The era of New Labour 1997-2007 Flashcards
1997 Pledge Card:
Cut class sizes
Quicken justice system
Cut NHS waiting lists
Get youth off benefits
No rise in tax & low interest rates
all promises met by 2001
When was the age of consent equalised?
2000
Blair’s background
Young upper-middle class lawyer, privately educated
Who were the modernisers in the Labour Party?
Blair, Brown and Mandelson
How high did Blair poll after Diana’s death?
93% according to internal Labour polls
Third Way
Blair’s ideology:
Tried to create a ‘third way’ between Thatcherite capitalism and Old Labour socialism
Constitutional Changes Timeline
1998:
-Scotland Act
-Devolution for Wales
-Human Rights Act
-Good Friday Agreement
1999:
-92 hereditary peers
2000:
-Freedom of Information Act
-Mayor of London elected
Regional Devolution
1997 referenda in Scotland and Wales created new devolved parliaments (Holyrood and the Senedd), and gave them tax-raising powers
Good Friday Agreement also created a Northern Ireland Assembly
A referendum to devolve the North East of England was rejected
Led to the rise of the SNP and Plaid Cymru
London Devolution
London Assembly and position of Mayor of London created in 2000.
Hard-Left Ken Livingstone was elected Mayor of London after being kicked from the party. Blair reluctantly let him back in
House of Lords reform
Blair tried to abolish hereditary peers in the House of Lords, but had to compromise to lowering their numbers to 92
Voting Reform
Blair promised voting reform in 1997, and the Roy Jenkins Commission recommended replacing FPTP with PR
Despite this no changes were made
Freedom of Information Act
FOIA 2000 let citizens request information from public bodies
Human Rights Act
HRA 1998 enshrined rights from the European Convension on Human Rights (ECHR), and allowed citizens to take cases to court in protection of their human rights
Blair’s on law & order
“Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”
Extended prison sentences
Introduced ASBOs and emphasised community
Blair on education
Promised “education, education, education” and to cut class sizes to 30 in 1997
Tried to encourage higher education
Introduced tuition fees
Bank of England
Brown gave the BoE operational independence from the government, so interest rates would not longer be a political tool
Thatcherite influence on New Labour
NL accepted privatisation, low taxation and weak unions
Third Wayism tried to mix Thatcherism with socialism
NL rejected ‘tax and spend’ policies
Brown tried to limit government spending by capping borrowing (monetarism) 1997-2001
Basic Tax Rate cut
23% -> 20%
When did Labour ramp up spending?
After 2001 election
When did Blair bring in the minimum wage?
1999
10p tax
Lowest band of income tax (10%) brought in under Blair
What did economists Will Hutton warn about the consumer boom?
The consumer boom was based on rising house prices and on high levels credit & person debt, instead of better productivity
This could lead to an overvaluation of house prices and the possibility of a financial crash
(He was correct)
How many workers benefitted from the minimum wage?
1.5m
Average inflation level under Blair
1.5%
When did Blair lose his first vote?
2003
PFIs
Private Finance Initiatives
Paying private firms to build infrastructure. Difficult for government to determine quality or cost of project. Private companies couldn’t be held accountable. Debt paid off over 30 years. Saddled UK with large debt to fund public spending without going over borrowing limits
Two factions in the Tory party
Mods:
Socially liberal reformers
Rockers:
Traditionalist Thatcherites
John Major (97)
William Hague (97-01)
Iain Duncan-Smith (01-03)
Michael Howard (03-05)
David Cameron (05-17)
William Hague
Tory Leader 1997-2001
Eurosceptic Rocker on the right of the party
Young (mirror Blair)
Thatcher said “Vote for William Hague if you want the same type of government that I did”
Hard to be taken seriously
Claimed to have drunken 14 beers a day
Failed to unite the party
Lost 2001 election
Jobseekers Allowance
Benefit for unemployed people searching for jobs
Blair’s mindset towards benefits
“Hand-up not hand-out”
(meant to incentivise getting jobs)
Which elections did Blair win?
1997, 2001 and 2005
Which international leaders shared Blair’s Third Wayism?
Clinton (USA) and Schroeder (Germany)
Blair and the press
Blair and Rupert Murdoch formed a close relationship, with the right-wing Murdoch switching support of his newspapers to support Blair
Tax credits
Working Tax Credits:
Benefit for those on low incomes
Child Tax Credits:
Benefit for poor families
PCSO
Police Community Support Officers
Police officers with a strong emphasis on community-building
LBGT reform
Section 28 repealed
Civil partnership legalised
Age of consent equalised
Those with gender dysphoria allowed to transition
Workers Rights
Employment Act enshrined / expanded several workers rights
(maternity & paternity leave, equal pay,
How much did Blair get from selling off mobile phone licenses?
