Unit 1.2 Flashcards
Harold Wilson
MP- 1945-83
PM- 1964-70 , 1974-76
Labour Party leader - 1963- 76
He linked Labour Party to modernisation in contrast to what were described as the wasted years of the Conservative government. This modernisation was reflected in Wilson’s image. He was seen as classless, an image far removed from the Old Estonian style of Eden, Macmillan and Home. He was the first PM educated in state secondary schools ,smoked a pipe and spoke with a Yorkshire accent. Also relaxed and a skilful performer on TV. 1964- Labour won 317 seats to conservative 304 (44.1% to 43.4%). 1966- won 363 seats to 253 ( 47.9% of votes to 41.9%). Initially he had appeared on the left of Labour Party. He had born a Bevanite, resigning in 1950 over prescription charges. Also served in Gaitskill cabinet but challenged him for leadership in 1961. He lost, but this made him an obvious candidate in the future. He supported Britain’s nuclear deterrent and attempted to reform the trade unions. In 1966, Conservatives replaced Home with a more modern looking heath, however, Heath was no match for Wilson, who was a better political technician and was able to portray a more attractive image to voters. In contrast, Heath was stiff and lacking in personality. In private Wilson was anxious and insecure about leadership. He was conscious about balancing potential rivals, so he would remain unchallenged. Wilson was heavily reliant on personal team of trusted advisors from outside the government and civil service. Wilson’s team was dominated by personality of Marcia Williams, his personal political secretary. Others who took part in informal discussions in the kitchen at 10 Downing Street included. Economic advisers and a few Inner Circle MPs. Many believed this kitchen cabinet re-informed his suspicion of party rivalries and prevented ministers from having access to him.
Individuals and their approaches to economic and industrial relations- Wilson
Wants to reform trade unions. Wants to avoid devaluation or deflation despite wanting to reorganise economy and break out of stop go cycle
Individuals and their approaches to economic and industrial relations- James Callaghan
Had excellent links to the trade unions, also did not want devaluation or deflation. Centre right of the party
Individuals and their approaches to economic and industrial relations- George Brown
Set up DEA ( Department of Economic Affairs), set growth targets and devised national system of ‘economic planning councils’, Tried to establish voluntary agreement about wages and prices with industrialists, trade union leaders and civil servants. Aim was to secure the restraint needed to prevent inflation rising which the government would need to stop with controls. In this way stop go cycle could be avoided.
Individuals and their approaches to economic and industrial relations- Roy Jenkins
right of party. Strongly in favour of devaluation in 1964. Replaced Callaghan as Chancellor, used deflationary methods. Raised taxes, tightened up government spending in all areas of economy , gives priority to balance of payments. Made him unpopular but works
Individuals and their approaches to economic and industrial relations- Barbara Castle
believed strongly in trade union movement but also convinced of the need for it to act responsibly. In Jan 1969 provided her white paper, In Place of Strife. Knew it would be controversial, describing it as political suicide. She also put through the Equal pay act as Secretary of State for employment
Individuals and their approaches to economic and industrial relations- Jack Jones
Instrumental in defeating In place of strife in 1969. He was an extremely powerful union leader of Transport and General workers union who protested against Castles proposals whilst supported by over 50 Labour MPs who were ready to rebel
Individuals and their approaches to economic and industrial relations- Tony Benn
More left of party. Took over as Minister of Technology from Frank Cousins in 1966, department performed better under Benn but in some ways all labours domestic policies were overshadowed by economic problems.
Economic issues - Why was it a problem?
-Largely accepted Britain lagging behind others counties such as Japan and West Germany by 1964.
-Affluence of Post War Boom had not been reflected in productivity or growth rates
-Britain’s economy seemed to be trapped in cycle of stop go with bursts of prosperity always leading to inflation , runs on the pound and regular crisis over the balance of payments.
-Labour inherited a deficit of about £800 million.
-Wilson and his chancellor of Exchequer, James Callaghan, did not want to use devaluation (make Brit look weaker in the world, scale back activities abroad also) or deflation ( old stop-go approach) as economic solutions.
Economic issues - Evidence of Failure
- DEA- Wilson believed that better planning could, in the long term, make British industry more competitive. He created a new ministry - the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) - to devise a plan to modernise and improve Britain’s economy. The National Plan was published in September 1965 and set two ambitious targets for British industry.
~An annual growth rate of 3.8 per cent over six years.
~An increase in exports of 5.25 per cent each year to wipe out the balance of payments deficit.
Unfortunately, the National Plan never had much chance of success. There
were three main reasons for this.
* The Treasury jealously guarded its role as the government’s economics
ministry and did not co-operate with the DEA.
*The recommendations of the National Plan for government spending were undermined by the Treasury’s deflationary measures to solve the immediate economic difficulties
* The DEA had no power to enforce its decisions. It relied on the co-operation of the trade unions, who did not support a policy of wage restraint.
As a result of in-fighting, the Department of Economic Affairs was wound up in 1969. Nevertheless, the National Plan contributed to the Labour Party’s victory in the March 1966 general election because it suggested that the government had a coherent vision for the future.
Economic issues - Evidence of Success
- Deflationary measures - The Chancellor’s deflationary measures had reduced the balance of payments deficit and prevented a run on the pound, but critics were already pointing out that the government was struggling to impose wage restraints and that the DEA and the Treasury were pursuing contradictory policies.
-Devaluation- On 18 November 1967 the pound was devalued. Instead of being worth $2.80, it was now worth $2.40. The trade figures were stubbornly slow to improve and the substantial balance of payments deficit remained. Nor did devaluation prevent cuts in spending. Roy Jenkins replaced Callaghan as chancellor but, despite devaluation, concluded that severe deflationary measures were still needed to cure the balance of payments crisis.
-In January 1968 the government announced that all British forces east of Suez (apart those in from Hong Kong and the Persian Gulf) were to be withdrawn by the end of 1971.
-Prescription charges, abolished in 1964, were reintroduced.
- The raising of the school-leaving age from fifteen to sixteen was deferred from 1971 to 1973, a change that undermined the educational reform the Labour government had believed essential to its plan to modernise Britain.
In the budget of March 1968 Jenkins, determined to overcome the balance of payments deficit, delivered another hefty dose of deflation, increasing taxation by £923 million. During 1969 there were signs of improvement. The balance of payments at last showed a surplus, the value of sterling rose and interest rates were reduced.
- In Autumn 1964 ,the chancellor of the exchequer, Jim Callaghan, negotiated foreign loans to prevent a run on the pound , over the next nine months, introduced series of deflationary measures which included higher taxes on tobacco and alcohol, and a temporary import surcharge.
Industrial relations - Why was it a problem
Since the war, all governments, Conservative as well as Labour, had seen it as essential to maintain full employment and to keep the unions happy. Wilson had hoped to improve industrial relations and win trade union support for his efforts to modernise Britain but the economic difficulties of the 1960s opened a rift between the government and the unions. Wilson became convinced that:
~Strikes for higher pay, many of them unofficial, were disrupting production, forcing up labour costs and contributing to inflation and Britain’s poor export performance.
~Industrial relations needed to be more strongly regulated if the government’s efforts to control prices and wages were to succeed.
It was particularly difficult for the Labour government to reform industrial relations because the trade unions were their traditional allies and provided he Labour Party with most of its money. Their block votes at Labour Party conferences could often prove decisive in determining party policy. The trade unions also exercised considerable economic power:
* The closed shop requiring workers to join a particular union enhanced union bargaining power.
*Strikes in nationalised industries could cause disruption throughout the country.
In 1966 and 1967, industrial relations with the trade unions began to deteriorate. Strikes by the seamen and the dockers caused economic problems for the government. These strikes also seemed to demonstrate that old-style union bosses were losing some of their control. A lot of strikes started with ‘wildcat’ strikes by local activists who would not take orders from the top.
Industrial relations - Evidence of Failure
- No evidence of success
- By 1968 Wilson was worried by press criticism of his failure to tame the unions and by the Conservatives’ announcement of a plan to reform industrial relations. In April he asked Barbara Castle, a Cabinet colleague from the left of the party, to lead the newly established Ministry of Employment and Productivity and reform industrial relations. In January 1969 Castle’s proposals, called In Place of Strife, were published. The principal proposals were:
- Employees would have a legal right to join a trade union.
