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History Paper 1 and 2 > Topic Five - The Impact of Thatcher's Governments > Flashcards

Topic Five - The Impact of Thatcher's Governments Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the definition of Thatcherism?

A

the set of aims that Thatcher sought to achieve during her 11 years as PM

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2
Q

What is reverse Keynesianism?

A

a move to a free market within British economy

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3
Q

How did Thatcher plan to cut government spending?

A
  • Monetarism to end wasteful government spending

- cut government subsidies towards unprofitable industries to increase competition

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4
Q

How did Thatcher cut taxes?

A
  • income and corporation taxes reduced

- individuals and companies kept more of their own money

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5
Q

How did Thatcher resist bureaucracy?

A
  • made local governments accountable to the public they served
  • undemocratic power of trade unions to be broken
  • union leaders made responsible to their members
  • companies and public utilities removed from government control
  • privatisation introduced
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6
Q

How did Thatcher take government off the backs of people?

A
  • maintenance of law and order given priority
  • provide greater protection to ordinary citizens
  • British independence enhanced
  • Britain promoting international justice in the face of communist oppression
  • rights of the individual and the family takes precedence over abstract notions of social good
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7
Q

Who did Thatcher base her initial economic policies on?

A

Friedrich Von Hayek

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8
Q

What is Monetarism?

A

the basic cause of inflation is in the money supply - governments should restrict the amount of money in circulation and cut expenditure

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9
Q

What were the impacts of Monetarism?

A
  • led to increased inflation (risen to 22% within a year of Thatcher’s premiership)
  • led to increased unemployment
  • had long-term success
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10
Q

What was inflation in 1978?

A

11%

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11
Q

what was inflation in 1980?

A

22%

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12
Q

How did the fight against inflation progress over time?

A
  • previous PMs prioritised unemployment
  • Thatcher willing to risk a period of high unemployment to fix inflation
  • felt that Monetarism was the best tactic
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13
Q

Outline some points from the 1981 Budget.

A
  • Britain was in recession
  • ‘stealth taxes’ - did not increase tax band in accordance with rising inflation so people were paying more tax
  • Windfall tax on oil and bank profits
  • the budget was heavily opposed
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14
Q

What did unemployment rise to as a result of Thatcher’s economic reforms?

A

from 1.2 million to 3 million

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15
Q

What did industrial output fall by as a result of Thatcher’s economic reforms?

A

11%

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16
Q

What did interest rates rise to as a result of Thatcher’s economic reforms?

A

just under 16%

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17
Q

How did the value of the £ change as a result of Thatcher’s economic reforms? What impact did this have?

A
  • value of £ rose against the $

- negative impact on exports

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18
Q

Where were there riots as a result of Thatcher’s economic reforms?

A

Bristol and Liverpool

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19
Q

How did regional variations change as a result of Thatcher’s economic reforms?

A

Increasing North-South divide

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20
Q

How did urban unrest and social tensions change as a result of Thatcher’s economic reforms?

A

Increased urban unrest and social tensions

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21
Q

What events happened in 1982 that impacted upon the 1983 election?

A
  • inflation and interest rates fell
  • Thatcher led Britain to victory in The Falklands War
  • Divisions in the Labour Party
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22
Q

How did Labour perform in the 1983 election?

A
  • worst electoral performance since 1918

- far-left manifesto was dubbed the ‘longest suicide note in history’

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23
Q

How many votes did Labour lose in the 1983 election?

A

lost over 3 millions votes

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24
Q

Was monetarism successful in 1983?

A

No - it was proving very unpopular - people didn’t understand it

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25
Q

What economic policy did Thatcher move towards by 1983?

A

Supply Side Economics

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26
Q

What were the policies of Supply Side Economics?

A
  • cuts to income tax
  • encourage competition
  • limit power of trade unions
  • cut welfare payments
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27
Q

Why did supply side economics cut income tax?

A

to give workers incentive to work harder

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28
Q

Why did supply side economics encourage competition?

A

to lower prices

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29
Q

Why did supply side economics cut welfare payments?

A
  • to save public money

- to reduce dependency

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30
Q

What was ‘Popular Capitalism’?

A

gave ordinary people the chance to become shareholders

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31
Q

What was privatisation?

A

selling publicly owned companies to the private sector

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32
Q

Why did Thatcher employ a policy of privatisation?

A
  • increase competition

- increase incentive to work hard

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33
Q

When was British National Oil Corporation sold to the private sector?

A

1982

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34
Q

Why did Thatcher privatise the British National Oil Corporation?

A

the belief that oil was entering a period of long term decline and shares were at their most valuable

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35
Q

What do critics say about the sale of the British National Oil Corporation to the private sector?

