Post Thatcher - Historiography Flashcards
Riddell (1997-2010) (1)
- Riddell provides the case for Clause IV (CIV) being a troublesome element in the Party’s history as far back as Gaitskell, who tried to reform it. The issue was not the executive desire to remove CIV, but more-so the declined ability of the Union to challenge/ even to accept the changes in the climate of the 1990s. Knock on effect from Thatcher? The link could be explored
Robinson & Twyman (1997-2010) (2)
- Data on the notion of progressive- its general lack of a solid definition among the public, and misinterpretation as just a force for modernisation. 2. Critically important information is the representation of David Cameron as in front of Miliband and Tony Blair as a modernising force
Toye (1997-2010) (2)
- what is new in new labour is the forces of Old Labour are so weak. It is the dominance and self-confidence of modernisers, not their novelty, which distinguishes the Blair Party from predecessors 2. Shift in the balance of powers
Meredith (1997-2010) (1)
- Defends equality under labour, suggests Crosland’s revisionist nature would have adapted to the economy and globalisation in same way as NL
Hall (1997-2010) (2)
- New Labour has succumbed to a sweeping view of globalisation, which provides ‘dubious legitimacy’ of the third way project. 2. Globalisation is treated as if it were an irresistible force of nature.
Fielding (1997-2010) (4)
- Core values thesis - Blair’s old/new dichotomy reflects ill informed prejudices 2. Society changed: -1979 - 32% in manufacturing - 1997 - 18% -Service - 58%-75% -Trade unions - 12 mil to 7 mil. 3. Compared to 1979 - Unions much weaker and so less able to resist Labour leadership’s long-standing desire to pander to capitalism LRC was only committed to improving the legal position of trade unions in capitalism. 4. Considered that the party’s failure to fully embrace grater levels of state control was at the root of its electoral malaise. The former, called revisionists, represented by Gaitskell, broke through with Industry and Society in 1957, failed to win in 1959.
Hickson (1997-2010) (1)
- Rejection of Meredith - conception of equality of opportunity fails to recognise underlying socio-economic inequality 2. Key division - interpretation of democratic inequality and social justice 3. Social justice allows for the sense of an undeserving poor, democratic equality recognises that a low-performance strata of society is inevitable, and to some extent, desirable.
Bognador (1997-2010) (2)
- Defender of Blair, on the account of globalisation, individualism and knowledge based economy. 2. Evidences how education was bolstered, still essentially Labour.
Lee (1997-2010) (3)
- Labour triangulated its position in politics to allow to win its support, at the cost of value-based politics 2. Poplar and Canning Town = C2 and DE Voters - declined by 21.1% in 2005 3. Labour’s historical social constituency has been collapsing. The simple but not insubstantial answer is that fewer C2 and DE voters and fewer people in the North of England and in Greater London feel a strong affinity for Labour
FSB (1997-2010) (1)
- The language of class changed, but too simple to say this was simply the result of appealing to the middle class - about appealing to the new working class
Driver (1997-2010) (2)
- Provides models and explanation of how Labour has been moving right since Gaitskell. Model of significance - catch-up accommodation and the movement of the centre ground NL Showed little respect for Labour’s sacred cows: state ownership, economic planning, Keynesian Demand management, full employment, tax-and-spend welfarism and close links to trade unions Brown - Iron Chancellor - found extra resources for health and education 2. Does the loss of public ownership as a means of socialist policy constitute a loss of socialist goals? Tudor Jones, 1989 - YES - ‘For what is at stake is not the outmoded instrument of policy. Public ownership has meant more to Labour than that. Since 1918 it has played a central role in the party’s thinking, programmes and strategy’ - Jones also criticises how far Blair’s central arguments that socialism is ethical rather than an economic doctrine
Crime (1997-2010) (8)
- Tough on crime, tough on causes of crime 2. Poor parenting 3. Low school achievement 4. Drug and alcohol abuse 5. Unemployment 6. Care in the community 7. Homelessness 8. Lack of facilities for young people
Major - what was the 1992 Election described as?
“Not so much a victory, more an escape” - Robin Cook
What were the rough edges of Thatcherism from a ‘92 perspective?
Homelessness, childcare
What was Kinnock credited with achieving?
Shrewd, ruthless, effective party manager - “taken the knife to the Militant, reduced the policy making role of the trade unions and cast off the doctrinal incubus which had haunted the party in the early 1980s and made it unelectable. Focus: - Social injustice - Class war (failed to shake - led to downfall)
What of the labour apparatus remained crucially untouched?
the union block vote
What was the Tory response to the failings of the 1997 election?
