Statistics for Thatcher's economic policy Flashcards
Unemployment figures
1979
1982
1990
1979: 5.3%
1982: 10.6%
1990: 6.9%
How much did manufacturing output fall by?
How much did steel output fall by?
15% from 79-81
30% in the first 2 years
How did Thatcher attempt to solve the unemployment crisis
1983: Thatcher tried to subsardise the wages of young workers, incentivising employers to take them on.
Unemployment did not fall below 3 million until 1987
When was the Big bang
October 1986
Key Privatised industries, and their dates.
1979: BP
1983: Associated British ports
1986: British gas
1987: British airways
1989: Water
1990: electricity
When was right to buy?
Housing act of 1980.
When was the miners strike
1984-85
In 1981, the NCB wanted to close 23 mining pits.
Thatcher rejected this, and began to stockpile coal.
In 1984, she felt ready to close the mines. She closed 20.
Scargill tried to strike against them, but:
* His failure to hold a ballot caused the nottinghamshire miners to break away
* Thatcher’s supply of north sea oil and coal stockpile meant the strike had no effect on energy
* The police were better suited to dealing with rioting among miners. Battle of Orgreave
Drop in the number of people employed in mines
1979: 200,000
1990: 60,000
When did Poll tax come in?
1989 in scotland, which already hated thatcher for closing the mines
1990: Thatcher introduced poll tax to the UK, leading to the trafalgar square protest (200,000). The police were unable to manage this protest, which turned into a riot, injuring 5000.
Poll tax made thatcher seem removed from the populace, leading to her unpopularity.
Causes of the fall of Thatcher
- Stock market crash of 1987
- By 1990 inflation was 10.9%, higher than it had been in 1980 (due to the lawson boom leading to M>X
- Poll tax
