Section 6 -1997-2007 Flashcards
when did labour win the 1990s election?
1997
when was the good friday agreement
1998
when did britain sell half of its gold reserves?
1999-2002
when did NATO intervene in Kosovo?
1999
when was blair’s third way speech?
2000
when was labour’s second successful election?
2001
when was the euro adopted by the EU?
2002
when did Blair fight for the reform of CAP treaty of rome?
2004
what year were the 7/7 bombings?
2005
when did blair win his third victory?
2005
when was the st andrew’s agreement?
2006
what did Blair do with the liberals before the 1997 election?
arranged a contingency for a coalition government?
when was the hutton inquiry?
2003
what was the hutton inquiry?
judicial inquiry in the UK chaired by Lord Hutton, who was appointed by the Labour government to investigate the controversial circumstances surrounding the death of David Kelly, a biological warfare expert and former UN weapons inspector in Iraq.
what was David Kelly forced to do?
explain himself before the televised foreign affairs committee
what was the ecclestone affair
the government exempted motor racing from the tobacco ban as the head of formular 1, ecclestone, gave £1mil for it to not be banned which made labour look like they’d been bribed
what was balir’s reaction to the accusation labour had been bribed by ecclestone?
resputes it
refused to take any more donations from ecclestone
what was the economy like in 1997?
Indicators were positive, unemployment was down, productivity was up, consumer spending went up, car ownership increased, house prices rose, negative equity was a thing of the past
when was scottish parliament and welsh assemble created?
1998
welsh devolution
Welsh Assembly has fewer powers than the Scottish parliament, with the referendum based on no tax-raising powers and the ability to enact secondary legislation
Labour has remained the dominant party, and independence seems much more distant
Blair seemed reluctant to allow Wales these additional powers and imposed Alun Michael as First Minister, who then resigned in 2000 rather than facing a vote of no confidence
Scottish devolution
Scotland voted resoundingly for a Scottish parliament and tax-raising powers
Implementation of PR electoral system and fixed term of four years to try to prevent SNP dominance and subsequent mandate for independence
SNP won an outright majority in 2011, leading to the independence referendum of 2014
The Barnett Formula allowed Scotland favourable financial circumstances
when was the house of lords act?
1999
when was the human rights acts?
1998
what are some critisims of new labour?
only elected because conservatives were weak
less people were voting
says they abandoned socialist policies
blair acted in his own interests
privatised factory which lost 9000 jobs
abolished clause IV
master manipulator of the media
did not reform trade union laws
what happened between Iraq and Blair?
Blair and Bush suspected Iraq had nuclear weapons despite not being allowed them- USA wanted Britain to go at it alone
why was blair’s accusation of iraq hypocritical?
Britain had nuclear weapons
what were Blair’s 4 values for a just society?
equal worth
opportunity for all
responsibility
community
largely abandoned after 2001
what was Blair’s aim by abolishing clause IV?
privatised businesses
have britain as a leader of europe and not be enslaved by europe’s single currency
between state-controlled and laissez faire
what was the commission on electoral reform?
made the house of lords appear more modern- 92 hereditary peers and CofE bishops
people were appointed based on merit
did not chnage the voting system
what was the AV plus?
voters ranked candidates rather than just vote for 1 individual
if no party reaches over 50%- the party with the least amount of votes gets eliminated and their votes redistributed
devised by the jenkins commission i 1997
freedom of information act 2000
provides the public access to information help by public authority
what was Blair’s sofa government?