- The government could order a ballot to be held before a strike if it believed there was a serious threat to the national interest.
- In an unofficial dispute the government could order a return to work for a 28-day ‘cooling-off period.
- Disputes between unions could be referred to an industrial commission whose decision would be legally binding.
- There would be financial penalties if the commission was not obeyed.
- Workers who were unfairly dismissed would be entitled to compensation Or to get their jobs back.
The TUC and left-wing Labour MPs were incensed by ‘In Place of Strife’. As one trade union leader put it, legal sanctions would introduce the taint of criminality into industrial relations. More than 50 Labour MPs rebelled when In Place of Strife’ was debated in the House of Commons.
Resistance within the party, the TUC and even in the Cabinet led by Home Secretary Jim Callaghan, caused Wilson to back down, A face-saving formula vas devised by which the TUC gave a ‘solemn and binding undertaking’ that it would monitor strikes and disputes and offer considered opinion and advice: The failure of In Place of Strife’ contributed to the fall of the Labour government in 1970 and convinced many outside the Labour movement not only that trade unions had too much power, but that their resistance to change was a major obstacle to economic progress.
As traditional industries declined and white collar employment grew, some of the largest and most powerful unions lost members . There was an increase in the membership of unions representing workers in the expanding public sector of government administration, health and teaching, but this was not matched by the private sector where many employers discouraged union membership.
Developments and Economic pressures of the following areas 1964-70: Concorde
The Concorde was a supersonic passenger carrying commercial airline. It was built in the 1960s and eventually retired in 2003 by both of its founding countries. There was only 14 Concorde aircraft that went into service and was built as a joint venture between the UK and France. The Concorde could fly 100 passengers and a crew of nine from NYC to London in an average of three hours and 30 minutes. Estimated to cost £70 million, which is around 1.39 billion. The programme experienced huge cost overruns and delays, and the programme eventually cost between £1.5 and £2.1 billion in 1976 (£9.44 billion-13.2 billion in 2019). This extreme cost was the main reason the production run was much smaller than expected. The per-unit cost was impossible to recoup, so the French and British governments absorbed the development costs.
Developments and Economic pressures of the following areas 1964-70: Defence spending
The 1966 Defence White paper was a major review of the UKs defence policy initiated by Labour Government under Harold Wilson. The document was centred around the need to support NATO in Europe and make commitment that the UK would not undertake major operations of war expect when in cooperation with allies. Within the document the Government decided on significant reductions in defence budget, with the government wanting to reduce public spending due to wider economic problems. Such as Devaluation of the pound.
Developments and Economic pressures of the following areas 1964-70: Colour TV
The UK Promoted a very good but expensive form of TV, however the USA had a more cheaper form of colour TV which meant the US sold more than the UK . Colour TV sets did not outnumber black-and-white sets until 1976, mainly due to the high price of early colour sets. In March 1969, there were only 100,000 colour TV sets in use in the UK; by the end of 1969 this had doubled to 200,000, and by 1972 there were 1.6 million.
Developments and Economic pressures of the following areas 1964-70: Rocket Development
The Black Arrow was a British satellite carrier rocket developed during the 1960’s and was used for four launches between 1969 and 1971 with the final flight on the 28th October 1971, being the only successful orbital launch to be conducted by the United Kingdom placing the Prospero satellite into low Earth orbit. The project was temporarily put on hold by the Labour Government to reduce expenditure but was eventually continued following another election. It was retired after only four launches after the rocket program was cancelled in favour of using American Scout rockets which had been offered at a reduced cost by the US. The Ministry of Defence calculated the Scout to be cheaper than maintaining the Black Arrow program, but once the Black Arrow was cancelled and the UK rocket program was scrapped, the offer for low coast launches on the US Scout Rocket was withdrawn.
In 1955, Britain began developing a long-range liquid-fuelled missile, the Blue Streak programme. Designed to deliver nuclear weapons, as part of Britain’s independent nuclear capability, work focused on producing an intermediate range missile. n 1960, however, the Blue Streak programme was scrapped. The British Cabinet Defence Committee were reluctant to spend an addition £600m on top of the £65m already spent for a delivery system that proved to be militarily inadequate after testing. The main problem with the Blue Streak was that it was launched from fixed sites, which took up to thirty minutes to prepare for launch. Vulnerable to Soviet attacks and suffering from escalating costs, Britain’s independent nuclear missile programme floundered.
How Wilson solidified his position as leader
The divisions between the Left and the Right in the Labour Party remained in the period after 1964. However, after the death of Bevan, the leader of the Left, in 1960 and Gaitskell, the leader of the Right, in 1963, Wilson had emerged as a conciliatory leader of the party. Wilson’s concentration on the Labour Party as the party of technological modernisation united both the Left and Right of the parties and minimised underlying tensions such as that over Clause IV.
Wilson, personal rivalries within party
there were personal rivalries between Wilson and his most powerful cabinet colleagues. Wilson always feared that he might face a leadership challenge from Brown or Callaghan or Jenkins. Brown was hugely resentful that he had lost the leadership election to Wilson and was further disappointed that he was not made Foreign Secretary in 1964. Wilson was rumoured to have undermined Brown’s reputation by keeping a record of any embarrassing incidents that he was involved in once he had been reshuffled to the Foreign Office. Wilson was also suspicious of Jenkins, a Gaitskellite. He did not really support Jenkins’ liberalising legislation as home secretary. When the seaman’s strike of 1966 caused a sterling crisis Jenkins tried to get the cabinet to support devaluation. Wilson interpreted this as a plot to replace himself and Brown with Callaghan and Jenkins.
This highlights Wilson’s paranoia as it was highly unlikely that Callaghan and Jenkins would work together. Callaghan did not approve of Jenkins’ pro-European stance nor of his liberalising legislation; Jenkins was critical of the failure to devalue when Callaghan was Chancellor and was a supporter of the trade union legislation that Callaghan helped to block.
Criticism of Wilson for focusing on internal Labour issues
It is possible to criticise Wilson as in some ways it appears that too much of his energy and attention was devoted to trying to keep the party united and in stopping any of his colleagues from being able to threaten his position. Wilson did not face any obvious challenger from the left of the party but those who were more left-wing in the unions, local government and young people were frustrated by his government and this made it likely that the divide between the Left and Right would re-emerge in the 1970s.
Roy Jenkins
Strong pro European and considered to be on the right of the Labour Party. He entered Parliament as a Labour MP in 1950. Under Wilson he served as Home secretary 1965-67 and chancellor of Exchequer from 1967-70. In 1981 he went on to found and lead the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Used deflationary methods- rises taxes and tightened up government spending in all areas of the economy , achieved a balance of payments surplus in 1969.
George Brown
Came from a working class trade unionist background and was on the right of the party. He had a number of shadow cabinet and cabinet roles and was deputy leader of the Labour Party between 1960-70. He was defeated by Wilson in the leadership elections of 1963. Many people regarded him as unpredictable as he had a serious alcohol problem, frequently clashed with cabinet colleagues. He resigned in 1968 after a row with Wilson
James Callaghan
Associated with the centre right of the party but with excellent links to the trade unions. Wilson appointed him as chancellor in 1964, later on , he served as both foreign secretary and home secretary . Callaghan succeeded Wilson as PM in 1976. Callaghan didn’t want to use devaluation or deflation
The beginning of the troubles in Northern Ireland- When did Ireland officially become split into 2
Northern Ireland had been created in 1922, after the Irish War of Independence of 1919 to 1921. Ireland was partitioned between 6 counties in the north of Ireland that would remain part of the United Kingdom and other 26 counties which would be the Irish Free State, what would become the Republic of Ireland.
The beginning of the troubles in Northern Ireland- Why was the splitting controversial and what impact did it have
Neither side was particularly satisfied at the time as it had been split in compromise. The partition was extremely controversial at the time, leading to civil war, with unionists supporting the union with Britain and nationalists supporting a united Ireland.
The beginning of the troubles in Northern Ireland- How were Catholics treated in northern ireland
The majority of people in Ireland as a whole were Catholic but the majority of people in Northern Ireland were Protestant. This meant that the Belfast parliament at Stormont and the whole socio-economic system in Northern Ireland was dominated by Protestant unionists. By the mid-1960s there was mounting evidence that Catholics in Northern Ireland were discriminated against in employment and housing and that electoral boundaries had been deliberately drawn to prevent Catholics from being elected; in addition, there were accusations that the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the Northern Irish police force, was biased against Catholics.