A

complained that Thatcher had squandered a national asset for short term gain

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36
Q

What did deregulation do?

A

removed financial and legal restriction which was blamed for low productivity and efficiency in many areas of the economy

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37
Q

What were some measures of deregulation?

A
  • credit and exchange controls were abolished
  • bus companies were deregulated to encourage competition
  • education, health and housing policies
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38
Q

What were some benefits of the privatisation of British Rail?

A
  • improved customer service

- more investment

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39
Q

What were some limitations of the privatisation of British Rail?

A
  • higher fares
  • lower punctuality
  • increased rail subsidies (financial aid provided by the government)
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40
Q

What did standard single fares increase by as a result of the privatisation of British Rail and why?

A

up to 208% - try to reduce large numbers of people travelling at peak times

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41
Q

How have rail subsidies increased from 1992 to 2019?

A
  • £2.7 billion in 1992-1993

- £7.4 billion in 2018-2019

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42
Q

When was the Miner’s Strike?

A

April 1984 - March 1985

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43
Q

Why would Thatcher not subsidise unprofitable industries?

A

she felt it rewarded the inefficient at the expense of the efficient

44
Q

Why was the coal industry a problem for the government?

A
  • it was expensive and difficult to mine
45
Q

By the 1970s how successful were British mines?

A

they were running at a loss

46
Q

What was the government’s case in the Miner’s Strike?

A
  • unwilling to put public money into an industry which couldn’t compete in the open market
  • inaction by previous governments was delaying the inevitable (things weren’t going to get any better)
47
Q

What was the miner’s case in the Miner’s Strike?

A
  • The Miner’s Union claimed that with proper investment the coal industry could be established as a long term power source
  • argued that the social consequences of mine closures were significant
48
Q

Where was the coal industry the most significant?

A

South Wales, Yorkshire, Durham - coal was a way of life

49
Q

How did the government prepare for a strike?

A
  • Employment Acts introduced
  • started to stockpile coal
  • drafted emergency plans for importing further stocks
50
Q

When and why were the Employment Acts introduced and what did they do?

A
  • 1980 and 1982 - introduced in anticipation of a prolonged miner’s strike
  • forbade mass picketing
  • outlawed ‘closed shop’
  • declared industrial actional illegal without a formal ballot
51
Q

Why was the Strike defeated?

A
  • Arthur Scargill was unpopular
  • Few other trade unions supported the strike
  • miner’s claimed police brutality was causing the violence of the strike - the broad public perception was that the miner’s were mostly at fault
  • Labour opposition didn’t perform well
  • Police were successful
  • coal was no longer the main source of fuel - didn’t have a massive impact
52
Q

Who was Arthur Scargill and why was he unpopular?

A
  • NUM leader
  • had an abrasive manner
  • alienated miners in Nottinghamshire who continued to work throughout the strike
53
Q

Why did Labour opposition not perform well?

A
  • Neil Kinnoch tried to take a political middle path in relation to the strike which was unpopular with voters
54
Q

How did the Labour Acts aid the opposition of the miners?

A

gave the National Coal Board (NCB) leverage against the miners

55
Q

How were the police successful through the Miner’s Strike of 1984-1985?

A
  • helped strike breakers to get to work

- got coal out across picket lines

56
Q

What were the impacts of the Miner’s Strike?

A
  • social commentators suggested that the violence reflected increasing lawlessness in Britain
  • the violence convinced most people in Britain that industrial action needed to change
  • failure of the strike sped up the process of mine closures
  • gave Thatcher the confidence to take on other opponents
57
Q

How was the nation divided over the Miner’s Strike?

A
  • 65% for the government
  • 35% for the miners
  • reflected the divided society
58
Q

What did the closure of the mines lead to?

A
  • job losses
  • redundancy
  • social disruption
  • decline of traditional communities
59
Q

What was the overall success of Monetarism?

A
  • very unsuccessful in short term as it led to high inflation
  • inflation rates decreased in the long term
  • led to high unemployment
60
Q

What was the overall success of Supply Side Economics?

A
  • reduced taxes
  • deregulation
  • implementation of a free market to stimulate economic growth
61
Q

How many civil servants were there in 1980?

A

732,000

62
Q

When did Thatcher abolish the Civil Defence Department and why?

A

1981 - saw it as a trade union

63
Q

Who was the Environment Minister and what did he do?

A

Michael Heseltine - introduced the Management Information System for Minister

64
Q

By 1997, how many Civil Servants worked across 100 companies?

A

76%

65
Q

A less what Civil Service was promoted?

A

centralised

66
Q

By 1988 how many Civil Servants had been fired?