Focus on appeal to core Conservative vote - The trouble was that the Conservative core vote was too narrow, being based on the over-65s and the geographically and socially immobile, to act as a springboard for electoral revival. In 2001, there were actually swings away from the Tories among the professional and managerial classes, 25- to 34-year-olds and ethnic minorities, groups from which they already had low levels of support in 1997.
What was the core appeal of the Tories post Major?
“Tebbit trinity” of Europe, immigration and taxes, or what Tim Bale calls “the politics of the 19th tee”
How many % points behind Labour in 2005? (Tories)
3%
Selsdon - the net Blair effect
- Economic and welfare policy managed by Gordon Brown, not Blair 2. Economic, constitutional and welfare reform were the legacies of others, like Irvine and John Smith 3. The second Blair government was a ‘crazy salad’ mixing traditional labourite beliefs in high spending with a Wilson belief in managerialism and a neo-thatcherite attention to the markets
New Labour Term Summary (Selsdon)
First term - policy-light Second term - little achieved constitutionally/ transport,
Major (Bogdanor) - Who is he compared to?
Baldwin - Both unexpected leaders - Formidable - Controversial - Baldwin - “of the utmost insignificance” - Conciliator - Good negotiator - Plagued by foreign policy
How many heard of Major before 1990?
2%
Major’s qualifications
“Never has so much been written about so little”
What position were the Tories in in 1992?
10% behind in opinion polls
What, according to Bogdanor, did Major benefit from?
- Major’s lack of grandeur helped him - Elected more of because of who he wasn’t - 1995 Tory leadership - wasn’t Redwood - believed to be a loser
What did The Sun present Major as?
A turnip
Where were there internal conflict in Tory ranks? (1999)
Between Major, Hague and Clarke Clarke - fear of moving too far right
What did Major claim about the EU?
it had “phoney threats to delay enlargement”
What was Kinnock remembered for?
“shrewd, ruthless and effective party manager… taken the knife to militant… cast off the doctrinal incubus which had haunted the party”
What did the Observer claim was the death knell of Kinnock?
Although a modernising force, failed to cast off the language of class war… failed to abolish union block vote
What were concerns in 1992?
Root-and-branch reforms were required to fix the anomaly in the system which allowed for the Conservatives to remain in power for 17 years
What were the strains of Thatcherism in its final years?
Alienation and deep demoralisation
Facts about the 1992 election
- Highest vote ever gained for political party - 14 million votes - more than Thatcher, Blair - 1992 - FPTP saw lack of working majority DESPITE highest number of votes - v important
What has happened to Major?
Often seen as a holder of the throne during the interregnum between Thatcher and Blair. Only 3 PMs actually held office longer than Major
What were the three greatest achievements of Major?
- Kept Britain in Europe - Held Tories together - survived the ratification of Maastricht - Reformed public services
Why was Maastricht so difficult to ratify?
Danish had a referendum on Maastricht, British called for same.
What concessions did Major get from Maastricht?
- on monetary union, for Parliament to decide - Social chapter - standards for welfare - more symbolic than anything - Without opt=outs, would not have been ratified - Tactical mistake - waited for ratification till after election
What destroyed the party?
Being forced out of the ERM in sept 1992 - interest rates raised to 15% - black wednesday - Fixed exchange rate system - Due to reunification of Germany - could not sustain rate at which joined - Then adopted floating pound Never again polled above 40%
Why was it good for Labour to lose 1992?
- 1992 = Lucky for Labour to lose - Labour more committed to ERM than Tories - If Labour won - would’ve been party of devaluation - 1951, 1967, 1992
What did Major do to the public services, what was Labour response?
Extend right of choice to public sector to mirror private. - Testing in state schools - Grant aided schools (resurrected as academies) - Self managing trusts - Job Seeking Allowance (resurrected) Labour opposed, but resurrected
What was Major recognised as in regards to Blair
“father of New Labour”
Keith Joseph statement
…strengthen choice and responsibility for the individual and the family: humanising market forces to make a compassionate society; spreading the ownership of wealth and prosperity in such a way as to facilitate personal saving and the transfer of modest amounts of personal wealth; concentrating social provision on those in genuine need, thus asserting our credentials as a compassionate party with a record of effective care.’ - Joseph
Major FP
- Corollary - traditional FP should remain unchanged - no intervention - could not afford to be international policeman - American view - Bosnia - deliberate ethnic cleansing - aided and abetted by Mislosovich -to expand Serbia - Blair took this view - Major - ancient hatreds - one side as bad as other, not get involved - in politics not to be distracted by utopian settlements -
How many open graves in Bosnia?