The beginning of the troubles in Northern Ireland- How did Catholics begin to challenge the situation
In 1964, the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland started to challenge this. Tensions rose as some unionists feared that the Irish Republican Army (IRA) would start a new campaign. These so-called loyalists started to set up paramilitary organisations to defend the union.
Civil rights marches were held in 1968 to protest against discrimination.
They were attacked by loyalists. Catholics complained that the RUC failed to protect them. In 1969 the situation deteriorated further. The loyalist Apprentice Boys went ahead with their annual march in Derry and were attacked by nationalists in the Catholic area of the Bogside. The RUC tried to storm the Bogside but were held back in two days of rioting. Television pictures broadcast across the world showed RUC officers beating Catholics. Riots spread to other towns and cities. The Stormont government offered concessions on housing and electoral boundaries; this sparked rioting from loyalists. In August 1969, the Wilson government sent in British army troops in an attempt to keep the peace.
The beginning of the troubles in Northern Ireland- Why did Wilson decide to send in an army
In August 1969, James Callaghan, Labour’s foreign secretary, took the momentous decision to send the British army to Northern Ireland to keep the peace. At first, the troops were welcomed by the Catholic community. Residents cheered and clapped as the soldiers encircled the Catholic Bogside area in Londonderry with protective barbed wire. This happy relationship was not to last. The IRA, which had been dormant, reorganised itself and took the lead in the struggle. However, not only did it resolve to attack unionism and head the Catholic nationalist protest movement, it also targeted the troops in Northern Ireland as representatives of the hated British imperialist government, seen as the root cause of Ireland’s problems.
The beginning of the troubles in Northern Ireland- What were the religious differences between the north and south
Northern Ireland was Predominantly Protestant and the South was predominantly catholic
1970 election
Conservatives : 46.4% of votes , 330 seats
Labour : 43% of votes, 287 seats
Liberals : 7.5% of votes, 6 seats
Others: 3.1% , 7 seats
Reasons why the Conservatives won the 1970 election
Heath - Edward Heath’s position in 1970 was similar to Harold Wilson’s six years earlier; he entered office with the aim of following progressive policies. He declared that he was adopting ‘a new style of government’ and that he intended ‘to reduce the rise in prices, increase productivity and reduce unemployment’. Where Heath differed from Wilson was in his intention to break with the consensus that had broadly operated since 1945 in regard to state intervention in economic and social matters. This attitude was summed up in the term ‘Selsdon Man’; it referred to the new type of Conservatism, sometimes called the ‘new right, that Heath had advocated in the run-up to the 1970 election. At a party strategy conference at Selsdon Park, Surrey, in January 1970, the Conservatives had agreed to promote a largely hands-off approach in matters of government direction and to encourage the people to use the new freedom to promote their own interests. An important aspect of Heath’s new approach was his decision to abandon an incomes policy; his government would not seek to impose a wage and salary freeze or interfere with pay settlements. Instead, market forces would be allowed to operate, allowing free bargaining between employers and workers. However, to make such bargaining genuine and fair it was important not to permit the trade unions to have unfair advantages. That was the reasoning behind the introduction of the 1971 Industrial Relations Act by Robert Carr, the minister of labour
Powel : An extraordinary additional factor was Enoch Powell’s contribution to Labour’s defeat. Although Powell had been dismissed from the Conservative Party following his rivers of blood’ speech, his stand on immigration gained the Conservatives 2.5 million votes. R.W. Johnson, a leading psephologist, went so far as to claim that Powell won the 1970 election for the Conservatives: ‘Of all those who had switched their vote from one party to another in the election, 50 per cent were working-class Powellites. Not only had 18 per cent of Labour Powellites switched to the Tories but so had 24 per cent of Liberal Powellites.’ The result was a five per cent swing from Labour to Conservative, enough to put Edward Heath into office with a Commons’ majority of 30.
Reasons why labour lost the 1970 election
Despite internal party unrest and the loss of a number of by-elections, Wilson believed that Labour’s basic support remained solid. That was why the result of the election he called in 1970 took him by surprise. He had not realised that his undistinguished economic policies, and his apparent failure to control the unions, had lost his government a significant degree of support among moderate voters.
Even those who accepted the value of such social reforms tended to see them as isolated achievements. It was those who had had the highest hopes of Harold Wilson - the left of the Labour Party and young people - who, by 1970, had become the most disillusioned. The left-wing critics complained that Wilson’s government had either introduced or presided over the following:
* rising unemployment
* growing inflation
* wage controls
* attempted restriction of trade union freedoms
* immigration controls
* Britain’s failed attempt to join Europe
* retention of Britain’s nuclear weapons
* subservience to the USA in foreign policy.
Embarrassment in the Suez, having to retreat , as well as supporting the USA in Vietnam also did not help Labours cause.
Reasons why Labour might have expected to win in 1970
In some ways the victory of the Conservatives in the 1970 election seemed to be a surprise. The Wilson government had apparently come through its difficult times. Jenkins was credited with achieving economic and financial stability; Wilson was considered to be a master campaigner, far more experienced and more popular than the Conservative leader, Heath.
Jenkins reforms:
abolition of the death penalty 1969
Divorce Reform Act 1969
Abortion Act 1967
Sexual Offences Act 1967
Race Relations Acts 1965 and 1968
These reforms , particularly those relating to abortion, divorce, homosexuality, censorship and the death penalty, may be said to mark an important stage in the modernising of British social attitudes. They were largely the work of Roy Jenkins, home secretary between 1965 and 1967, who left such a mark on the home office that his successor, James Callaghan, simply continued with the programme that had been laid down. The measures were not always Jenkins’ direct initiative: the abortion law, for example, was introduced by the Liberal MP David Steel. But it was Jenkins’ support and encouragement of progressive social thinking that helped to create an atmosphere in which reform became acceptable.
Jenkins personified the tolerant, sophisticated attitudes that he wished to see become predominant in Britain. He was, of course, dealing with controversial issues. There were many in the population who were unhappy with these expressions of what became known as ‘the permissive age.
Labours failing areas
The growth of inflation which was 12% by 1969-70 and the use of deflationary methods which made the government unpopular despite working as well as conflict with trade unions following a storm of protest after In Place of strife leading to a humiliating compromise meant Labour government was becoming increasingly unpopular.
Having been rejected from the EEC in 1967 hard on the heels of the devaluation crisis made the governments economic polices look futile.
Commonwealth Immigration Act 1968
The Act prohibited new immigrants from settling in Britain unless they had family connections already established. However since the Act built on a previous measure introduced by the Conservatives in 1962, it was clear that both major parties had concluded that limitations on entry into Britain were necessary in the interests of peaceful community relations. It was to make that point that the Labour government had introduced the Race Relations Acts in 1965 and 68.
Capital Punishment - situation before
Arguments against the death penalty had been advanced in the 1950s and although public opinion remained sharply divided, the anti-hanging campaign had received a particular boost from the case of Ruth Ellis, a young mother convicted of murdering her abusive boyfriend in 1955. In 1957, the Tories had reduced the number of offences carrying the death penalty, but the Labour backbencher Sydney Silverman continued to campaign tirelessly to win support for a total abolition.
Capital Punishment - Changes introduced
In 1965, on a free vote, hanging was abolished for a trial period of five years, and in 1969 this was made permanent.Jenkins also refused to authorise the beating of prisoners, which ceased after 1967, and he brought in ‘majority’ verdicts for English juries rather than demanding unanimity. This helped convict many dangerous and professional criminals, though the abolition of hanging did not significantly reduce the number of murders or violent crimes, as its supporters had hoped.
Divorce - Situation before
Until the 1960s, divorce law demanded evidence that one party had committed adultery. To gain this, the rich had used private detectives and cameras, but for others, a divorce was often impossible. Jenkins believed the laws were out of date.
Divorce - Changes introduced
the Divorce Reform Act was passed in 1969. This allowed for ‘no fault divorce’ following the ‘irretrievable breakdown’ of a marriage. Couples could divorce if:
* they had lived apart for two years and both partners agreed to a divorce
* they had lived apart for five years and one partner wanted the divorce.
