The end of post war consensus 1970-1979: Political + Economic

Question 1

Who was the Conservative prime minister and what were the dates of his rule?

Answer 1

Heath (1970-1974)

Question 2

Who were the Labour prime ministers and what were the dates of their reign?

Answer 2

Harold Wilson (1974-1976)
Callaghan (1976-1979)

Question 3

What were Heath’s strengths as prime minister?

Answer 3

• Had experience (leader of Conservative party since 1965)
• Won 1970 election around clear policies of reform (industrial and economic modernisation)
• He was a europhile

Question 4

What were Heath’s weaknesses as prime minister?

Answer 4

• Not popular with party and public
• Lost 1966 and 1974 election
• Struggled with industrial conflict and economic problems
• Defeated by Thatcher in 1975

Question 5

When did Britain enter the EEC and who was it under?

Answer 5

• 1973
• Heath

Question 6

Who replaced Heath as leader of the Conservative party and when was it?

Answer 6

• Thatcher
• 1965

Question 7

What did Heath believe in?

Answer 7

1. One nation toryism
2. Post war consensus

Question 8

What were some of the reforms under Heath?

Answer 8

1. School leaving age raised to 16
2. Local government was reorganised
3. British currency went decimal

Question 9

What did Heath’s chancellor, Barber, do?

Answer 9

1. Introduced cuts in public spending
2. Introduced tax cuts to encourage investment
3. Rapid rise in inflation
4. Named the barber boom

Question 10

What is stagflation?

Answer 10

The unusual combination of inflation and economic growth

Question 11

What was the Conservative parties U-turn?

Answer 11

• Unemployment began to edge towards 1 million, government had to take action despite wanting to reduce state intervention in industry
• Engineering firm Rolls Royce was nationalised in 1971
• Government money was used to prevent upper clyde shipbuilders going bankrupt

Question 12

By 1973 what had unemployment fallen to?

Answer 12

500,000

Question 13

What was the oil crisis and when was it?

Answer 13

• 1973
• Triggered by Yom Kippur war
• War prompted OPEC to declare an oil embargo
• Exports stopped, oil prices quadrupled, long queues formed outside petrol stations
• Led to the NUM demanding a huge pay rise

Question 14

What were some of the industrial disputes that Heath had to deal with?

Answer 14

1. Docker’s strike
2. Large pay settlement for dustmen
3. Postal workers strike
4. ‘Go slow’ by power workers which led to power cuts

Question 15

How did the government respond to industrial disputes?

Answer 15

Brought in the Industrial Relations Act- set up an Industrial Relations court and provided for strike ballots and a ‘cooling off’ period before official strikes could begin (TUC and CBI opposed it)

Question 16

What were the major strikes in 1972?

Answer 16

1. Miners
2. Ambulance drivers
3. Firefighters
4. Civil servants
5. Power workers
6. Hospital staff
7. Engine drivers

Question 17

How many days were lost due to strikes in 1972?

Answer 17

23,909,000 (highest since General Strike of 1926)

Question 18

When was the Industry Act passed and what did it aim to do?

Answer 18

• 1972
• Aimed to involve the government, TUC and CBI in agreeing wage prices, investment and benefits
• Heavily criticised by the right wing of the Conservative party

Question 19

When did the NUM call a national strike?

Answer 19

1974

Question 20

What was the 3 day week?

Answer 20

• Imposed in 1974 to conserve electricity in response to a wave of industrial action by engineers, dockers, firefighters
• Fuel was rationed
• Cuts made to lighting and heating
• TV turned off at 10:30pm
• Many industries were forced to lay off workers

Question 21

What was Bloody Sunday and when was it?

Answer 21

• 1972
• Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association organised a march to protest against internment
• Attempts to control the march resulted in British soldiers firing live ammunition
• 26 unarmed civilians were shot and 13 were killed

Question 22

What was burnt down in Dublin following Bloody Sunday?