£22.5bn
Iain Duncan-Smith
Tory Leader 2001-03
Eurosceptic Rocker from the right of the party
Keen on paternalistic social justice
Aggressive Eurosceptic, widened divisions
Backed Blair on Iraq so couldn’t criticise him
Won leadership election due to negative voting against Portillo and Clarke
Ousted by a vote of no confidence
Michael Howard
Tory Leader 2003-05
Experienced and able politician
Unifying leader between Mods and Rockers
Promoted mods in his cabinet
Highly unpopular from his stint as Home Sec in 90s
Called on Blair to resign over misleading Parliament over Iraq
Lost 2005 election
David Cameron
Tory Leader 2005-2016
Etonian moderniser and socially liberal
Essentially given leadership by Howard
Pro-gay marriage
What were Brown’s early objectives?
Keep inflation low
Keep spending under control
Prove to Middle England Labour could be trusted
Average growth under Blair
2%
Average unemployment under Blair and Major
6% - Blair
9% - Major
NI: NI when Blair came to power
Relations had warmed thanks to Major
Multi-party talks started in 1996
Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness now believed that a settlement was available
NI: Who mediated GFA?
Senator George Mitchell
NI: Blair’s relationship to the Taoiseach
Blair was friends with Bertie Ahern which helped him shore up support with nationalists
NI: How did the government get militant unionists on side
Mo Mowlam (NI Sec) visited paramilitaries in Maze Prison
NI: Who were the major politicians in NI during GFA?
David Trimble (UUP)
John Hume (SDLP)
Ian Paisley (DUP)
Gerry Adams (Sinn Fein)
Martin McGuinness (Sinn Fein)
NI: Which party didn’t like GFA?
DUP
NI: Key elements of GFA?
-UK and RoI give up claims on NI, it is the NI people that can decide
-Power sharing in devolved assembly
-Ango-Irish links strengthened
-Parties would push for decommissioning of arms
-Release of prisoners if paramilitaries agree on peace
NI: How many in NI voted for GFA?
71%
NI: Post GFA bombing
Omagh Bombing 1998
NI: When was GFA?
1998
NI: Fate of IRA
PIRA:
Ceasefire in 1998
Dissolved in 2005
Splinter groups would limp on in a diminished way (Omagh Bombing 1998)
NI: Post-GFA unionists
Unionists became disillusioned with GFA, and DUP eventually overtook UUP
Which divisions in Labour started to appear in early 2000s?
Blairites v Brownites
Brownites were slightly to the left
2001 General Election
Blair v Hague
Tories gained a single seat
Tories divided
Blair proved economic ableness
Good Friday Agreement
Turnout down 12%
2005 General Election
Blair v Howard
Tory manifesto was out of date
Tories gained 30 seats
Blair won despite Iraq
2005 Tory Manifesto
Restricted immigration
Tax cuts
Stricter law & order
‘Victor Meldrew Manifesto’ - Portillo
Workers under New Labour
Only 1/4 of workforce unionised by 2007
Anti-union legislation not repealed
Privatisation furthered
Labour disaffiliated with some unions
Opted into EU Social Charter
Mimimum Wage
What did Blair privatise?
Air Traffic Control
Royal Mail (almost)
London Underground was made a PPP
Which unions did Labour disaffiliate with?
RMT and Transport Workers Union for donating to socialist parties
Female MPs 1997
Doubled, 5/6 of which were Labour.
Blair used all-women shortlists.
Nicknamed Blair’s Babes
How did Blair promote women in his cabinet?
Margaret Beckett as Foreign Sec
Pay gap in 2007
87p/£
Childcare
By 2007, all 3 y/os and 4 y/os were entitled to 12.5h of free nursery education per week
Percentage of FTSE100 firms with no women on board decrease
36% -> 24% under Blair
How much housework did women do in 2007?
Three time more than men
Youth under Blair
(New Deal for Young People)
Social Exclusion Units to end social exclusion
Sure Start Centres gave guidance to families
Connexions advised children about careers
ASBOs introduced
How many people did New Labour want to go to university
50%
NEETs by 2007
Risen to 20% for youth
ASBOs
Anti Social Behaviour Orders
Put limits on where vagabonds could go, tried to limit anti-social crimes such as graffiti and valdalism
Half of ASBOs given to under 17y/os by 2005
Which years did the EU expand?
