New Labour, New Century 2001-7: 7 Population change and social issues

Question 1

how did population change over the course and during the Blair years?

Answer 1

1951 - 50.2 million
2006 - 60.6 million

lots of population growth and aging population
average age in 1971 was 34 but in 2006 it was 39

Question 2

what were the social impacts of the population shift?

Answer 2

• welfare services funded by those in work not those who were retired
• more people in retirement meant increased NHS demands
• in order to meet the requirements for welfare, the current working population would be faced with ever-increasing tax

Question 3

what caused the increased population?

Answer 3

increase in life expectancy
immigration - increase of 3 million from 1991-2006

Question 4

what did the 2001 census show about the numbers of immigrants?

Answer 4

ethnic minorities represented just over 7%, much less than 1 in 10, of the population
(also first time religion was measured showing Islam to be the biggest non-Christian faith group)

Question 5

arguments for immigration?

Answer 5

• often took unpleasant but essential, low-paid jobs - working and paying taxes contributed to the nation’s revenue
• Britain stood to gain socially and economically from the presence of newcomers who were overwhelmingly motivated by high aspirations

Question 6

arguments against immigration?

Answer 6

• believed filling vacant jobs was merely a stop-gap measure since once settled immigrants wanted better wages and conditions

Question 7

what were the riots in 2001 over?

Answer 7

in Bradford, Manchester and Oldham
black, white and Asian groups clashed suggesting integration had not taken place in more deprived urban areas

Question 8

what did Trevor Phillips (chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission for Racial Equality) acknowledge about multicultural policies of successive governments?

Answer 8

largely failed and integration was not taking place
in 2005 Phillips expressed fears that multiculturalism could cause Britain to become segregated - could be prevented by not allowing exclusive faith schools though Catholic and Jewish schools were long established and Islamic values were compatible with preparing young Muslims to become responsible citizens

Question 9

what was the Religious Hatred Act of 2006?

Answer 9

intended to protect people from being abused and attacked for their religious beliefs

critics argued the act was too imprecise to offer adequate protection

Question 10

what two events illustrated dramatic and tragic tensions due to multiculturalism not being accepted?

Answer 10

London bombings in July 2005 and violent reactions to satirical cartoons published in a Danish newspaper in 2005 which many Muslims believed to insult the prophet Mohammed
in London in February 2006, about 300 Muslims demonstrated against the publication - 4 protestors were arrested, tried and imprisoned for incitement to violent and murder, 1 had whipped up the crowd to chant ‘bomb, bomb the UK’

Question 11

how did environmentalism change?

Answer 11

Friends of the Earth founded in 1969 and Greenpeace founded in 1971 helped draw attention to ecological issues
all British parties accepted that climate change constituted a danger and had to be tackled by government action

Question 12

what was the Landfill Directive of 1990?

Answer 12

measure for standardising the practice in the EU countries regarding disposal of waste in landfill sites - aim to limit emissions of methane

Question 13

what did environmentalists argue?

Answer 13

• greenhouse gases were raising the Earth’s temperature which was destroying animal and plant species
• measurements of CO2 emissions showed it was advanced industrial economies polluting the atmosphere
• national governments individually and collectively had to impose binding restraints on industrial production

Question 14

what did environmental deniers argue?

Answer 14

• the earth has warmed less than 1*C overall in the last 100 years
• human produced CO2 played only a minor role and CO2 is a an effect of warming not a cause
• increase in temperature would have more beneficial effects than harmful such as greater food production
• the IPCC is not a neutral scientific body but a pressure group which rejects any research that challenges its fixed position

Question 15

politically, what racist group was created?

Answer 15

British National Party
allowed to operate unfettered

Question 16

who were the Countryside Alliance?

Answer 16

extra-parliamentary group of landowners, land workers, vets, rising schools and those involved in the commercial side of fox hunting

they were angered by Labour’s declaration to outlaw fox hunting with hounds

demonstrated in London in September 2002 - 400,000 supporters - the alliance failed tough and the law was passed in September 2004, coming into effect two years later

Question 17

what did opinion polls show at the end of Blair’s tenure about the public’s thoughts on MPs?

Answer 17

they were not held in high esteem
1 - they were earning easy money, MPs salaries well above the national average with perks in the form of generous expenses and secure pension rights
2 - not regarded as particularly useful, MPs had become lobby fodder casting their votes as dictated by their parties

Question 18

what phrase did Blair use in 1997 regarding education?

Answer 18

his priority in government was ‘education, education, education’

Question 19

what did Blair implement for schools?

Answer 19

• special attention to failing schools
• reduction of class sizes
• special funding to raise standards in underachieving schools in deprived areas
• assisted places schemed introduced by cons in 1980 was withdrawn though pupils currently in it would be financed until finished - extra money would go towards state school class sizes
• 1000 new schools during Blair’s ten year tenure
• spent 5.6% of GDP on education by 2007
• number of qualified teachers risen by 35,000 by 2007

Question 20

what changes were made to higher education?

Answer 20

• Blair expressed hope for half of Britain’s school leavers to go onto university
• tuition fees were introduced in 1998 - average fee in 2006 was £3000
• by 2004, number of university students stood at 2.4 million, more than double the figure for 1990
• number of women in higher education in 2006 was twice the number for 1995 and 7x greater than in 1970
• school league tables introduced to universities
• 2001 the gov began giving financial support to the University of the Third Age (U3A), an independent body providing learning opportunities for people over retirement age

Question 21

what was an underlying issue of Labour’s focus on education?

Answer 21

still an underlying feeling that the education system had largely failed in its social objective of providing equal opportunities
the quality of school was largely determined by the quality of the area
only 3% of the growing number of university places were students from disadvantaged sections of society
leading Labour party members also sent their children to private schools/attended private school themselves

Question 22

what was the cash for honours scandal?

Answer 22

various accusations during the Blair years that government figures were engaged in giving out honours in return for cash donations to the Labour party
a police inquiry in 2007 concluded there was insufficient evidence to warrant prosecutions

Question 23

what information was revealed to the public in 2007 causing upset?

Answer 23

MPs enjoyed their privilege spending and in 2007 it was revealed that £337,000 of public money had been claimed by MPs in travelling expenses

Question 24

who were the conservative party leaders during Blair’s tenure?

Answer 24

William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith, Michael Howard
David Cameron was elected leader in 2005 whose main line of approach was to offer more of the same - become more Blairite than Blair

Question 25

what was Britain’s international position like in 2007?

Answer 25

remained a major international power
- nuclear power for domestic and military purposes
- retention of its independent sterling currency enabled it to avoid the crises that affected the eurozone
- city of London - major finance and commercial exchange centre
- retained influential role in Commonwealth affairs
- remained part of the EU
- member of the G8, ranked as a major industrial power
- developed close commercial and financial links with China
- devoted 2% of GDP to foreign aid

Question 26

what was Britain’s military capacity like and its role as peacekeeper?

Answer 26

• member of NATO
• permanent member of the UN security council
• UK’s participation in the wars in the Gulf, Afghanistan and Iraq indicated that Britain’s armed services were still a formidable force among Western powers
• Britain continued its special relationship with the USA as a vital necessity