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.
What was the GDP growth rate of the 80s.
2.2%.
What were interest rates raised to in 1979.
17%
What did the raise in value of the pound mean.
Difficulty exporting.
What happened to output and demand during the 80s.
Decreased.
What was inflation at in spring 1980.
22%.
What was inflation at in 1986.
2.5%.
When did Britain enter the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
1990.
What was inflation at by 1990.
10.6%.
Where were many industrial plants closed down.
Midlands, the North, Central Scotland and South Wales.
How did manufacturing output fall.
15% in 2 years.
How much was steel production cut by.
30%.
What was unemployment at in 1983.
Over 3 million, 13.5% of total workforce.
Young Employment Schemes.
Employers received subsidies to take on young people and employers National Insurance rates were reduced for lower paying jobs.
When did unemployment rates fall below 3 million.
1987.
What were employment rates at through the 80s.
25%.
What did Howe advise Thatcher on cities like Liverpool.
They should be left to “managed decline”.
Where did 1981 riots mainly take place.
Brixton, Handsworth, Toxteth and Chapeltown.
What was the Scarman Report.
A commissioned investigation into the reasons for the 1981 riots.
What did the Scarman Report uncover.
Poverty and race to be major reasons, as they were held in areas of high unemployment and concentrations of immigrants.
Sus laws.
Law permitting police to stop and search anyone deemed to be suspicious, normally seen to target black immigrants.
What did Heseltine advocate for and what were his results.
More government intervention and development in dockland areas of Liverpool and London, resulting in Canary Wharf becoming the second most important financial district in the country.
When was The Housing Act.
1980.
What was the Housing Act.
Gave tennants right to buy their own council houses, with discounts dependant on how long they had live their.
How many new homeowners by 1988.
2 million.
Failures of the Housing Act.
- Sales was focused in well-off areas.
- Councils not allowed to use profit for new housing.
- Reducing housing availability.
Which Unions became more militant.
Health Service Employees and Public Employees Unions.
When was secondary picketing outlawed.
1980.
When did it become law for unions to hold ballots before strikes.
1984.
When did the National Coal Board announce closure of 23 pits.
1981.
Who was head of the National Coal Board.
Ian McGregor.
When did the National Coal Board announce the closure of 20 pits.
1984.
Who was the head of the National Union for Miners.
Arthur Scargill.
How many pits did Scargill Claim McGregor and the Tories were planning to close.
70.
What did release of government documents in 2014 confirm about McGreogor and the Tories.
That there was plans to close 75 pits in 3 years.
What did Scargillites label members of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers.
‘Scabs’.
When and where was the Battle of Orgreave.
1984, in South Yorkshire.
How many miners employed by 1990.
60,000.
What was union membership by 1990.
Two third of that in 1979.
Which major organisations had major job losses.
British Steele and British Airways.
When was the poll tax introduced in Scotland.
1989.
Success of the Anti-Poss Tax Unions.
Up to 30% non-payers in some areas.
When and where was the anti-poll tax demonstation and what were the results.
1990, in Trafulgur square, with 200,000 attendees, 5000 injuried and 300 arrests.
What did Oxford Univeristy refuse to Thatcher.
An honourary degree usually awarded the Oxford-educated post-war Prime Ministers.
Which main playwrights made satirical plays about Thatcher.
Churchill, Hare and Ayckbourn.
What did the Church of England publish to urge the government to aid deprived communities.
‘Faith in the City’ in 1985.
When and where was CND’s protest.
In 1979 at the American Cruise Station.
Which charities hed major campaigns.
Shelter and Age Concerns.
When was the Greenham Common protest and how long did it last.
1981, lasting 19 years.
How many were involved in the Greenham to Aldermaston human-chain in 1983.
70,000.
What events led to greater awareness around environmentalism issues.
- Bhopal (1984).
- Chernobyl (1986).
- Discovery of ozone hole (1985).
- Acid rain damage being publicised.
Who was Foreign Secretary.
Lord Carrington.
When was the HMS Endurance withdrawn fro the South Atlanic.
1981.
Who was the Argentinian military junta.
General Galtieri.
When did Argentina invade the Falklands.
1981.
Why did Thatcher announce naval attack on Argentina.
To protect the right of self determination.
What did the British submarine sink in May 1981.
General Belgrano.
Why was the sinking of the General Belgrano controversial.
It was moving away from the Falklands.
What did Argentina sink in retaliation for the General Belgrano.
HMS Sheffield.
When did Argentina surrender.
14th June.
What did Healy call Thatcher in relation to Regan.
“Regan’s poodle.”
What were Thatcher and Regan labelled.
“Political soulmates.”
What did Thatcher agree for the US to deploy to Britian.
Cruise missiles.
What pamphlet did the government publish during the Cold War.
‘Protect and Survive’.
When and how many marched with the CND in London.
- 200,000.
Who became Soviet leader in 1985.
Gorbachev.
What did Thatcher say about Gorbachev.
“I like Mr Gorbachev, he and I can do buisness together.”
When did Gorbachev and Regan meet.
1986.
When was the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces act signed.
1987.
What did the Intermediate Range Nuclear Force act.
Limited short-range weapons and began mutual disarmament.
‘Hand-bag diplomacy’.
Thatchers abbhrasive and uncompromising conversation style with foreign politicians.
Which French leader did Thatcher get on with.
Mitterrant.
What did Thatcher and Mitterrant cooperate over.
Channel Tunnel Project.
When was the Single European Act negotiated.
1986.
What did the Single European Act change.
Changed the European Assembly into the European Parliment and mentioned a possible European monetary union.
What was Thatchers title in foreign context.
‘the Iron Lady’.
Main issue in the ‘Westlands Affair’.
Whether European ties should be encouraged over other ties.
Main backbencher who spoke against the Single European Act.
Enoch Powell.
Denis Healy’s name for Thatcher in relation to Regan.
‘Regans poodle’.
When was the stock market crash.
1987.
‘Lawson Boom’.
Balance of payment problems following rapid expansion of the economy due to Nigel Lawson’s economic plan.
What was inflation by 1990.
10.9%.
When was the poll tax riot.
1990.
Who walk out on Thatcher during debate over the Westland Affair.
Heseltine.
Who led the leadership challenge against Thatcher.
Hesltine.
What did Howe say in his resignation speech.
Compared Thatcher to a cricketing team captain who had broken all of the teams bats before the game.
Thatcher’s comment on politics after her resignation.
“A very good backseat driver.”