Divorce- Impact
Following the reform there was a huge increase in the number of divorces. In 1950 there had been fewer than 2 divorce decrees per 1000 married couples in England and Wales, but by the mid-1970s nearly 10 in every 1000 marriages ended this way. This could, of course, be partly explained by growing female independence, but it is very likely the Act played a major role.
Abortion - Situation before
Until 1967, abortion (except on strictly medical grounds) was illegal. The only way of terminating a pregnancy was to find a private clinic, if you could afford the fees, or search out a backstreet abortionist if you could not.
Between 100,000 and 200,000 illegal abortions were performed each year and around 35,000 women were admitted to hospitals with complications as a result. Worse still, between 1958 and 1960, 82 women died after backstreet abortions.
Abortion - Changes introduced
The Abortion Law Reform Association had campaigned for a reform in the law from 1945, arguing that legal obstacles to abortion ought to be removed to end these problems, but it was the thalidomide disaster of 1959 to 1962 (During the 1960s, the drug thalidomide, which was prescribed for pregnant women with morning sickness, was found to produce congenital deformities in children when taken in early pregnancy. Children were commonly born without the long bones of the arms and/or the legs. In reaction to this tragedy, opinion polls now showed a majority in favour of allowing abortion when an abnormality had been detected in a foetus) that did more to sway public opinion than any of their arguments. Not everyone was convinced though; in 1966 the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child was set up to oppose any liberalisation of the law, fearing that any extension of abortion beyond strict medical grounds would lead to abortion on demand.
The Liberal MP David Steel led the reform campaign in Parliament, supported by the Labour government and also a number of Conservatives, and Roy Jenkins ensured an all-night Commons sitting in order to pass the bill. The Abortion Act (1967)permitted the legal termination of a pregnancy within the first 28 weeks, under medical supervision and with the written consent of 2 doctors. Importantly, the only justification needed was the mental suffering’ of the pregnant woman, not just her physical condition. The pro-abortionists celebrated, but hopes that the availability of more effective contraceptives and better education would limit the need for abortion proved false. The number of abortions increased from 4 per 100 live births in 1968 (35,000) to 17,6 in 1975 (141,000).
Homosexuality- reform
Up until the 1960s men could be imprisoned for two years for participating in homosexual acts. The Conservative government had rejected the Wolfenden recommendation to decriminalise homosexuality and the Labour government of 1964 was divided on the issue.
It was left to Leo Abse, a Labour backbencher, to take up the cause.
Thanks to Jenkins support he was able to get enough parliamentary time for his private members bill to become law as the 1967 Sexual Offences Act. Although this did not legalise homosexual acts it decriminalised them where three conditions were met:
* both partners had to consent
* both had to be over the age of 21
* it had to be in private.
The Act was welcomed by men who had previously been afraid to declare their sexuality and, in some cases, been forced to lead double lives. However, the Act was strictly interpreted: in private was interpreted as no one else being in the same building, so it did not mean the complete end of prosecutions for homosexual practices.
Race Relations Act
Race
The riots and disturbances of the late 1950s had alerted government to the racial tensions in certain parts of Britain. It was in an attempt to deal with this that Parliament had adopted three key measures; the Race Relations Acts of 1965 and 1968, and the Commonwealth Immigration Act of 1968.
Race Relations Acts of 1965 and 1968
Together, the Race Relations Acts were responsible for the following:
* prohibition of racial discrimination in public places and in areas such as employment and housing
* making incitement to racial hatred a criminal offence
setting up a Race Relations Board with the power to investigate complaints of racial discrimination
creating the Community Relations Commission to promote inter-racial understanding.
Theatres act
Theatres Act 1968
This measure effectively ended theatre censorship by removing the outdated system by which plays had to be submitted to the Lord Chamberlain for approval before they could be performed. Given the greater literary freedoms, this removal seemed a logical step, although cinema censorship, in the form of age categorisation, remained in place.
NHS (Family Planning) Act
The 1967 Family Planning Act made contraception readily available through the
NHS by enabling local health authorities to provide advice to a much wider population. Previously, these services were limited to women whose health was put at risk by pregnancy. Edwin Brooks MP introduced it into the House of Commons as a Private Members Bill, calling Parliament to respond to the issue of a rapidly growing population. He identified a social problem whereby low income groups were at risk of economic struggle through having more children than they could afford.
In the same year Parliament passed the Abortion Act, which legislated that an abortion could take place if there were significant health risks to the pregnant woman or her unborn child. The passing of these Acts reflected changing attitudes to sex in society, highlighting a need for increased knowledge and conversation.
Crucially, women were able to take control of their own fertility for the first time.
Commonwealth immigration act
Commonwealth Immigration Act 1968
The Act prohibited new immigrants from settling in Britain unless they had family connections already established. Since the Act built on a previous measure introduced by the Conservatives in 1962, it was clear that both major parties had concluded that limitations on entry into Britain were necessary in the interests of peaceful community relations. It was to make that point that the Labour government had introduced the Race Relations Acts in 1965 and 1968.
Education reform- Comprehensive Schools
By the 1960s the idea that the different types of secondary school in the tripartite system were equal in status had long since passed. The secondary modern pupils were seen as 11+ failures and the whole system appeared socially divisive, with the majority of grammar school places going to those from a middle-class background.
Local Education Authorities (LEAs) were responsible for schools and in some areas, for example, Labour-controlled Greater London, they had established comprehensive schools. In comprehensive schools every child would have the same opportunities to learn at their own pace and sit exams according to their own abilities in each subject.
By 1964, 1 in 10 pupils was being educated in a comprehensive (10 times as many as in 1951) but it was still only a small minority. In 1965 Tony Crosland, a leading supporter of the comprehensive system, became minister of education which accelerated this process.
He issued Circular 10/65, to all Local Education Authorities, requesting them to convert to comprehensive schools. Although it was not a statutory requirement, many authorities responded especially after 1966 when the government made money for new school buildings conditional on the drawing up of plans for comprehensives. By 1970, only 8 authorities had failed to do so and there were 1145 comprehensive schools catering for 1 in 3 of all state-educated secondary school pupils.
It is hard to say how successful these new comprehensives were. The mergers and changes in status for schools caused considerable disruption in the early days. Wilson justified them by claiming that comprehensives meant a ‘grammar school education for all, but many middle-class parents remained unconvinced. Some turned to the direct grant schools (which were allowed to continue) and independent schools, which meant that the idea of a truly comprehensive system was flawed from the start. Also the quality of education in the comprehensive schools was not as good as other schools on offer.
Education reforms- Higher education
Feda that Britain was sippingent of the Robins Comic clearing
The Robbins Report found that Britain lagged behind France, Germany and the United States in the provision of university places he that too many students followed arts related courses to the exclusion of the study of science and technology. The Labour government responded by expanding higher education:
* Polytechnics replaced Colleges of Technology. Their focus was to be on applied education for work and science and they would concentrate on teaching rather than research.
* Nine Colleges of Advanced Technology became full universities and the Royal College of Science in Scotland became Strathclyde University.
* New’ universities were to be founded (and charters given to some, like Sussex, which had recently been established).
* Unis founded post 1961-67- Newcastle(63), Bradford(66), York(63)
By 1968, there were 30 polytechnics and 56 universities. New institutions brought new courses and it became possible, for example, to take a degree in town planning and architecture. The new polytechnics and universities opened up higher education for many whose families had never attended a university, although middle-class children still dominated the old universities so it was hard to persuade anyone of the parity of opportunity.
Education Reform
Harold Wilson was later to say that he most wanted to be remembered for the creation of the Open University. It combined his enthusiasms for equal opportunities in education, modernisation and the white heat of technology’ by attempting to offer high-quality degree-level learning in arts and sciences to people who had never had the opportunity to attend campus universities.
In March 1963, a Labour Party study group proposed an experiment on radio and television to be called the University of the Air. Following his election success in 1964, Wilson appointed Jennie Lee (who had come from a working class background and went to Edinburgh uni thanks to support atom a trust) to consider the project, and it was her commitment that saw it through.
