THATCHER 1979-90 CHAPTER 15

Question 1

SALE OF COUNCIL HOUSES

• Key aim of thatcher was to

Answer 1

turn Britain inro a property-owning democracy

Question 2

SALE OF COUNCIL HOUSES

• 1980 housing act gave council tenants right to

Answer 2

buy their council house and received 33-50% discount depending on how long they lived there.

Question 3

SALE OF COUNCIL HOUSES

• 1988 - how many council houses sold?

Answer 3

2 million

Question 4

SALE OF COUNCIL HOUSES

• Became a success of Thatcherism  labour opposed it but dropped opposition

why

Answer 4

as it was too popular within the country.

Question 5

SALE OF COUNCIL HOUSES

• Negative consequences icluded:

3

Answer 5

• sale was in better of areas and councils used the sales to reduce debts, not to build new council housing.
• Number of quality homes available to rent sharply reduce + wating lists for rental homes got longer.
• Many people relied on emergency B & Bs for housing  expensive for councils to provide.

Question 6

MINERS’ STRIKE AND OTHER INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES

• Economic reforms aroused hostility from unions representing service workers e.g.

Answer 6

COHSE and NUPE  became more militant, and teachers’ unions carried lengthy disputes.

Question 7

MINERS’ STRIKE AND OTHER INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES

• Role of unions constrained by new laws:

1980 and 1984

Answer 7

1980 secondary picketing (picketing in a location not directly involved in the dispute) outlawed;
1984 unions pressured to hold ballots before strike action was called.

Question 8

MINERS’ STRIKE AND OTHER INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES

• Newspapers led by Murdoch tried to reduce the power of the unions - major confrontation at

where, how long did it last

Answer 8

Murdoch’s Wrapping plant 1986 where the print unions failed to prevent the publication or distribution of any newspapers – strike collapsed after 13 months.

Question 9

MINERS’ STRIKE AND OTHER INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES

Miners’ strike 1984-5 was the

what did thatcher say about this?

Answer 9

longest and most symbolic strike in the period – thatcher compared the dispute to the Falkland’s conflict and said they were ‘enemies within’.

Question 10

THE MINERS’ STRIKE 1984-5

• 1981  National Coal Board warned of the need to

Answer 10

close 23 pits, but the government had reduced the amount of coal imported, protecting subsidy, and preventing closures.

Question 11

THE MINERS’ STRIKE 1984-5

• 1984 - government fully prepared – huge stocks of coal built up at power stations & North Sea oil made it ???

Answer 11

much less likely that there would be an emergency crisis like in 1973.

Question 12

THE MINERS’ STRIKE 1984-5

• The NCB announced the need to close 20 pits  Scargill (chairman of NUM) claimed he had seen a secret plan to close

how many?

Answer 12

70 pits. Even though it was rejected at the time, in 2014 it was proved that the government had a plan to close 75 pits.

Question 13

THE MINERS’ STRIKE 1984-5

Scargill did not gain total support for a national strike - he refused to hold a strike ballot which weakened his case. He also failed to

Answer 13

overcome the regional divisions among the miners.

Question 14

THE MINERS’ STRIKE 1984-5

The Nottinghamshire miners formed a breakaway union (UDM) who the Scargillites accused of being traitors, whereas the UDM accused Scargill of

Answer 14

caring more about politics than miners’ rights.

Question 15

THE MINERS’ STRIKE 1984-5

• Key factor for thathcers win: role of the police – they had new equipment, more experience of riot control and better tactics.

Thatcher’s critics blamed her for

Answer 15

the politicisation of the police, claiming they were there to defeat the miners rather than being protectors of law and order.

Question 16

THE MINERS’ STRIKE 1984-5

what happened at the Battle of Orgreave 1984 -

Answer 16

5000 miners vs 8000 police officers resulted in a series of confrontations where 50 picketers and more than 70 police officers were injured. NUM was defeated but there were long lasting accusations of police brutality.

Question 17

THE MINERS’ STRIKE 1984-5

• Key factor for thatcher’s win = Scargill – alienated the moderates and never got the support of labour party leadership. Many felt sympathy for the miners but..

Answer 17

thatcher and her allies in the press demonised Scargill as a dangerous revolutionary challenging the democratically elected government.