125,000 in open graves in Bosnia
Public opinion towards foreign policy
- 2/3 supported dispatch of troops - 1/2 wanted airstrikes
Why was 1997 less of a landslide than presented?
- Been moving that way since 1992 - Little real political change with change in government
Did Blair repudiate anything of Thatcher?
Bar foundation schools and GP funding, no. - Privatisation remained, and added to - no ground given to Trade Unions - PFI extended
Blair’s weakness?
Not confronting powerful figures front on
Issue with New Labour?
Being too heavy on communication, light on policy. Not many true Blairites - appointed anathematise men such as Frank Dobson to Health. Not until term 2 when Blairites took office (like Adonis, Heywood, Stevens)
Clarke- Labour FP
- Bush and Clinton lent on Germany as the key decision maker (major years) 2. Clinton caused disruption in Downing Street by recognising Gerry Adams 3. Tories were blighted for being complacent over Rwanda and Bosnia - Labour successful with Kosovo, not so much Iraq Afghan 4. ‘liberty, democracy, tolerance and justice’. 5. Hard edges to FP desires: Russia and post-commies 6. Africa - efforts to help Zimbabwe, Somalia, DR Congo, HIV/AIDs, environment, union etc. 7. Dwarfed by IRAQ
O’Leary on higher education
- Fees were anathematic to education education education 2. Had to be done to reverse ‘efficiency gains’ which saw funding drop per capita by 36% between 1989 and 1997 3. Dearing Report identified £9 billion deficit 4. Overall though, students felt betrayed by the imposition of tuition fees, while staff felt undervalued and expected more investment, particularly in the early years of Blair’s premiership.
Stewart on Equality and Social Justice
- Poverty doubles during 17 yrs 2. the four values ‘essential to a just society’ to be ‘equal worth, opportunity for all, responsibility and community’ 3. Labour commitments - welfare-to-work, investment in childcare, education and health funding 4. : the level of pen- sioner poverty has fallen steadily and substantially, from 29% in 1996/7 down to 17% in 2005/6, measured after housing costs, representing a fall of more than 40% 5. Under John Major the lower income groups did best in relative terms, but growth was very low for everyone
What happened to the top 10% under Labour?
the share of wealth owned by the richest 10% of the population rose from 57% to 63% in the two decades to 1996, and then from 63% to 71% in the following seven years under Labour; the share belonging to the top 1% also increased sharply.
What did micro-simulation by Sefton demonstrate?
the gini-coefficient in 2004/5 was lower than it would have been if the 1997 tax-benefit system had been left in place and only adjusted for inflation: the reduction in the Gini compared to that scenario is about one-third of the size of the rise of the previous twenty years
Smithers on schools
- What conflict hampered development? Brown, his wanted to devote the available money to his own pet, but costly, scheme of tax credits. There was also a dire shortage of teachers and it was feared that school staffing was near to collapse. 2. Brown interested in skills and employment /Blair - targets and diversity 3. In 2006, 59.0% of pupils obtained five good GCSEs or equivalent against 45.1% when Labour came to power
Failed guarantees to teachers?
a minimum of 10% of the school week free of classroom duties, but unfortunately it did not fund schools to appoint the necessary extra teachers, so raising the prospect of assistants doing the actual teach- ing. This was fiercely opposed by the National Union of Teachers who
Spencer on Immigration
Labour, like Tories, believed that tough immigration controls were essential for good race relations. Issues with Immigration: - backlog of 52,000 asylum seekers (went up to 84,000 in 2002) - Blair’s commitments to rapid and severe cuts (Feb, 2003 Newsnight - half no.) - 40% of the UK public in 2006 rated immigration the most important area of concern - Difference between asylum and economic migration - ID cards supposed to be benign for employers to est. immigration status - Equality more of hot topic due to Stephen Lawrence
Crafts - Industrial policy
- ‘industrial policy’ reached its apogee in the 1970s. - Labour productivity growth has been underpinned by the adoption of the new technology of the ICT age - Market services rather than manufacturing have been central to productivity outcomes and this has meant that, in contrast to conventional wisdom in the late 1980s, the United States has seemed a more relevant model than Japan.
Selsdon - Economic policy
Labour devalued sterling in 1949 and 1967, and saw it depreciate sharply in 1974–6. Labour extended public ownership marginally in 1964–70 and 1974–9, and massively in 1945–51. Labour increased income tax rates in all three periods, reducing the post-tax income of top earners most. It was here that the contrast with Blair’s administrations was starkest. Sterling appreciated by some 14 % in his decade
Describe the Gini index
1977 - 0.24
peaked in 2007 - 0.36
Rose progressively from 0.34-0.36 under Blair
