Heath's Government 1970-1974 Flashcards
In which ways were Heath and Wilson similar?
- Both attended grammar schools
- Both won scholarships to Oxford
How did Heath display strong authority prior to the 1970 election?
He sacked Enoch Powell from the Shadow Cabinet over his ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech
What were Heath’s policy proposals during the 1970 election?
- Reduce number of strikes and above-inflation pay
- Less state intervention in loss-making industries
- Campaign to join the EEC
Which year did Britain join the EEC?
1973
What was the response to Heath’s 1971 budget?
- Popular: tax cuts to stimulate the economy
- Unpopular: End of free school milk (“Thatcher - Milk Snatcher”)
What did the Industrial Relations Act 1971 outline?
- Workers had legal right to join (or not join) a union
- An Industrial Relations Court was established.
- Government could order a pre-strike ballot and impose a cooling-off period
Escalating inflation led to strikes by which union in 1972?
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)
What was the outcome of the 1972 Miners’ strike?
- A pay settlement more than twice the rate of inflation
- Other workers pressed for larger wage increases which led to more inflation
In October 1973, the Arab-Israeli war broke out. How did this affect the British economy?
- the price of oil increased by a factor of five
- Coal became more important > NUM called another strike
- Three-day week called to deal with energy problems
What did Heath announce alongside a three-day week in December 1973?
- State of emergency
- 50mph speed limit on all roads
- Television curfew for 10:30pm each evening
Heath called an election for February 1974 to put a stop to the chaos. What question did he pose to the public?
“Who governs Britain?”
