margaret thatcher (1979-1990) Flashcards
premiership of margaret thatcher: 1979-1990.
Conviction politicians.
Politician who makes decisions based off personal belief rather than what is popular.
Thatcher’s quote from 1981’s party conference.
“Turn if you want to, this ladies not for turning.”
The New Right.
- Monetarism.
- Free-market economics.
‘Wets’.
One-nation tories and Heathites, including Heseltine, Prior, Pym, etc.
‘Dries’.
Those loyal to Thatcherism, including Howe, Joseph, Tebbit, Lawson and Whitelaw.
Collective responsibility.
The policy reinventing those in Cabinet speaking against their leader.
Outcome of the Westlands Affair.
Heseltine stormed from a cabinet meeting, believing Thatcher was acting unconstitutionally.
Who became Labour Party leader in 1980.
Micheal Foot.
‘Loony left’.
Publicised vision of Labour as a un-credible party due to radically-left and communist views.
Who replaced Foot in 1983.
Neil Kinnock.
Who formed the SDP.
David Owen, Roy Jenkins, Shirley Williams and Bill Rodgers.
How many left Labour to join the SDP.
The Four plus 28 others.
Who did the SDP align with and for which elections.
Liberal Party, for the 1983 and 1987 elections.
What was Labour’s 1983 election manifesto labelled.
“The longest suicide note in history.”
When did the IRA explode a bomb in the Grand Hotel in Brighton and how many were killed.
1984, with 5 killed.
When was the Anglo-Irish Agreement signed.
1985.
What was the Anglo-Irish Agreement.
Set up of permanent intergovernmental cooperation between the UK and Republic of Ireland; and it was given an advisory role in Northern Irelands government.
What was the backlash to the Anglo-Irish Agreement.
Unionst rally of 200,000 in Belfast.
When was the Ulster Resistance set up.
1986.
What was inflation at by 1980.
15%.
What was unemployment at by 1980.
2 million.
What policies were in the 1981 budget.
- Less government borrowing.
- Local council grants cut.
- benefits frozen.
What did an economic advisor call the 1981 budget.
“Biggest fiscal squeeze of peacetime.”
What did Howe call the 1981 budget.
“The most unpopular budget in history.”
New-Right ideology around spending.
Individuals spent money better than the government did.
What did Thatcher do to taxation.
Directed it away from direct tax, like income tax, and towards indirect tax, like VAT.
What did VAT rise to in 1979.
8% to 15%.
What did tax go up on between 1979 and 1987.
Petrol, cigarettes and alcohol.
What was the claim of supporters of the reduction of direct tax.
It would incentivise wealth creation by allowing people to keep more of what they earn.
Claim of critics of the reduction in direct tax.
It was less progressive and harmed the lower classes disproprtionatley.
Who did Thatcher have intense battle with at the Greater London Council.
Ken Livingstone.
Why did Thatcher and Livingstone have tensions.
Thatcher treated Council policies in education and transport as provocations, and deamonised Livingstone as the face of the ‘looney left’.
When did Sheffield and Liverpool authories try to rebel against rate capping, how and why did they back down.
1985, by refusing to set budgets, but backed down due to threat of bankrupcy.
When and what was the Local Government Act.
1986, to abolish big metropolitan local authorities set up by Heath.
Why did public spending never properly decrease.
High levels of unemployment.
Why did Monetarism end.
When Lawson abandoned spending targets in 1986.
When was BP privatised.
1979.
When was British Aerospace privatised.
1980.
When was British Telecom privatised.
1984.
When was British Gas sold.
1986.
How did the number of owning shares rise between 1979 to 1990.
From 3 million to 9 million.
What was outsourcing.
Private companies using contracts to deliver goods and services otherwise provided by the state.
Why was privatisation supported.
It bought it revenue for the government.
Why was privatisation critiqued.
Companies would be sold off to ensure all shares were taken, meaning enterprises cut back on staff and employees had no long term security in jobs or pensions.
What was deregulation.
Governmemt reducing how much they interefered in the economy to encourage entrepenurship.
The Loan Guarantee Scheme.
Encouraged the unemployed to begin buisnesses by giving them £40 a week for a year.
When was the London Stock Exchange deregulated, and what was this called.
October 1986, called the ‘Big Bang’.
What was the impact of the ‘Big Bang’.
- Allowed free competition.
- Foreign banks could operate as stock brockers.
- London became a world financial center.
- The ‘yuppie’ became an iconic image of the 80s.