A

22.5% - agencies begun to work with the private sector to deliver services

67
Q

How much money did firing the Civil Servants save?

A

£1 billion

68
Q

What act allowed Thatcher to abolish troublesome councils?

A

Local Government Act 1985

69
Q

How did Thatcher change funding to Local Governments?

A

She cut it

70
Q

What act introduced ‘Right to Buy’ and aimed at stopping reliance on local government?

A

1980 Housing Act

71
Q

How many council houses were bought between 1982 and 1983 - what impact did this have?

A

204,000 - made it harder for the council to house the poorest in society

72
Q

Why was the Poll Tax unfair?

A

charged the rich and the poor the same

73
Q

How much did spending on the NHS increase between 1980 and 1987?

A

60%

74
Q

Why did Thatcher wish to reduce the cost of the NHS?

A

introduce increased competition into healthcare

75
Q

How much did the cost of the NHS rise between 1985 and 1991?

A

25%

76
Q

Why did Thatcher have to be careful when reducing the NHS?

A

it was extremely popular

77
Q

What impact did Thatcher winning the 1987 election have?

A

gave her confidence to make more radical reforms

78
Q

When did the most radical reforms to education come?

A

After 1987 - standards raised meant better value for money

79
Q

What were some key reforms introduced to education under Thatcher?

A
  • Key Stages created
  • created one single GCSE
  • Exam results were published in league tables that allowed parents to pick better school
80
Q

What were the impacts of the key reforms to education under Thatcher?

A
  • stressed teachers and students

- good schools faced over subscription

81
Q

What did Thatcher regularly use rather than career civil servants?

A

Special advisers

82
Q

Why did the use of special advisers lead to a decrease of voters?

A

Felt their vote did not matter

83
Q

MPs with university degrees increased to what?

A
  • 40% in 1945

- 75% in 2010

84
Q

MPs that had previously worked for political organisation increased to what?

A
  • 3% in 1979

- 14% in 2010

85
Q

What is Neoliberalism?

A
  • A political approach that favours free-market capitalism, deregulation, and reduction in government spending (austerity)
  • Market orientated
86
Q

Does Neoliberalism focus on freedom or equality?

A

Freedom

87
Q

What is socialism?

A
  • Political and economic theory of social organisation that advocates that the means of production, distribution and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole
  • Public ownership orientated
  • Focus on reduction of private properties
88
Q

Does socialism focus on freedom or equality?

A

Equality

89
Q

How did Labour’s political standing change under Thatcher?

A

Shifted more towards socialism in opposition to Thatcher’s far-right policies

90
Q

How did Labour shift closer to the centre following Thatcher?

A

Because of Tony Blair’s attempt to adopt some Thatcherite policies

91
Q

How is the centre of the political spectrum in Britain perceived?

A

More right-leaning

92
Q

How were the poor effected by Thatcher’s time as PM?

A
  • regressive taxes took a far higher percentage of income of the poor
  • policies aimed at cutting inflation ended up cutting spending on the poor and fuelled unemployment
  • manufacturing workers suffered greatly
93
Q

What did the proportion of pensioners living below the poverty line increase to?

A

13% to 43%

94
Q

Between 1979 and 1992, what did the poor see a reduction of?

A

The poorest ten percent saw a reduction of 18% in this period

95
Q

How much less money did the rich pay in income tax?

A

The top ten percent paid £9.3 billion less in income tax

96
Q

What did the income of the rich increase by between 1979 and 1992?

A

The richest ten percent saw their income increase by 61% in this period

97
Q

What did Thatcher reduce as part of her reduction of the National Government?

A

The size of local governments

98
Q

What did Thatcher target due to her distaste for the left?

A

Local councils under Labour control

99
Q

In 1979 how many Scottish seats did Conservatives win?

A

21 out of 71

100
Q

In 1987 how many Scottish seats did Conservatives win?

A

10

101
Q

In 1997 how many Scottish seats did Conservatives win?

A

None

102
Q

Why did Nationalism in Scotland and Wales increase?

A

Thatcher’s opposition to traditional industries

103
Q

How did conservatives’ involvement in consensus politics change under Thatcher?

A

Thatcher officially removed the conservatives from consensus politics

104
Q

Was Thatcher popular within the conservative party?

A

Thatcher was very unpopular – she had many of her own ideas and would act alone without consulting the other party members

105
Q

Who was selected to take over from Thatcher and why?

A

John Major – most likely to continue with Thatcher policies such as privatisation and lower taxation

106
Q

What was Tony Blair like as a PM?

A

Wanted more social justice than Thatcher had during her time as PM

History Paper 1 and 2 (13 decks)

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