Blair significantly enhanced the role of the Prime Minister’s political office, policy unit, and press office
He was accused of making decisions prior to discussing with Cabinet
This was hugely criticised as Blair was bypassing governmental decision-making in favour of consulting his personally selected, unelected team
give an example of a minister apart of the sofa government
alistair campbell
what did education expenditure increase by?
increased substantially, from £21.43 billion in 1997-8, to £34.36 billion in 2005-6, and doubling of building funds, and teacher renumeration improved
what were the 3 types of school created
specialist, academies, trust
what did labour do in relation to univerisities?
aimed to increase university participation, but in 2001 campaign opposed ‘top-up’ fees – this decision was reversed in 2004, with intense opposition
in 2000 what did Blair announce?
the UK would match EU spending
what did health expenditure increase by?
tripled from £30 to £90 billion between 1997 and 2007
what criticisms did Blair receive about the NHS
criticised for promoting competition in the NHS, which seemed very similar to privatisation
Alongside increasing demands on health services, programmes like PFIs made costs soar
what were some other educational policies?
cut class sizes
all children to learn the 3 R’s
focus on STEM
education action zones
improved teacher training
crime
40 acts of parliament were created relating to criminal justice and penal policy with 3000 new criminal offences
consequences of 9/11
shift in focus to terrorism
detension without trial in terrorism bill 2005- defeated in the house of commons
criminal justice act 2004
allowed police to bail without taking suspects to jail and for police to take DNA samples even if they have were not convicted
what was the first thing gordon brown did?
make the bank of england independent 1997
allowed them to set interest rates
aimed to get rid of the boom and bust
the pound immediately rose and shares increased
who was peter mandelson
minister without portfolio
when did blair go to NI?
two weeks after election
what led to the employment act 1999
‘fairness not favours’ although trade unions could still take action with a majority, there were many restrictions, and Britain retained the strictest trade union laws in the Western world
workers
Individual workers’ rights improved, including increased protection against unfair dismissal
Living standards and pay increased, as did personal debt
what were minimum working hours fixed by?
the European Working Time Directive of 2003
when was minimum wage introduced?
1999: £3p/h for 18-22 year olds; £3.60 for <23
when was the tax credit act passed and what did it do?
2002 – these credits were introduced but heavily criticised for their increasing cost
what did britain welcome the ‘filthy rich’ with?
the introduction of social enterprise policy as part of the New Deal
when was the minister of women created?
1997- first held by Harriet Harman
how many female MP’s were there after 1997
120
101 were labour- known as blair’s babes
what did family-friendly workplace policies include?
tax credits and the National Childcare Strategy of 1998 led to 73% of mothers in employment by 2000
what was the pay gap in 2007?
87% of men’s wages
what did the new deal aim to do in regards to youth?targeting NEETs, although this still increased to 20% by 2007
targeting NEETs, although this still increased to 20% by 2007
when was social exclusion unit set up?
1997
when was sure start set up?
1998
when and what was the connections service?
2000, and helped 160,000 young people find jobs
what did 50% of university participation?
lack of investment in technical and practical education
in 2004 which 10 countries entered the EU?
Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia, and Britain was one of only three countries to allow open access to the labour market
how many people immigrated to britain out of the 10 countries
129000 entered from these countries in 2004 and 2005, a trend that continued with 112000 in 2007
how many people were against free movement in 2007?
44%
when was UKIP founded?
1993
where did UKIP find most of their success?
european elections
what did the rise of UKIP show?
Proved the increasing anxiety of the British public over immigration and the EU
What highlights racial tensions in 2001?
riots in Burnley, Oldham, and Bradford
what happened on the 7th July 2005?
Suicide bomb attacks on the tube and a bus
what cooled the special relationship?
the Lewinsky scandal cooled relations, although Clinton did speak at Labour’s 2002 conference
how many times did Blair send forces into battle?
Iraq 1998, Kosovo 1999, Sierra Leone 2000, Afghanistan 2001, Iraq 2003
why did people believe Blair wanted to invade iraq?
oil
what did Blair and Brown disagree on in regards to EU nad the economy?
The implementation of the euro on 1 January 1999 and Blair wanted to join, but Brown was vehemently opposed and was difficult to overrule after early Treasury successes
what caused problems with Chirac and Schroeder?
Blair’s dedication to being the first ally of the US- deteriorated further after the invasion of Iraq
when did New labour sign the social chapter?
1997
why was the enlargement of europe seen as good?
less chance of federalism
when was the introduction of the European Security and Defence Policy after the Saint-Malo Agreement?
1998