In September 1969, the Open University’s headquarters were established in Milton Keynes and by the middle of 1970 there had been enough applications for the first students to begin their studies in January 1971. It became a rapid success. The university used radio and television in innovative forms of distance learning, and recruited largely part-time students with a totally different social profile from traditional students. It attracted the mature, women and the disadvantaged, and it helped raise the esteem of those who had previously regarded themselves as educational failures. By 1980, the Open University had 70,000 students and was awarding more degrees than Oxford and Cambridge combined.
Mass Media 1960s - TV
Televisions was available everywhere -
1961, 75% of the population had a TV in their home and by 1971 it was 91%. That meant it was becoming more popular entertainment than cinema and starting to bring cultures together and end the isolation of distant communities. Hugh Greene became Director-General of the BBC in 1960, and set out to transform it.
The majority of money went to TV and not radio, also the guidelines on nudity and swearing were revised - creating a new style of media. In April 1964 BBC2 was launched and it allowed BBC1 to grow more populist. In July 1967, BBC2 became Rae first channel to broadcast regular colour programmes.
Mass Media 1960s - Radio
Radio survived the rise in TV, helped by the development of the cheap and portable transistor and the spread of car radios.
These, with long-life battery and earphones, meant radios could be taken out or listened to in the privacy of the bedroom. Personal radios meant programmes could be targeted at specific audiences, like teenagers who no longer had to listen to what their parents listened. At the beginning of the 1960s there were only 3 BBC radio stations, so people quickly seized on the gap in the market.
Young people started to listen to pop music from radio Luxembourg and from 1964,
‘pirate stations’ (Pirate radio stations are unlicensed broadcasters that defy the authorities and play what they want)
Mass Media 1960s - Newspapers
Many though that the arrival of TV would be the end of print media, and whilst ad revenue fell with leadership those that survived became stronger. 5 national newspapers closed in the early 1960s, but in 1964 both the Sun and Observer were launched. The Sun replaced serious working-class newspaper, the Daily Herald, with the aim of being of age and sharing more celebrity gossip and culture than traditional news.
Still there were magazines like the satirical magazines the ‘Private eye’ (1961), aimed at young people. The newspapers and magazines of this time offered a greater range of topics and culture for people to embrace in their individuality.
Mass Media 1960s - Advertising
Ad revenue in newspapers decreased, whilst the launch of ITV in 1955 had allowed advertising to expand. Advertisers could get into the family home and tempt customers with attractive goods and increase brand awareness. Expenditure on retail advertising rose from £102 million a year in 1951 to £2.5 billion by 1978.
This was backed up by the increase in TV licenses where in 1955 there were just over 4.5 million but by 1975 there were ~17.7 million, and even in 1965 there were ~13.25 million.
Mass Media 1960s - Impact
New technologies were taking over old methods, meaning some newspapers went out of business and the use of tv to advertise and publish stories increased. TV and new magazines helped to showcase new culture, letting everyone have more individuality.
There were more options of media for people to choose to consume depending on their views. TV and radio allowed even those previously excluded to consume media, and it influence their views.
Leisure Activities in the 1960s
Growth of Leisure at home-
Tv accounted to 23 percent of leisure time. 1969
By 1964 the year of the introduction of BBC 2 80 percent of households owned tv as 32.2 million people watched 1966 World Cup final
Also hobbies like diy and gardening started to occur.
1969 worlds first electric hover mower
Greater availability of leisure at home lead to an decrease in crowds at theatres etc.
Revolution of cars-
Passenger bus,coach and train declined as cars grew by 77 percent by 1974 compared to 1953 was 39 percent.
Car ownership rise 1967 reached 10 million mark of ownership
This was due to Ed a cement in technology which led to cars becoming cheaper and therefore more efficient ways to travel.
Holidays-
1960s also saw leisure travel turn into mass tourism.
1951- 27 million holidays 2 million abroad 1961 -34 million holidays - 4 million abroad
Britannia Airways founded 1964
Package holidays in their infancy although from 1966-1971 grown from 4 percent to 8.4 percent of holidays. Influences from abroad had start to influence introduction as opening of wine bars for example
Scientific developments 1960s- the post office tower
The tower is officially opened by Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Its dishes and antennae can handle 160,000 simultaneous telephone calls and up to 40 television channels through microwave radio. The tower was at that time the largest building in London. The tower is opened to the public for the first time on the 18th of April
1966. There was a restaurant built by billy butlin on it. Those who couldn’t afford to dine in Butlin’s 120-seat revolving restaurant could still visit the viewing galleries for 4s (2s for children).
Scientific developments 1960s- media and television
One of the first programs on tv to be broadcast from the uk was the 1966 election however this was only shown in America as colour tv was widely used there and in Britain it was pretty much just black and white television. However on the 1st of July 1967 the Wimbledon tennis tournament was broadcast in colour tv on bbc two. It used a new phase alternating line which was from Germany and provided colour television. On the 15th of November 1969 bbc 1 and itv 1 were also launched into colour television showing the change in ownership of colour televisions in Britain. However a tv licence for a colour television was double the tv licence of a black and white television with a colour tv one costing £10 and a black and white costing £5
Scientific developments 1960s- the railways
In 1968 British railways removed their last steam hauled service with was the fifteen Guinea Special. After this service were ran by a mix of new diesel and electric locomotives. They were used all over the uk. A big development was the electrification of the west coast mainline from London Euston to Birmingham in 1966 where electric locomotives would haul trains similar to the railways of Europe and Asia which were already running long distance electric trains. However despite the new electrified trains they were unable to go at much higher speeds as it was limited by the Victorian infrastructure.
Scientific developments 1960s- Concorde
Concorde was a supersonic aeroplane that was capable of going from London to New York in around 3 and a half hours. Studies into the development of the plane was first stated in 1954. On the 29th of November 1962 a treaty was signed between the UK and France to try to develop the plane. It was estimated to of cost around £70 million which is around €1.39 billion today. However, the project was heavily over budget and experienced big delays. By 1976 when the project was completed it cost between €1.5 and £2.1 billion. This is between £9.44 billion and 13.2 billion in modern money. However despite this it was and still is the only supersonic passenger carrying plane. It was a marvel of technology when it was made and was clearly in the white heat of technological development in the 1960’s.
Scientific developments 1960s- military development- harrier jump jet
The Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.1/GR.3 and the AV-8A Harrier were the first generation of the Harrier series, the first operational close-support and reconnaissance attack aircraft with vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) capabilities. These were developed directly from the Hawker P.1127 prototype and the Kestrel evaluation aircraft. On 18 April 1969, the Harrier GR.1 officially entered service with the RAF. They were revolutionary airplanes as they were capable of hovering above the ground. They were eventually replaced in the 2010’s having been in service for just over 40 years proving how evolutionary the design was.
Progress towards equity 1960s
In the 1960s, the belief that women were housewives and mothers remained the same, particularly among the working classes.
Jobs for women weren’t hard to find, however many were low paying clerical and service sector positions.
Many mothers wanted to work but felt guilty due to the media portraying working mothers as selfish and unnatural.
Many ‘Women’s Lib’ groups were started around the UK to campaign for social and economic equality for women.
In 1969, a rally in Britain led to the establishment of the Women’s National Co-ordination Committee which brought the many strands of feminism together.
In 1970, at the first National Women’s Liberation Conference held at Ruskin College, Oxford, four demands were put forward:
o Equal pay
o Free contraception and abortion on request
o Equal educational and job opportunities
o Free 24-hour childcare
The Start of Feminism:
Second wave feminism started in the US with Betty Friedan, who argued that women were unfulfilled in their restricted lives.
Britain followed on from this with the growth of female education contributing to growing frustration for women.
As well as this, the feminist movement was also encouraged by the publications of articles such as “Women: The Longest Revolution” (1966) by Juliet Mitchell and “The Female Eunuch” (1970) by Germaine Greer.
Progress towards equity 1960s- progress made
The Progress Made:
o The 1970 Matrimonial Property Act established that the wife’s work, whether in paid employment or in the home, should be considered in divorce settlements.
o The 1970 Equal Pay Act established the principle of equal pay work; however, this law did not come into force for another 5 years.
o Labour-saving devices in the home freed women from the kitchen however advertising of these reinforced the female role as a housewife.
o The amount of education for women increased and access to higher education encouraged women to develop higher expectations but the progress along career paths was slow and difficult.
o The increased availability of jobs gave women greater independence although they were still responsible for the home and their children.
o Women had greater control over family planning which liberated them from unwanted pregnancy, but men could still avoid responsibility for family planning.
o Easier divorce reforms created greater freedom however women were still economically dependent on their husbands.
