Domestic Shit

Question 1

What was the result of the 1997 Scottish devolution referendum?

Answer 1

• Voted in favour of a Scottish parliament with tax raising powers.
• A new Scottish Assembly was established in Edinburgh based on proportional representation.

Question 2

What was the result of the Welsh 1997 referendum?

Answer 2

• A Welsh Assembly was set up In Cardiff, however without tax raising powers and the ability to enact secondary, not primary, legislation.

Question 3

What was the impact of the devoloved Assemblies?

Answer 3

• The question arose of wether Scottish MPs should be able to vote on English health and education legislation and, now dogmatically Labour, help them achieve a Parliamentary majority.

Question 4

What were other attempts at devolution?

Answer 4

• Deputy PM John Prescott produced a white paper proposing regional devolution in areas of England.
• Only one referendum was held in the North-East, which decisively disregarded this idea with a 78% vote against.

Question 5

What was the Greater London Authority Act 1999?

Answer 5

• Introduced the Office of Mayor of London, and a 25-member mayoral assembly.

Question 6

What was the debate over the first mayoral elections?

Answer 6

• Blair blocked the ‘Old Labour’ Ken Livingstone from running as a labour candidate, believing he would damage the image of the modernity of New Labour.
• Despite this, Livingstone ran as an independent and won, Blair was forced to accept Livingstone back into the party and he was re-elected under Labour in 2004.
• Elsewhere in the country most councils rejected the mayoral option.

Question 7

What were attempted Lords and Electoral reforms?

Answer 7

• The House of Lords Act (1999) cut hereditary peers to 92, contrary to the Labour of intention of removing hereditary peerage. - The compromise was messy and unsatisfactory for all parties.
• Roy Jenkins led a commission investigating alternative voting systems, finding and advocating in 1998 that an Alternative Vote system replace first-past-the-post as it was more representative. The proposals were met with a lukewarm response from Jack Straw and Tony Blair - not coming into action.

Question 8

What was Blair’s so called ‘sofa government’ ?

Answer 8

• Blair’s unelected political office. A department of individuals answerable only to Blair that were key to decision making.
• Alastair Campbell as Coms director and press spokesman and Jonathan Powell as Chief of Staff, had a lot of influence on the prime minister and decision making.
• The cabinet was, in some sense, marginalised int on the decision making front in favour of Blair’s new personal political office.

Question 9

What was the Freedom of Information Act 2000?

Answer 9

• Gave people the right to request information from public bodies.
• By 2006, over 100,000 requests were made each year.
• Blair later deemed this a mistake as he feared it prevented politicians making difficult decisions as their actions would become public knowledge.

Question 10

What was the Human Rights Act 1998?

Answer 10

• Incorporated the ECHR into British Law.
• Led generally to a broadening and strengthening of rights for British citizens.
• In some cases it created unexpected difficulties e.g. conflict with the Lords over the compatibility of anti-terrorist legislation with the Act.

Question 11

What was Labours policy intention going into 1997?

Answer 11

• Offer major policy changes with no great detail. Driven by a strive to win a second term, Labour employed caution and the avoidance of mistakes as to establish a reputation of competence and responsibility.
• This was also mirrored through Browns ‘prudence with purpose’ economic policies in the first term.

Question 12

Which education policies did lair retain and how were they extended?

Answer 12

• Retained Major’s national curriculum, financial delegation to schools and regular inspections.
• Blair added ‘targets’ to ensure improvements in schooling were achieved.

Question 13

What funding was given to schools and it’s affect?

Answer 13

• Funding rose from £21.43 billion in 97-98 to £34.36 billion in 05-06. More generous performance based teachers salaries were also introduced.
• Statistics suggested higher pupil attainment in bot primary and secondary schools.

Question 14

What were the worries over school education?

Answer 14

• That schools were becoming exam factories, whose league table positions became the focal point of academia.
• Critics argued pupils were being better prepared year by year for specific tests, not becoming cleverer.

Question 15

What was the government stance on higher education?

Answer 15

• Announced an ambitious target of 50% of the population attending Uni by age 30.
• Education Secretary David Blunkett imposed upon front yearly university fees.
• Funding was questionable without the introduction of top-up fees which were introduced under the Higher Education Act of 2004 amidst criticism.

Question 16

What was Blair’s Health plan?

Answer 16

• Health spending tripled from £30 billion in 1997 to £90 billion by 2007.
• Blair wanted to relax centralised control of the NHS to improve services and give greater choice to patients.

Question 17

What were the healthcare successes under Blair?

Answer 17

• Some argued foundation hospitals greater autonomy allowed the to respond better to local health priorities, free from Whitehall bureaucracy.
• Waiting times were greatly reduced for minor injuries.

Question 18

What were the criticisms of Blair’s health policies?

Answer 18

• The newly injected money wasn’t used as effectively, as reforms to working practices and healthcare bureaucracy were still in place.
• The cost built up under the PFI programme would lead to debt and austerity after labour.
• Health improvements in heart disease and cancer survival rates had been part of a trend going back to 1990.

Question 19

Law and order success under Blair?

Answer 19

• More than 40 Acts dealing with criminal justice with more than 3000 new criminal offences.
• By 2007 there was a significant reduction in the rates of crime.

Question 20

Equivocations over Law and Order measures?

Answer 20

• The accuracy of the crime statistics New Labour boasted about was hotly debated - way they are recorded and the continuing threat of crime.
• Crime reduction is an international phenomenon attributed variously.

Question 21

New Labours difficulties over international terrorism concerns post 9/11?

Answer 21

• commons defeated a bill in 2005 proposing right to detain without trial for 90 days for terrorist suspects.
• Increased immigration and failure of the Home Office to get a grip on asylum applications led to unease and the resignation of Charles Clarke, Home Secretary.

Question 22

What was the 2000 energy crisis?

Answer 22

• Lorry drivers and farmers protested against rising fuel prices by blockading motorways and petrol stations leading to petrol shortages and massive petrol queues.