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

Question 6

Devolution - N.I. and Wales

Answer 6

. Welsh referendum agreed to set up Welsh Assembly in Cardiff but with limited power
. Gov in N.I. devolved after Good Friday Agreement

Question 7

Devolution - results

Answer 7

. In Scotland SNP and in Wales Plaid Cymru got more support

Question 8

Mayor of London

Answer 8

. 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

Question 9

House of Lords

Answer 9

. Tried to reform it in 1999
. Hereditary peers not abolished but cut to 92
. Unsatisfactory to almost everyone

Question 10

Reforms to Parliament

Answer 10

. 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

Question 11

Freedom of Information Act

Answer 11

. 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

Question 12

European Convention on Human Rights

Answer 12

. 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

Question 13

1997 Pledges

Answer 13

. Not overly ambitious - developed many policies of previous Con govs

Question 14

Education

Answer 14

. ‘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

Question 15

Crime

Answer 15

. ‘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

Question 16

Education and Health Reform

Answer 16

. 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

Question 17

Crises

Answer 17

. 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

Question 18

Banning Hunting with Dogs

Answer 18

. 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

Question 19

Brown’s Initial Priorities

Answer 19

. 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

Question 20

Gordon Brown

Answer 20

. 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

Question 21

Brown and the Bank of England

Answer 21

. 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

Question 22

‘Prudence with a Purpose’

Answer 22

• 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

Question 23

Result of Spending

Answer 23

. 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

Question 24

In order to avoid raising taxes

Answer 24

. 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

Question 25

By 2007 pros

Answer 25

. Inflation kept under control: 1997-2007, 1.6%
. Record numbers of people in work
. Unemployment 1997-2007 less than 6%
. Living standards remained high
. Consumer economy boomed

Question 26

By 2007 cons

Answer 26

. Some economists, eg Will Hutton, warned that consumer boom was based on rising house prices + on high levels of credit card spending + personal debt
. Rather than increased productivity
. Danger that this ‘bubble’ might not last

Question 27

Northern Ireland Context

Answer 27

. Lot of vital work had been done by Major
. Potential to end the Troubles in N.I.
. Talks involving all diff N.I. parties since 1996
. John Hume, leader of Social Democrat Labour Party, had persuaded Gerry Adams + Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein that negotiated settlement was possible

Question 28

Unionists and republicans

Answer 28

. Trusted the chairman of the talks, George Mitchell, a former US senator who was Clinton’s special envoy for Northern Ireland

Question 29

Blair in N.I.

Answer 29

. Close working relationship w Taoiseach Ahern
. Continued through 1997-2008; this helped keep support of republicans
. Lab Sec of State for N.I. Mo Mowlam kept paramilitaries on board by visiting them in Maze prison
. B’s personal commitment also vital + he proved capable of reassuring David Trimble + Ulster Unionists that Sinn Fein could be trusted

Question 30

Final negotiations

Answer 30

. April 1998: tense, went on for 17hrs after the final deadline set by Mitchell was missed
. One of the UUP negotiators, Jeffrey Donaldson, walked out 9 Apr over lack of progress in ensuring that the IRA would decommission its arms, leading to fears that the negotiation would collapse

Question 31

The Good Friday Agreement

Answer 31

. 10th April 1998, announced by George Mitchell
. Both the UK + Irish Republic would give up claim on NI as it’d be up to NI to decide whether they’d remain part of UK or join Irish Republic
. A devolved Assembly + a power sharing Executive
. Links between NI + Republic of Ireland + between UK and Republic of Ireland would be strengthened

Question 32

The Good Friday Agreement - further key elements

Answer 32

. Parties would use influence to ensure decommissioning of arms
. There should be an independent commission to oversee reform of policing
. There could be early release of prisoners where paramilitary organisations were committed to peace

Question 33

The Referendum

Answer 33

. Held on 22 May
. NI: 71% 94% in Republic voted for agreement
. Opposition on both sides: leaders of Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams + Martin McGuinness, v nervous of a republican backlash
. David Trimble + Ulster Unionists feared powerful negative influence of Ian Paisley, DUP leader

Question 34

Negative response to Good Friday Agreement

Answer 34

. Omagh bombing in 1998: killed 30, carried out by Continuity IRA
. Over the next 10yrs unionists became disillusioned w some parts of agreement + DUP overtook the UUP as the main unionist political party in Northern Ireland
. Democratic Union of Protestants were hard-line btw

Question 35

Following 10 years in Northern Ireland

Answer 35

. Blair remained closely involved during premiership
. Devolved institutions had to be suspended 2002 til St Andrews Agreement 2006 which reiterated key elements of Good Friday Agreement
. NI regarded by many as Blair’s greatest achievement

Question 36

Following 10 years in Northern Ireland: Disagreements Over…

Answer 36

• whether paramilitaries were really decommissioning arms
• early release of convicted terrorists
• the right of the Protestant Orange Order to march on its traditional routes