How Successfully Did Thatcher Put The Country Right In Her First Term Flashcards
How did thatcher want to put the country right?
-by changing Br econ + reducing gov role
-‘get the gov off peoples backs’
What did this involve doing?
-a break from prevailing consensus which existed since 1945
-but this led to divisions within cons + her cab
-defined thatcher as ‘conviction politician’
Who was this policy influenced by?
-Milton Fried,an’s theory of monetarism
-putting this into practice risky due to increased unemployment + cuts public spending unpopular esp in areas of poverty
What was the first issue?
-budgets
-this was Geoffrey Howe’s responsibility as chancellor of exchequer
-budget explains spending plans, taxes, etc.
What did Howe do to the budget?
-interest rates on borrowing increased
-income tax reduced - esp on higher earners
-VAT + indirect tax in goods + services
What were these principles designed to do?
-reduce inflation
-‘penalise consumption rather than effort’
What was the reaction?
-harsh criticism
-led to ‘the lady’s not for turning’ speech 1980
What was the second issue?
-riots and resistance
What was the impact of the economic policy?
-led to increased unemployment + hardship
-necessary social collateral damage in the view of the ‘dries’
-especially bad in areas of existing poverty e.g. Brixton, St Paul’s, Toxteth + Moss side where riots broke out
How did thatcher respond to these riots?
-police oppression to restore law + order
-‘sus law’ disproportionately used against ethnic minorities
-gov portrayed rioters as ‘layabouts’ + ‘thugs’ + not victims of social + Ind change
What was the ‘sus law’?
-police permission to stop + search suspected persons if thought might commit crime
-black Poole + ethnic minorities beloved unfairly targeted by police
-was repealed later that year
What happened in Brixton regarding the riots?
-clashes between black youths + met police
-279 police injuries 45 public injuries
-over 2000 blacks stopped + searched over 2 days
What was the Brixton defence campaign?
-set up to support those wrongfully charged
-challenged racist narrative presented in the press + official reports like the Scarman enquiry
What are the conclusions?
-1982 thatchers personal popularity + her gov at all time low
-unemployment ent higher than 1979
-inflation still above 10%
-social disorder + unrest increased + changed winning next election slim
