Britian 1964-70 (KO) Flashcards
When was the Labour election victory? (With narrow majority)
1964
When was the National plan created?
1964
When did Labour increase their parliamentary majority with a second election?
1966
When did the government devalue the pound?
1967
When were the Race Relations Acts?
1965 and 1968
When was the Abortion Act
1967
When was ‘In place of strife’?
1969
When were there protests against Vietnam? Where were they?
1968 - Grosvenor Square
When was the Commonwealth immigration Act?
1968
When do Labour lose the general election to the Conservatives?
1970
What majority did Labour have in the 1964 election?
4 seats
What majority did Labour have in the 1966 election?
98 seats
What majority did the Conservatives have in the 1970 election?
27 seats
What was Wilsons backstory?
- Grammar school educated
- From Yorkshire
- Started as a Bevanite left but moved centre
Who was the very liberal Home Secretary of this period?
Roy Jenkins
What was some of the liberal reform passed in this period?
- 1967 Abortion Act (pushed by David Steel)
- Sexual Offences Act 1967
- Death Penalty abolished 1969
- some censorship of sexual themes lifted (e.g. Lady Chatterley’s lover)
When was Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of blood’ speech?
1968
What did this government do for Race relations?
- made discrimination harder (Race relations Acts)
- made immigration harder (Commonwealth immigration Act)
What was the counter culture that emerged in this period?
- psychedelic drugs and hippy culture
- protest culture among students e.g. Vietnam
Who opposed the liberal culture?
Mary Whitehouse - clean up TV campaign - ‘small c’ conservatism.
When was the open university set up?
1969
What happened with women’s liberation in this period?
- contraceptive pill becomes widely accessible
- increased female education
- laid groundwork for feminism of the 70s
What is the Wilson quote about technology for this period?
‘The white heat of technology’
What happened to the National plan?
It was quietly abandoned in 1967
How was British industrial relations in this period described?
‘The sick man of Europe’
What did Wilson do to try and combat inflation?
- Proposed a Prices and Incomes Board to curb prices, and also urge unions to restrain wage demands.
How did the unions respond to Wilsons measures?
They refused to stop demands, and a wave of strikes such as the Seamen and Dockers strikes in 1966-67 occurred.
How did Wilson respond to the increased strikes?
‘In place of strife’ white paper with Barbara Castle
Why did Wilson devalue the pound? How did he do it?
- Trade deficit and balance of payments deficit
- He got loans from the IMF and dropped the pound from $2.80 to $2.40 so he could more easily pay back debts.
Why did Labour lose in 1970?
- failure on most policy fronts
- impression of divides
- Powell’s racism was estimated to have gained the Conservatives 2.5 million votes
What happened in Northern Ireland in this period?
- The ‘Troubles’
- The Catholics form a civil rights movement to protest oppression
- The Battle of Bogside lead to Callaghan needing to send British troops in to keep order in 1969
Who resigned because of economic issues?
- Frank Cousins resigns as Minister of Technology as he used to be connected to the Unions
- James Callaghan resigns over humiliation of devaluation (he urged Wilson to abandon ‘In place of strife)
What happened in East of Suez in this period?
- As Britain had high defence spending, Wilson felt he had to withdraw from foreign territories
- Withdrew from Malaysia in 1967-71
- Popular with the left but opposed by the US
- Reflects Britain’s loss of confidence in its world policing role
What happened in Vietnam in this period?
- Wilson refuses direct help but provides diplomatic support to the U.S. (no boots on the ground)
- Left felt this support was too much, hence Grosvenor Square demonstration where over 10,000 showed anti-war views
What happened with Europe in this period?
- Wilson applied to the EEC in 1967 but was vetoed again by De Gaulle
What happened in the 1966 snap election?
- Wilson called snap election because the party had an unworkably small majority of 4 seats
- Landslide victory for Labour, much larger majority of 98 seats