Moral attitudes - the birth of the permissive society
The permissive society refers to a time of general sexual liberalisation, with changes in public and private morals and a new openness. This helped to create an atmosphere in which the old taboos were broken.
Much of it was media hype (e.g. youth rebellion’ and ‘swinging sixties’). However, there was enough reality in it that a
significant change had occurred in
British social values.
Permissive ideas were spread by the media, from
‘teen’ magazines to a growing number of uncensored novels.
Furthermore, previously taboo subjects were
discussed in books, on the radio, and on TV.
Moral attitudes- Critics and consequences of the Permissive society
- Critics used the term in a negative way, believing it was a decline in conventional moral standards, encouraged by contraceptive pill, the spread of the mass media and the enactment of liberal legislation.
- Catholics were hostile to the contraceptive pill. Not all prominent catholics agreed however, and the Catholic MP Norman St. John-Stevas wrote a critical essay entitled The Pope, the Pill, and the People’ in 1968.
- Mary Whitehouse was a prominent figure against the new permissive society.
She set up the National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Association in 1965.
-By the end of the decade, the rate of STI’s were on the rise, particularly among the young.
-There was a spread in drug culture, with cocaine and heroin being ten times more prevalent in the first half on the 1960s, while soft drugs were more commonplace by the end of the decade. The ‘hippy lifestyle’ promoted this drug culture; even the Beatles turned to LSD.
-The degree to which liberal permissiveness actually influenced attitudes and behaviours in the 1960s can be exaggerated.
-Surveys by Michael Schofield on the sexual behaviour of young people (1965) and Geoffrey Gorer on Sex and Marriage in England Today (1969, published 1971) found most young people were either virgins on marriage or married their first and only sexual partner.
-A mixture of ignorance and social constraints remained and while liberal legislation opened the way to change, it represented only an inroad into the old religious and moral restraints. However, there was enough reality behind the image making to suggest a significant change has occurring in British attitudes.
Judgement:
On the one hand it could be used to support the statement, as there was a definite lifting of restrictions, particularly in the media in terms of TV, the end of theatre censorship, and the Lady Chatterley Case, which helped to create a new sense of openness within British society.
This lead to things such as the Divorce Reform Act and the abolishment of the death penalty. However, it could be argued much of this was media hype, with social constraints causing backlash from several individuals and groups, such as the National Viewers’
and Listeners’ Association, and actual private morals for many not changing at the same rate as the liberal legislature, as seen by the results of the aforementioned surveys by Michael Schofield and Geoffery Gorer.
Moral attitudes - Legislature/Cases Relating To The Permissive Society
-Mary Whitehouse was a prominent figure against the new permissive society, particularly how it was seen in the media. She received a lot a publicity, leading her to set up the National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Association in 1965, and it soon had 100,000 members. Despite her lobbying, she failed to have any impacts on the programmes shown.
The dangerous drugs act made it illegal to possess drugs such as Cocaine and cannabis. The Wootton report (1968) suggested the legalisation of soft drugs like cannabis, but this was rejected by Home Secretary Callaghan. In 1970, the maximum sentence for supplying drugs was increase of fourteen years in prison.
-The Lady Chatterly case 1960 - In 1959, Obscene Publications Act was introduced. While not intended as a liberalising measure, it included the excluding from prosecution supposedly obscene works, which were published in the interest of science, literature, art, or learning. Penguin Books chose to test the new freedom by publishing D.H Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1928), which contained frequent four letter words and explicit description of sexual activity. Penguin were then prosecuted for publishing an obscene’ text. The not guilty’ verdict can certainly be seen as beginning the permissive age of literature. It was a victory for self-expression, and publishers began to cover topics while writers began to use language they would not have risked before the trial.
-Theatres Act 1968 - This effectively ended theatre censorship by removing the outdated system by which plays had to be submitted by the Lord Chamberlain for approval before they could be performed. This shows the shift in moral attitudes through greater literary freedom.
-Television - After the lifting of restrictions on literature and theatre, both TV companies (ITV and BBC) were more relaxed in what they were allowed to broadcast.
The following legislation also shows a shift in moral attitudes:
-The Sexual Offences Act 1967
-Divorce Reform Act 1969
-Abolition of the Death Penalty 1969
Youth culture 1960s- Changes from the 50s
An increase in living standards, access to education and growth of leisure time led to a youth culture more likely to question norms and rebel
Parental clashes-young people began to dispute fashion, music and questioning of past ideas about sex and drugs all of which caused older generation concern
Alcohol, tobacco and caffeine used more than illegal drugs and by 1969 young people spent more time listening to music in their rooms than at concerts
Youth culture 1960s- Fashion
In the 1960s London became the fashion capital of the world
The rules of fashion changed or were abandoned: women in trousers, men in velvets, bright colours, satins and workwear in the evening
As the years went by these trends got more extreme and began to hide the social divisions between men and women but also between the classes
The youth adopted and adapted to the new trends which led to disputes between parents and teenagers
Youth culture 1960s- Music
The young people listened to pirate radio stations or with the rise of music in television they would watch programmes such as “Ready Steady Go!”(1963 ITV), “Top Of The Pops”(1964 BBC) who played music usually from the rock genre
New technology such as cheaper plastic record players caused more people to get into music especially the youth causing music to be an even bigger part of their culture
This spread new trends in music, fashion, dance and slang to the youth and went further in building youth culture as a whole as well as it’s subcultures
Youth culture 1960s- subcultures
During the 60s different subcultures emerged with the changing culture:
The skinheads with shaven heads, braces and Dr Marten boots who evolved from the mods
The hippies who rejected social conventions and attitudes established in society, they embraced flower power from America and their common doctrines were environmentalism, free love and peace
Race and immigration 1960s- Public race relations
In 1965 a survey was taken in north London which found that 1/5 did not want to work with a black or Asian person, 50% of people refused to live next to a black person and 9/10 did not approve of mixed marriages. This inherent discrimination meant there was a need for change which brought about the Race Relations Act of 1965 under the Labour government which forbade racial discrimination in public places. However, this excluded discrimination in housing and employment. This had to be developed upon in 1968 with the second Race Relations Act as public attitudes and behaviour had not changed. This introduced a Race Relations Board and commission with the aim of improving relations, yet this was not effective. A total of 982 cases of discrimination were handled by the Race Relations Board of which 734 were dismissed due to a lack of evidence. This also prohibited discrimination in employment and public places.
Not all groups were discriminatory towards other races and groups such as ‘hippies’ were accepting of the culture and instead chose to embrace it. Some wore Indian clothing and others adopted activities such as yoga. Shops began to appear such as takeaways and corner shops.
Race and immigration 1960s- Commonwealth Immigration Act 1968
The Commonwealth Immigration Act of 1968 built upon previous measures introduced by conservatives in 1962. This Act prohibited new migrants settling in Britain unless they had previous existing family connections in Britain. Both parties concluded that there was to be limitations on entry to Britain to help keep peaceful community relations
Race and immigration 1960s- River of Blood Speech
In 1968 Enoch Powell delivered his controversial ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech where he spoke about how unlimited immigration would be a threat to the UK. This speech was popular among the working class such as the London Dockers. However, the speech was condemned from all political sides leading to him being dismissed from the shadow cabinet by Edward Heath.
Anti-Vietnam War riots - Vietnam War
A particular grievance of the left of the party was the government’s support for the USA’s involvement in the Vietnam War. In 1963 the USA, pursuing its
‘containment’ policy, based on the principle of not allowing Communism to spread, had become involved in what proved to be a long, drawn-out struggle in Vietnam.
The US governments met growing opposition at home to a war that became increasingly difficult to justify on strategic or moral grounds.
Although British forces took no part in the Vietnam War, Britain did give consistent diplomatic support to the USA. For many on the left, this was further evidence of Britain’s subservience to the USA in foreign affairs. Youth culture and political activism merged in opposition to the controversial Vietnam War in the late 1960s:
Anti-Vietnam War riots - Opposition
- In the summer of 1965, there were teach-ins on Vietnam at Oxford University and the London School of Economics (LSE). The Vietnam Solidarity Campaign or VSC was set up in 1966 gaining considerable support among university students.
