Political Parties Flashcards
Economic example that of the Labour Party remaining true to its traditional values and principles
The Labour Manifesto for the 2017 General Election included various nationalisation commitments, including regaining control of energy supply networks, replacing our water system with a network of regional publicly-owned water companies, bringing private rail companies back into public ownership as their franchises expire, and reversing the privatisation of Royal Mail at the earliest opportunity.
In 2017, Corbyn announced also longer term plans for a £10 per hour minimum wage, this would cause nearly 6,000,000 workers to receive a pay rise within months if Corbyn won the next general election.
Economic example that of the Labour Party remaining true to its traditional values and principles (Evaluation)
In 1997, Blair advocated Private Finance Initiatives; a method of providing funds for major capital investment, when private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects.
PFI deals were a Conservative invention, created in 1992 by John Major and were deemed by Labour as essentially a back-door form of privatisation.
Ironically though, they exploded in use under New Labour when, by 2000, there were over 60 new PFI projects being signed annually.
Welfare example that of the Labour Party remaining true to its traditional values and principles
The Labour Manifesto of 2017 pledged to scrap cuts to bereavement support payment, as well as abolishing the bedroom tax and the “punitive sanctions regime”.
Rejection of Conservative proposals to increase state age pension further
Guarantee state pension triple lock, as well as the winter fuel allowance and free bus passes.
Welfare example that of the Labour Party remaining true to its traditional values and principles (Evaluation)
In 2004, Blair’s advisors drew up plans to scrap the disability premium, paid to about 1.1 million people, as part of a strategy to save £2 billion in the welfare budget.
This would’ve meant that over 1 million claimants lost benefits of £23.30 a week in this clampdown by the PM on welfare abuse.
Welfare example that of the Labour Party remaining true to its traditional values and principles (Counter-evaluation)
New Labour did also introduce the National Minimum Wage Act of 1998 which protects workers from unduly low pay and exploitation at the hands of employers.
Social example that of the Labour Party remaining true to its traditional values and principles
The average student now graduates from university, and begins their working life, with debts of £44,000
Therefore, Labour pledged in its 2017 manifesto that it would reintroduce maintenance grants for university students, as well as abolish university tuition fees.
Labour also pledged to recruit 10,000 more police officers, equivalent to at least one more for every neighbourhood in the country.
Social example that of the Labour Party remaining true to its traditional values and principles (Evaluation)
Labour introduced tuition fees in the first place through the Teaching and Higher Education Act which was passed into law in 1998, setting an annual tuition fee for England of £1,000.
Additionally, in 2003, Labour announced plans to increase the cost of the tuition fees they imposed to £3,000 per annum.
Economic example that that the Conservative Party is more One-Nation than Thatcherite (Evaluation)
In September 2018, May attempted to pitch post-Brexit Britain as a “low tax and smart regulation” economy, promising the lowest rate of corporation tax in the G20.
The UK’s current corporation tax rate is 19%, though she signalled a tax cut of at least 2%
This is reminiscent of Thatcher who cut the tax from 52%, when she came into power in 1979, to 34% in 1990, over her decade of tax cuts.
Economic example that that the Conservative Party is more One-Nation than Thatcherite
In January 2017, May signalled an era of greater state intervention in the economy when she launched her industrial strategy, in which she identified 5 sectors that are likely to receive government support, including nuclear energy and low-carbon-emission vehicles
Welfare example that that the Conservative Party is more One-Nation than Thatcherite (Evaluation)
In May 2019, a UN rapporteur Philip Alston, published his final report on the state of Britain, in which he accused the government of the “systematic immiseration of a significant part of the British population”.
This comes after a finding by the Guardian in 2018 that, by 2021, £37 billion less will be spent on working-age social security, compared to 2010.
Other cuts have included tax credits (£4.6bn) and universal credit (£3.6bn).
This is arguably comparable with Thatcher who even went to the extent of secretly planning to dismantle the welfare state entirely by scrapping free universal healthcare and requiring people to have private insurance, charging for education, and ending the annual increase in benefits in line with inflation.
Welfare example that that the Conservative Party is more One-Nation than Thatcherite
In 2018, May pledged to boost NHS England funding by an extra £20.5bn in order to restore health spending to something resembling its pre-austerity trajectory.
In addition, in January 2019, May’s energy price cap came into force, after pledging it in the 2017 Manifesto
Although, her additional pledge in March 2019 of £1.6bn funding (Stronger Towns Fund) to boost less well-ff towns in England after Brexit has been criticised as a means of “bribing MPs” to back her Brexit deal.
Foreign Policy example that the Conservative Party is more One-Nation than Thatcherite
Despite having campaigned for the Britain to stay in the European Economic Community in 1975 and signed the Single European Act in 1986, she came to be a Eurosceptic, her views solidified by her 1988 Bruges Speech where she quoted “we have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them re-imposed at a European level, with a European super-state exercising a new dominance from Brussels.”
This was in response to Jacques Delors’, president of the European Commission, proposal in 1988 that European law would strengthen the power of the unions, after almost 10-years of a Conservative government in Britain battling it.
Hence, given that eurospecticism is a key characteristic of Thatcherism, both PM Cameron and future-PM May campaigned to remain in the EU prior to the 2016 referendum
Foreign Policy example that the Conservative Party is more One-Nation than Thatcherite (Evaluation)
This sense of Europhilism is not shared by the entire party, especially considering the fact that in 2017, May conceded 9 out of 21 Cabinet positions to hardcore Brexiteers including Boris Johnson (Foreign Secretary) and the face of the Leave campaign, as well as Michael Gove (Environment Secretary).
Example of internal divisions within the current Conservative Party, which have become increasingly significant
As a Remain campaigner, Theresa May ascended to the office of Prime Minister with a commitment to unite Britain in the aftermath of the EU referendum.
Conversely however, she has suffered a wave of resignations from her government in opposition to her policy on Brexit, totalling 34 as of now, as swathes of MP’s have lost their confidence in her handling of the Brexit situation.
For example, notable resignations were that of Esther McVey, Work and Pensions Secretary, Dominic Raab, Brexit Secretary in November 2018. Though, most recently, Andrea Leadsom resigned from the government in May 2019 in opposition to the government’s Withdrawal Agreement Bill which was set to be introduced.
Example of internal divisions within the current Conservative Party, which have become increasingly significant (Evaluation)
May won a vote of confidence (December 2018) in her leadership of the Conservative Party by 200 and 177, securing 63% of the total vote, and making her immune from a leadership challenge for a year.