2004 and 2007
First black cabinet minister
Paul Boateng
Met Police report
1998
McPherson Report said that there was a problem with institutional racism in the Met Police.
Drafted after Stephen Lawrence’s murder
BBC and multiculturalism
BBC Chairman Greg Dyke said the BBC was ‘hideously white’ in 2001
7/7
Islamist bombing on 7/7/2005
Highlighted tensions within multicultural Britain and raised questions of if immigrants were being assimilated well
Three of the perpetrators seemed to be assimilated and British-born
Illiberal counter-terrorism legislation
2006 Terrorism Act
Introduction of ID cards
How many days could you hold suspected terrorists for without trial?
28 days (Blair wanted 90)
2006 Terrorism Act
Increase in number of people thinking immigration was an important issue
3% in 2001 -> 30% in 2007
New Labour’s foreign policy ideology
Liberal Interventionism
Treaty of Nice
EU treaty in 2001 to cope with Eastwards expansion
Blair took a leading role in drafting it
How many countries joined the EU in 2004?
Ten
The Euro debate
Blair was in favour of it, Brown was against it.
Blair caved to Brown (Granita)
Which EU efforts did Blair spearhead
Climate change, aid to Africa, ‘making poverty history’, anti-terrorism
What did Blair see Britain’s place in the world as being?
Major world player
Bridge between US and Europe
New Europe
Formerly communist states now in EU
Which European politicians did Blair have a good standing with?
Sarkozy (France)
Merkel (Germany)
Ahern (Ireland)
Why did Blair care so much about the Special Relationship?
After he saw how ineffective UN and EU were in Bosnia, he turned to the US and NATO as his weapon
Blair’s military interventions
Bombing of Yugo (1999)
Sierra Leone (2000)
Afghanistan (2001)
Iraq (2003)
Blair and Milosevic
Blair convinced Clinton to go after Milosevic
NATO started bombing Yugoslavia in 1999 to stop him going into Kosovo
Success - Shaped Blair’s thinking
Sierra Leone
When rebel forces threatened to take the capital, Britain intervened to end the war
Afghanistan
In October 2001, NATO invaded Taliban Afghanistan with UN support in the hope that Afghanistan could develop into a liberal democracy
After 2003, resources were moved to Iraq, allowing the Taliban to regroup
Iraq: Two fears of Iraq
1) Iraq would ally with Al-Qaeda
2) WMDs
Iraq: How had Saddam been contained after the Gulf War?
No fly zones and economic sanctions
Iraq: UN resolution
UNSC 1441 - Nov 2002
Saddam must allow weapons inspectors into Iraq
By 2003 the US didn’t think Saddam was complying with it
US clashed with UN over if this was a valid justification for war
Blair pushed for a second resolution to tide over Europeans, but this never happened
Iraq: When did the invasion begin?
March 2003
Iraq: How long did the invasion take?
45 days
Iraq: Who resigned over Iraq?
4 ministers (inc Foreign Sec Robin Cook)
Iraq: Stop the War March
1.5m marched in London
New Labour’s foreign policy aims
-Make UK a leading player in Europe
-Ethical foreign policy
-Liberal interventionism
Iraq: Difference between military and humanitarian budget going into war
3bn vs 250m
Iraq: Saddam Hussein
Ba’athist genocidal dictator of Iraq
Went to war with Iran and Kuwait
Massacred Kurds and Shiites
Iraq: Saddam’s son-in-law
Defected to Jordan in 90s and claimed that Iraq was developing WMDs. Executed on return to Iraq
Iraq: Iraq Liberation Act
1998 law saying US could invade Iraq for purposes of regime change
Iraq: Which report went into the Iraq Dossier
2002Butler Report saying that Iraq was probably developing WMDs, but intelligence was iffy.
Britain was criticised for this, but other countries like Russia and Germany found the same thing
Iraq: Times Poll
67% of Brits against the war
Iraq: How many Labour MPs voted against the war?
84
Iraq: Campbell
Alistair Campbell allegedly ‘sexed up’ the Iraq Dossier to fit with the false American claims
Iraq: Chilcott
Chilcott Inquiry would later find that the decision to go to war was based on faulty evidence
Which Tory MP crossed the aisle due to New Labour’s centrism?
Peter Temple-Morris
Which benefit was introduced to deal with fuel poverty amongst pensioners?
Winter Fuel Allowance
What was the minimum wage introduced at?
£4.85
Cash for Honours
In 2006, party donors would often receive life peerages. Blair was questioned by the police becoming the first PM to ever have this happen to him. Hurt his popularity.
