Section 2- 1964-70 Flashcards
when was the race relations act?
1965
when was the immigration act?
1968
when was the abolition of death penalty?
1965
when was the sexual offences act?
1967
when was the abortion act
1967
when was the divorce reform act?
1969
when was birth control introduced?
1968
What was Wilson reluctant to do in relation to the economy?
use deflation to deal with inflation as it could restart ‘stop-go’
what other economic policies were considered by Wilson?
devaluation was considered to make British goods cheaper
What was the DEA?
Department of Economic Affairs- set up and led by George Brown
setting growth targets, ‘economic planning councils’, and discussions with trade unions – entirely ineffective due to government rivalry
When was the DEA abandoned?
1967
What economic policies were actually used?
Introduction of prices and incomes policy, implemented by a Prices and Incomes Board, to keep down inflation
Roy Jenkins took over from James Callaghan as Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1967 and used deflationary methods to improve balance of payments, achieving a surplus by 1969 but inflation still ran at 12%
When was a surplus achieved?
1969, inflation still ran at 12%
When was the sterling Crisis and what was it caused by?
1965 and 1966- national union of seamen strikes
What did the outbreak of war in the middle east in 1967 cause?
an oil crisis and sterling plummeted – Labour also had to make defence cuts and introduce higher purchase restrictions and higher interest rates – return to ‘stop-go’
when was britain’s second failed attempt at joining the EEC?
1967
when was Wilson’s pound in your pocket speech?
1967
How did Wilson feel about trade unions?
positive- labour always had good relations with trade unions
What did Brown introduce to deal with pay?
voluntary incomes and wages policy, agreed with union leaders and employers, intending to keep pay increases to 3.5%
what tore the voluntary incomes and wages policy apart?
1966 strike by NUS
they asked for a pay increase of 17%, and pay had already increased by 10%
What was Wilson’s reaction to the NUS strike?
While the ship-owners were ready to make a deal, Wilson blocked this compromise, accusing NUS leaders of intending to harm Britain from information from MI5
Afterwards, Wilson named 8 NUS leaders as having links to the Communist Party, which ended the strike but meant that Wilson lost public and party trust
how many days were lost to strikes?
tripling from 2 to 6 days between 1966 and 1970), the majority of the public saw these strikes as unacceptable
How did the government attempt to end the wildcat strikes?
1968, produced a white paper to make strikes more organised and therefore less disruptive
who passed the wildcat white paper?
Barbra Castle - In place of Strife
What were the reactions to the in place of strife?
press and public were impressed by the strong stance however unions and workers were opposed to the measures and caused open revolt against the labour party
How did Labour respond to the open revolts?
Castle and Wilson attempted to negotiate but were not successful and trade unions won
when did ITV launch?
1955
when was BBC2 launched?
1963, with colour - 1967
when was BBC2 launched?
1963, with colour - 1967
when did radio one launch?
1967- pirate radios launched to give people more option
when was the divorce reform act?
1970
when was the abolition of capital punishment?
1965
when was the contraceptive pill introduced?
1968
when was the dangerous drug act introduced?
1967
1961-1965 (education)
4 universities opened
sexual offences act
1967- made homosexuality decriminalised between two consenting men over 21
who was the director- general of the BBC in 1960-69
Hugh Greene
when were private radio stations launched
1967
anti-Vietnam war riots
1965- teach-ins on Vietnam at Oxford and LSE
1968- March, anti war protests
battle of grosvenor square had over 200 arrests
1968 october- 300000 people protestested- peaceful
when was the race relations act?
1965- forbade discrimination in public places- did not cover employment or housing until later on
when was the commonwealth immigration act?
1968- limited the right to return for non-white commonwealth citizens after influx of kenyan asians
‘rivers of blood’ speech
Enoch Powell- 1968
who vetoed britain’s entrance to the eec
de Gaulle (president of france)
what was Wilson’s stance about the USA?
pro-american, backed america in vietnam war even though british public did not support it
withdrawal from east suez
*Britain needed to reduce military commitments to improve the economy but Wilson wanted to maintain a global presence
*Britain maintained its nuclear deterrent and continued to deploy US Polaris missiles
*MoD Denis Healey introduced a defence white paper in 1967 that proposed troop withdrawals from Aden, the Middle East, Malaysia and Singapore
*After 1967 devaluation crisis withdrawal had to be accelerated to the end of 1971
*Development of new warplane, TSR2, abandoned
when was macmillan’s ‘wind of change’ speech
1960
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland divided into two
1963
northern Rhodesia became Zambia and Nyasaland became Malawi
1964
who was Ian Smith?
PM of Rhodesia
what did Ian Smith do?
issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence – challenging Labour government
*Wilson tried to resolve the situation through negotiatations (on HMS Tiger in 1966, and HMS Fearless in 1968), and oil sanctions, but Rhodesia continued to trade with Mozambique and South Africa so this had little effect
*Wilson’s diplomacy was ineffective as Smith believed that he simply had to wait for a Conservative government to achieve his goals
