The end of post war consensus 1970-1979: Society

Question 1

When was International Women’s day inaugurated?

Answer 1

1977 by the United Nations

Question 2

When did the contraceptive pill become available through the NHS?

Answer 2

1971

Question 3

When did the 1st rape crisis centre open?

Answer 3

1976

Question 4

When was the domestic violence act passed and what did it do?

Answer 4

• 1976
• Made it possible for women to take out court orders restraining violent partners

Question 5

What did women do in response to the murders of the Yorkshire Ripper?

Answer 5

Reclaim the night marchers

Question 6

When was the sex discrimination act passed and what did it do?

Answer 6

• 1975
• Passed to end discrimination against men or women on the basis of gender or marital status
• Aimed to ensure equality of opportunity in the fields of employment and education and to outlaw harassment

Question 7

What was the Equal Opportunities Commission?

Answer 7

• Set up to oversee the sex discrimination act and the equal pay act
• Could bring court proceedings against any party it judged to not be compliant with these acts
• Only launched 9 investigations in 8 years and only 10% of sex discrimination in the workplace were successful

Question 8

What could women do from 1971?

Answer 8

Take out a mortgage without a males permission

Question 9

When did the equal pay act come into force?

Answer 9

1975

Question 10

When was the employment protection act passed and what did it do?

Answer 10

• 1975
• Introduced paid maternity leave and outlawed dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy

Question 11

How was sexism still present within trade unions?

Answer 11

• Continued to be dominated by men
• Suspicions remained that women in the workplace would suppress wages for men

Question 12

How did the equal pay act not help to solve sexism?

Answer 12

Employers got around it by making tasks slightly different so they weren’t comparable

Question 13

How much did women’s wages increase by from 1970 to 1977?

Answer 13

1970- 59%
1977- 70%

Question 14

When was the immigration act passed and what did it do?

Answer 14

• 1971
• Restricted the right of people from the New Commonwealth from coming to Britain
• They would need to have a guaranteed job and at least 1 grandparent born in Britain

Question 15

How many New Commonwealth immigrants had come to Britain by 1974?

Answer 15

Over 1 million

Question 16

What was cultural representation like within politics?

Answer 16

• Not great
• Ina 1974 council election only 10 non white councillors were elected
• By 1978 this increased to 35
• However, still didn’t reflect the size of the immigrant population

Question 17

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

Answer 17

• 1976
• Aimed to tackle discrimination on the basis of race

Question 18

What was the National Front?

Answer 18

• Popularity grew in 1970’s with up to 20,000 members by 1976
• By 1977 it was described as Britain’s 4th largest political party
• 1 strategy was to hold marches and demonstrations in areas high in immigrants living there
• Over 100 incidents including 2 murders and assaults/robberies rose by 1/3rd

Question 19

How did skinheads contribute to racism?

Answer 19

• Attracted by National Front ideas
• Often behind violent attacks on people from other ethnic backgrounds

Question 20

How many police officers were black or had an ethnic minority background in the metropolitan police in 1976?

Answer 20

70 out of a total workforce of 22,000

Question 21

How did the death of Blair Peach highlight police attitudes towards race?

Answer 21

• Was an anti Nazi league supporter who was killed when a demonstration was blocked by the police
• It was alleged that he was struck on the head
• Metropolitan police finally admitted responsibility for his death in 2010

Question 22

How was racism present at football games?

Answer 22

Fans would make monkey noises and throw banana skins at black players

Question 23

When did the youth punk movement start?

Answer 23

• 1975 to 1976
• Influenced by US bands
• Rejected hippie culture
• Wore bondage gear, ripped T shirts, had spikey hair
• Created a moral panic

Question 24

What were skinheads influenced by?

Answer 24

• Mod culture
• Influenced by Jamaican music
• Becoming increasingly linked to football hooliganism and the national front

Question 25

What did environmentalism cover?

Answer 25

1. Industrial pollution
2. Wildlife protection
3. Organic farming
4. Radiation and nuclear waste danger

Question 26

When did the environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth expand into Britain?

Answer 26

1971

Question 27

What did anti nuclear protests campaign for?

Answer 27

The use of nuclear power to generate electricity because of the long term dangers in dealing with radioactive nuclear waste and the potential for accidents

Question 28

When was GreenPeace UK formed?

Answer 28

1977

Question 29

When did animal rights activists carry out violent attacks on pharmaceutical companies and why?

Answer 29

• 1973
• Discovered beagles were forced to smoke 30 cigarettes a day to research the effects

Question 30

When was the animal liberation front created and what did it do?

Answer 30

• 1976
• Adopted extreme violence: letter bombs were sent to politicians