Answer 22

The British embassy

Question 23

What were all of the Irish troubles in 1972?

Answer 23

• 1382 explosions
• 10,628 shooting incidents
• 480 people killed

Question 24

When was the Sunningdale agreement negotiated and what was it?

Answer 24

• 1973
  Proposed:
  1. A power sharing executive of nationalists and unionists
  2. New Northern Ireland assembly elected under a system of proportional representation
  3. Council of Ireland that would have some input from the Republic of Ireland

Question 25

What was the economic situation when Wilson came to power in 1974?

Answer 25

1. Inflation was at 15%
2. Balance of payment deficit was £3 billion
3. Trade unions needed to be dealt with

Question 26

What did Wilson negotiate in 1973 and who was it with?

Answer 26

• The social contract with the TUC
• Trade unions were sent a clear message that the government wasn’t looking for any confrontations
• Agreement was quickly reached with the NUM, allowing Wilson to end the state of emergency and 3 day week

Question 27

What did Wilson’s chancellor, Healey, do to try improve the economy?

Answer 27

In 1975 Healey’s budget imposed:
1. Steep rises in taxation
2. Public spending cuts

Question 28

When was the National Enterprise Board set up and what did it do?

Answer 28

• 1974
• Created to administer the government’s share holdings in private companies
• Could also give financial aid
• Overall aim was to increase investment

Question 29

What was the IMF loan situation?

Answer 29

• Callaghan had to request a loan of £3 billion from the IMF due to the government running out of money
• Callaghan handled this well and recovered the economy by using the loan to control inflation and invest it in production which increased exports and decreased unemployment
• In 1978 there was a 13% wage increase whereas in 1979 there was an 18% wage increase
• reinforced the image of Britain being in economic decline
• The left wing of the Labour Party saw it as a betrayal
• Led to Conservative opposition

Question 30

What was the economic situation like by 1978?

Answer 30

• Improved a lot
• 9 oilfields in production
• Inflation fell to 10%
• Unemployment was still at 1.6 million but was falling
• The number of days lost due to industrial disputes had fallen to a 10 year low

Question 31

What did Callaghan create in 1977 and why?

Answer 31

• The Lib lab pact
• Because the Labour majority had disappeared, so Callaghan needed to strengthen the government
• Made the government able to defeat a vote of no confidence from the Conservative party
• Led to the 1978 devolution act in Scotland and Wales which opened the way for referendums

Question 32

When was the winter of discontent and what was it?

Answer 32

• 1978
• TUC rejected the Labour governments proposed wage increase limit of 5%
• Encouraged trade unions to put in higher demands
• Ford lorry drivers achieved a 15% increase after a 9 week strike
• Led to disruption in transport through lorry and train driver strikes
• Hospital porters, dustmen and grave diggers also striked
• Disputes were brought to an end in 1979 and the average pay increase achieved was 10%
• Led to Britain’s economic situation deteriorating
• Resulted in many beginning to consider Conservative
• Labour government lost a vote of no confidence in 1979 and were forced to resign (1st time this happened since 1924)
• Images of the winter of discontent dominated the media

Question 33

What were some of the events involving the IRA between 1970-1974?

Answer 33

1. By 1971, both IRA factions were targeting the British army. In response, the Northern Ireland government introduced internment without trial (imprisoned over 2000 people)
2. Loyalist groups were proliferated with many Protestant neighbourhoods setting up paramilitary and vigilante groups (largest was the ulster defence association and ulster volunteer force- by 1972 both were killing significant numbers of catholic civilians)
3. 1972 Bloody Sunday- 14 marchers against internment were shot dead by the British army
4. Provisional IRA upped their campaign to a greater intensity, killing over 100 British soldiers on Bloody Friday, where 9 civilians were killed and 130 were injured by car bombs
5. Undercover unit, MRF, carried out random catholic assassinations and were responsible for 10 deaths
6. Between 1974 and 1976 loyalist paramilitaries killed over 370 catholic civilians