- On 17 March 1968, there were violent scenes at an anti-Vietnam War demonstration in London, near the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square.
- On 28 March a still more violent protest known as the Battle of Grosvenor Square took place, ending with over 200 people being arrested. The final demonstration in October 1968 in which 30,000 people took part was, however, relatively peaceful.
- The year 1968 also saw a number of other anti-war protests, often combined with demands for more student power, in a variety of different universities. At Sussex, a speaker on the Vietnam War, from the American Embassy, was covered in red paint, while at Essex, two Conservative MPs were physically attacked. The Labour Secretary of State for Education and Science was shouted down in Manchester, and
us to acres: and
Denis Healey, the Labour Defence Secretary, almost had his car overturned by Cambridge students.
Wilson, unsurprisingly, condemned the violence as the work of people who simply did not understand international relations or Britain’s financial position. Asked why he did not oppose the Americans over Vietnam, he replied angrily, We can’t kick our creditors in the balls! The message this crudity conveyed was that if Britain wanted to keep its hospitals, schools and welfare schemes, it could not afford to antagonise the country which, in effect, paid Britain’s bills.
Micheal Foot
was a popular and respected left-winger, a great admirer of Bevan (see Chapter 1). He was a talented journalist, with a regular column in the Daily Herald. His first experience of being in the government was as Wilson’s minister of employment in 1974. He was on the left wing of the party, strongly supported CND and was fervently opposed to Britain joining the EEC. He became leader of the Labour Party in 1980, after Labour’s defeat in 1979.
Europhiles
a term used to describe people who were enthusiastic about Britain’s membership of the
EEC/EU
Denis Healey
was a Labour MP from 1952 until his retirement in 1992. He was the minister of defence between 1964 and 1970 and Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1974 and 1979.
He was on the right wing of the party and was deputy leader of the party between 1980 and 1983.
Ian Smith
was the first prime minister of Rhodesia to be born there rather than in Britain. He had been a farmer before entering politics. He remained prime minister until the Lancaster Agreement of 1979 when Rhodesia, now named Zimbabwe, had its independence officially recognised.
1964-68 foreign affair timeline
1964
- escalation of the Vietnam war
- start of Rhodesia crisis
- independence granted to Zambia and Malawi
1965
-Unilateral Declaration of Independence proclaimed for southern Rhodesia
1966
-Second EEC application agreed by Wilson government
-Wilson – smith talks on HMS tiger
1967
-EEC application voted by Gaulle
-Britain pull back from east of Suez
-deep budget cuts in military commitments East of Suez
-Enoch Powell rivers of blood speech
1968
-Hungarian rising crushed by soviet forces
-Wilson- smith talks on HMS fearless
Wilson’s own views towards the USA and its role in Europe
Harold Wilson was himself pro-American and was a keen supporter of the Atlantic Alliance. The Cold War was ongoing and Britain wanted to ensure that the United States stayed committed to the defence of Europe.
The continuing possibility of the Soviet threat was highlighted by the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia that stopped the communist system becoming diluted there. However, the relationship between Britain and the United States came under strain over the Vietnam War.
Why was Wilsons approach to Vietnam seen to be a delicate balancing act
From the time that the escalation of the Vietnam War began in 1964, the US president, Lyndon Johnson, wanted to gain support and approval from the United States’ allies. Australia sent troops to Vietnam and Johnson wanted Britain to do the same. Wilson, however, resisted any direct military involvement despite his good relationship with Johnson.
The British response to the Vietnam War was a difficult balancing act for Wilson: he wanted to maintain the Atlantic Alliance but the Vietnam War became hugely unpopular in Britain, especially with the Left, so he risked losing political support if he was too supportive of it. Also, there were economic and financial considerations. Britain could not really afford military involvement; but Wilson also needed the support of the United States to support the value of sterling and to avoid devaluation, so he could not afford to alienate the United States. In the end the policy can be summed up as giving moral support without military support. This annoyed not only the United States who wanted greater backing, but also a number of Labour MPs and supporters who wanted the Labour government to condemn the United States.
Why was the issue of Europe so divisive in the Labour Party.
The Labour government that came to power in 1964 was not very committed to continuing the Conservative policy of seeking entry into the EEC. In 1962, Hugh Gaitskell had fought passionately against Britain’s first application - he told the Labour Party conference that: ‘it would be the end of a thousand years of history. Hugh Gaitskell’s opposition was based on the fear that the EEC was the first step towards a federal political union.
In addition, many on the Labour Left, such as Michael Foot and Barbara Castle, and the trade unions were equally hostile. They saw the EEC as a club for capitalists that would prevent Britain from following socialist policies. On the other hand there were several Europhiles in the cabinet, especially Roy Jenkins and George Brown, who had become the foreign secretary in 1966. Harold Wilson himself was more ambivalent; he preferred the Atlantic Alliance and stronger links with the Commonwealth but he could also see the strength of some of the economic reasons for joining. He was also very conscious of needing to keep the Labour Party united on the issue.
What did Wilson and government agree in 1966?
By 1966 Wilson was becoming more convinced of the economic arguments and, in October, Wilson’s cabinet agreed to back a new application for EEC membership.
Why did De Gaulle block Britain’s EEC application
The prospects of it succeeding were not very good. The British bid was in danger of seeming half-hearted because of the doubts within Labour. More importantly, de Gaulle was still President of France and there was little sign he had changed his mind about British entry. The fact that Britain’s chances of joining were poor prevented those on the left wing of the party being too vociferous in their opposition.
Wilson and George Brown went to Paris to meet de Gaulle in January 1967 and they thought the meeting went quite well. They then toured the other five EEC countries, trying to gain support. In June 1967, Wilson went back to Paris again. De Gaulle put him on the spot, demanding assurances that Britain would detach itself from the ‘special relationship. There was no way Wilson would do this. In November, de Gaulle used his veto against British entry.
Britain’s application was again rejected.
Decolonisation
The Labour government continued the decolonisation policy that had started under the Conservatives and accelerated after Macmillans wind of change speech. The Labour government knew from 1964 that there would have to be a reduction in Britain’s military commitments for economic reasons. The minister of defence, Denis Healey, started a process of spending cuts designed to bring the defence budget below £2 billion by 1970. Healey’s defence white paper in 1967 set a timetable for troop withdrawals from Aden, the Middle East, Malaysia and Singapore.
Some might argue that, given the economic situation that the Labour government inherited, these cuts did not go far enough or fast enough. But Wilson believed in both the Atlantic Alliance and in Britain continuing to have a world role. Therefore, there was no serious debate about giving up the nuclear deterrent despite its expense. The Wilsons government announced
that it would continue to deploy US Polaris missiles. Indeed, in 1967, a commitment was made to upgrade the system.
All this changed in January 1968, with the drastic spending cuts introduced by Chancellor Roy Jenkins after the 1967 devaluation crisis. Withdrawal from East of Suez was rapidly accelerated. Troops were to be pulled out of Aden, the Arabian Gulf, Malaysia and Singapore by the end of 1971. Despite the wishes of both Wilson and Healey, the development of a new high-tech warplane, the TSR2, was abandoned because it was too
Rhodesia
Macmillan had chosen Cape Town as the place to make his ‘wind of change speech because his target was the white minority regimes who thought they could resist reform, rather than the colonial peoples who wanted independence.
But the white minority regimes were not persuaded. In southern Africa, Macmillan’s wind of change speech was seen as a challenge and a threat.
In 1963, the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland had broken up into three separate entities. In 1964, northern Rhodesia became the new independent state of Zambia; Nyasaland became independent Malawi. Southern Rhodesia hoped for independence at the same time but Britain made it clear that this could not happen until majority rule replaced the political domination by the white population.
A political row blew up when lan Smith became prime minister. In 1965, Smith issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence for Rhodesia without accepting majority rule.
Smith’s action was a direct challenge to the Labour government. But Wilson hoped he could reach a solution in weeks rather than months, either through oil sanctions or by a negotiated solution. Wilson met Smith for face-to-face talks on board HMS Tiger off Gibraltar in December 1966. This meeting seemed to make progress but Smith then disavowed everything he had said as soon as he got back home.
