rolling back state intervention Flashcards
what was thatchers main objective
one of the main objectives of thatchers governments was to reduce the role of the state and in doing so increase individual freedom and let the private sector expand. according to thatcher the state in britain had become too large, too costly and interfered too much in peoples lives
what did thatcher believe about the superiority of the private sector
thatcher firmly believed that the private sector was inherently more efficient and productive than state-owned industries and that the pursuit of profit was to be encouraged. by contrast, the state was perceived as the reason for Britain’s decline
eg; high taxes discourage entrepreneurship and the welfar state encouraged dependency
what did rolling back the oublic sector require
rolling back the public sector required reducing the size of the local and central government. for example, the 1985 government act allowed for the abolo=ishment of the GLC council.
what did thatcher claim the GLC was responsible for
she claimed the GLC was responsible for high taxes, high public spending and collectivist policies. therefore by abolishing the GLC thatcher was able to get rod of ken livingstone who she believed was using local authorities to introduce socialist policies
what did thatchers reforms in local government lead to
thatchers reforms led to government spending being reduced from 10% in 1970 to 8.3% of the GDP in 1997.
MOSTLY SUCCESSFUL - Thatcher was able to reduce the power of local government and slim it down, however in doing this she increased the power and interference of central government - against her aims
education and thatchers views
education was a strong point for Thatcher in her political years as she was education secretary under heath and wanted to raise education standards and give more value for money
how is it arguable that the 1988 education act demonstates more government interference than less
it’s arguable that thatcher did not roll back the state due to the interference of the state in introducing the 1988 education act. a feature of the policy included the introduction of a national curriculum where all students would learn the same topics in their subjects
what did john major introduce that further demonstrates the states role in education
to further demonstrate state interference, john major introduced OFSTED which was introduced under the influence of thatcher. the purpose of OFSTED was to inspect and regulate schools and report these findings to the government. this shows that the impact of thatcher on education strengthened central control with the national curriculum and Ofsted which shows that she did not reduce the role of the state in this aspect.
thatcher and the right to buy
thatchers advocation for the right to buy made home ownership a reality for most people across the 1980s. that 1980 housing act gave council house tenants who lived in their house for more that 3 years a 33% discount from the market rate. those who lived in their homes for 20 years could buy their house at a 50% discount
importance of the 1980 housing act
thatcher believed the policy was a huge succeessas between 1980-1997 5m houses were sold to private owners. she also claimed tjis was an attack on dependency culture which council housing created
criticisms of thatchers right to buy
although the policy made getting on the housing ladder a reality,, councils were not able to build more council homes. those who were unable to pay their mortgages due to interest rates (ranging between 5-20%) would have their home repossessed and struggle to find a new council house as many were bought out.
what was the reality of thatchers right to buy
this shows that while thatcher rolled back government control over housing, the interference meant that more houses were unable to be built which significantly disadvantaged the working class