Question 18

THE MINERS’ STRIKE 1984-5

The outcome was utter failure - in 1979, 200,000 were employed in the coal industry – in 1990, this was as low as

Answer 18

60,000 and falling.

The power of the unions was greatly reduced and total union membership in 1990 was only 2/3 of what it had been in 1970.

Question 19

THE POLL TAX

was also known as the

Answer 19

Community Charge - it was thatcher’s last attempt to reform local government finances.

Question 20

THE POLL TAX

• Aimed to make local councils more accountable by assuring everyone contributed  under the old system local taxation was based on

Answer 20

property – was only paid by homeowners.

Question 21

THE POLL TAX

• Thatcherism believed if everyone contributed, it would be fairer, and councils would be

Answer 21

more efficient in their spending.

Question 22

THE POLL TAX

1989 - the poll tax was introduced in

where

Answer 22

Scotland and was extremely unpopular.

Question 23

THE POLL TAX

• 1990 - the poll tax was introduced to England and Wales despite its unpopularity – thatcher’s unwillingness to alter course seemed to

Answer 23

highlight her failure to connect with ordinary people.

Question 24

THE POLL TAX

Anti-poll tax unions were set up all over the country urging people not to pay –

what % were not paing

Answer 24

30% of people were nonpayers in some areas. The police and courts were unable to enforce payment.

Question 25

THE POLL TAX

1990 - anti-poll tax demonstration in Trafalgar Square –

what happened?

Answer 25

200,000 people attended and had turned into a riot. 5000 people were injured, cars were overturned and set on fire. Many shop windows were smashed, followed by an extensive looting that resulted in over 300 arrests.
Police seemed to have lost control and there was again a criticism of politicisation of the police.

Question 26

EXTRA-PARLIAMENTARY OPPOSITION - EDUCATION

Oxford university voted against giving thatcher

Answer 26

an honorary degree because of spending cuts to higher education – an honour it had given to every oxford educated post war PM.

Question 27

EXTRA-PARLIAMENTARY OPPOSITION - THE ARTS

The artistic establishment was anti-thatcher due to her cuts in public spending to the arts -

what did they do? 2 examples

Answer 27

playwrights wrote plays that satirised Thatcherism and there were a number if TV programmes that showed the social consequences of Thatcherite policies.

Question 28

EXTRA-PARLIAMENTARY OPPOSITION - THE CHURCH

what 2 things did the church do?

Answer 28

published a report in 1985 called faith in the city that called on the government to do more to help deprived communities and bishops were outspoken in their criticism of Thatcherite policies and their impact on society.

Question 29

EXTRA-PARLIAMENTARY OPPOSITION - PRESSURE GROUPS

There were many protest movements that worked outside the traditional framework of parliamentary politics, such as shelter – campaigned against the increasing homeless problem; and age concern – campaigned against pensioner poverty.
CND continued to attract a lot of support - why

Answer 29

especially after thatcher’s determined backing for the policy pf deterrence and stepping up the arms race against the USSR.

Question 30

PRESSURE GROUPS - Pacifism and feminism: the Greenham women

briefly describe what they did in
1879
1981
1983
1984

Answer 30

1979  American cruise missiles to be stored in Britain. In reaction to this, CND organised mass protest marches.
1981  group of women protestors set a camp outside Greenham common base where the missiles were to be based – it remained for 19 years and became a symbol of feminism and pacifism.
1983  when cruise missiles were due to arrive, 70,000 protesters formed a 14-mile human chain of protest.
1984  Newbury local council evicted the women and demolished the camp, but the women returned and rebuilt it.
The camp remained a powerful symbol even after the cruise missiles left the site in 1991 – it was kept going to protest against trident. It was closed in 2000.

Question 31

PRESSURE GROUPS - Environmentalism

Environmental concerns continued to grow after a series of disaster such as the Bhopal gas leak in India and Chernobyl nuclear accident in Russia, a growing understanding of the long term impacts of CFCs

which were and what was the effect on pressure groups

Answer 31

(chemical compounds that deplete the ozone layer – harmful radiation from the sun is nor filtered out effectively) leading to the Antarctic ozone hole, and damage done to buildings and lakes by acid rains led to environmental pressure groups to grow in strength.