Wilson’s frustrations continued throughout 1967. Oil sanctions did not have much effect. It was too easy for Rhodesia to get supplies through the Portuguese colony of Mozambique, and the big oil companies often openly ignored the sanctions policy. In addition, South Africa continued to trade with Rhodesia.
More talks were held on board HMS Fearless in October 1968, but by then lan Smith felt stronger rather than weaker. Smith also believed he could rely on support from the right wing of the Conservative Party and that all he had to do was to wait for Britain to give in. Wilson’s diplomacy got nowhere. The situation upset the Commonwealth and many on the Labour left wing, and at the same time made Britain look weak.
How did Heath Fail to solve the economic and political problems of 1970-74 - Reforms Introduced
-Decimalisation
-School Leaving age changed to 16
-Local Government reorganisation- Judged by its effects, one of the most significant reform measures under Heath was the Local Government Act (passed in two stages in 1972 and 1973), prepared and introduced by Peter Walker, the environment minister. This proved to be the most sweeping reform of its kind yet attempted; in reshaping the structure of local government, the measures destroyed many historical administrative landmarks. Whole areas were subsumed into newly created regions and many familiar place names disappeared. There were protests, particularly from Conservatives on the right, that Walker’s changes amounted in many cases to an attack on local identity.
-Tax Cuts - Anthony Barber as Chancellor of exchequer brought in early measures such as income tax cuts to encourage investment and cuts in public spending. What was called the ‘Barber Boom’ began with rapid inflation. However inflation not accompanied by economic growth. Unemployment actually went up alongside inflation, creating new word ‘stagflation’
-Entry to EEC - Following de Gaulle’s retirement as French president in 1969, the EEC had invited Britain to reapply. This gave Edward Heath the opportunity to fulfil his driving ambition of leading Britain into Europe. Ignoring the political implications of Britain’s joining, he told his party that the economic situation made it essential that Britain became an EEC member. Heath’s government duly accepted the EEC’s offer and signed the Treaty of Accession in 1972, which led to Britain’s becoming a full member of the EEC on New Year’s Day 1973. There is little doubt that Edward Heath regarded this as his greatest political achievement. Since the late 1950s, when Macmillan had asked him to be Britain’s special negotiator with Europe, Heath had committed himself to obtaining Britain’s entry. He had staked his reputation on it. That was why, having been invited to apply by the Six, Heath rushed to comply with their conditions of entry. Significantly, Britain’s team of negotiators were instructed not to let their concerns about the political implications of entry deter them from continuing. One of the senior civil servants involved in the discussions later admitted that the possible loss of British sovereignty had been
‘very much present in the mind of the negotiators’, but they acted on the general understanding that the less they came out in the open the better: an example of the Establishment closing ranks.
-Industrial Relations Act 1971
-Industry Act 1972
How did Heath Fail to solve the economic and political problems of 1970-74 - Problems
his government had achieved none of the economic goals it had set itself on taking office four years earlier:
* Rapid inflation had made the holding down of prices impossible.
* The wage demands of the unions, which in the majority of cases were accepted by the employers, and the large number of days lost through strikes, resulted in a decline rather than a growth in productivity.
* Unemployment had not been reduced. Indeed, 1972 marked the highest figure for joblessness since the depression in the 1930s.
* The resort to the three-day week in 1974 showed how far the government had fallen short of its aims.
-There were, however, three other developments whose full effects were not felt until after Heath had lost office but which began during his period in government. These were:
* local government reform
* Britain’s entry into the EEC
* the international oil crisis.
Industrial Relations Act 1971
The Act was an extension of ‘In Place Of Strife’, the measures which Wilsons government had considered in 1969 but had withdrawn in the face of party and trade union opposition.
The Industrial Relations Act set up an Industrial Relations Court and provide for stike ballots and a cooling of period before official strikes could begin. the policy did not work as expected. Both the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) were opposed to it.
There were major strikes in 1972: by the miners, ambulance drivers,
firefighters, civil servants power workers, hospital staff, and engine drivers.
1972 saw the highest number of days lost in strikes since the General Strike of 1926 - 23,909,000.
Industry Act 1972
Heath also returned to the policy of trying to manage wage demands with the passing of the Industry Act of 1972 which aimed to involve the government, the TUC and the CBI in agreeing wages, prices, investment and benefits. This policy was heavily criticised by some on the Right of the Conservative Party Despite this there were further industrial disputes with firefighters and power workers and in November 1973 the oil crisis led to another increased wage demand from the miners, which was beyond the limits the government wanted to impose to hold down inflation. The miners introduced an overtime ban to strengthen their demands. Heath hoped that a compromise could be reached and a strike avoided but he also announced that a three-day-week would be re-introduced from the beginning of
1974. He moved Willie Whitelaw from the Northern Ireland Office to be minister of employment as he was considered a skilled negotiator. This failed. The miners refused to accept the pay offer and the government refused to treat the miners as a special case. In January 1974, the NUM called a national strike.
NUM strikes of 1972 and 74
The NUM conducted a national strike in 1972 and 74 because of increased wage demands
The strikes impacted British economy. As they seriously disrupted fuel and electricity supplies and considerably reduced industrial production leading to the 3 day week being introduced to conserve electricity in response to the wave of industrial action by engineers, dockers and firefighters and the looming threat of a national coal strike in the middle of an energy crisis.
Heath had hoped to defeat the strikers in 1972 and 74 by Rather than give in to the miners, Heath hoped to defeat them by imposing severe limits on the use of fuel, thereby enabling the government to resist what he regarded as the NUM’s attempted blackmail. Heath calculated that the government would be able to survive the strike longer than the miners. In December 1973 he announced that from the end of the year ‘most industrial and commercial premises will be limited in the use of electricity to three specified days a week’. The situation could hardly have been more serious. The restrictive measures introduced by the government recalled the austerities of wartime and the late 1940s. Electricity blackouts interfered with industrial production and left ordinary people without light and heating for long periods. Sitting in candlelight and unable to cook, listen to radio or watch television made it difficult for most of the general population to sympathise with the strikers, although support for the strike was understandably strong in the mining communities themselves.
When the miners’ dispute was eventually settled, the NUM gained a 21 per cent wage increase, nearly three times the amount that the employers had originally offered. The strike and its settlement marked a major defeat for Heath and his government. Emboldened by its success, the NUM again went on strike early in 1974 in pursuit of a further wage demand. This was too much for Heath. He called an immediate election on the issue of who ran the country: the miners or the government. The answer of the electorate was to disappoint
Why did Edward Heath lose the 1974 February election - Heaths new approach
Edward Heath’s position in 1970 was similar to Harold Wilson’s six years earlier; he entered office with the aim of following progressive policies. He declared that he was adopting ‘a new style of government’ and that he intended ‘to reduce the rise in prices, increase productivity and reduce unemployment’. Where Heath differed from Wilson was in his intention to break with the consensus that had broadly operated since 1945 in regard to state intervention in economic and social matters. This attitude was summed up in the term ‘Selsdon Man’; it referred to the new type of Conservatism, sometimes called the ‘new right’, that Heath had advocated in the run-up to the 1970 election. At a party strategy conference at Seldon Park, Surrey, in January 1970, the Conservatives had agreed to promote a largely hands-off approach in matters of government direction and to encourage the people to use the new freedom to promote their own interests.
The change of approach was intended to be a liberating form of politics, but the Labour Party was quick to brand it as a return to right-wing reaction. Harold Wilson declared a month later that ‘Selsdon Man is designing a system of society for the ruthless and the pushing, the uncaring. His message to the rest of us is: you’re out on your own.’ An important aspect of Heath’s new approach was his decision to abandon an incomes policy; his government would not seek to impose a wage and salary freeze or interfere with pay settlements. Instead, market forces would be allowed to operate, allowing free bargaining between employers and workers. However, to make such bargaining genuine and fair it was important not to permit the trade unions to have unfair advantages. That was the reasoning behind the introduction of the 1971 Industrial Relations Act by Robert Carr, the minister of labour.
Why did Edward Heath lose the 1974 February election - Heaths U turn
The Labour opposition had even greater opportunity to mock when, within eighteen months of attempting his new style of government, Heath had to turn 180 degrees. Inflation, which had risen to fifteen per cent by the end of 1971, and declining industrial output and unemployment edging towards a million destroyed the government’s confidence that it could continue with its original policy. In 1972, the government announced that in an attempt to counter inflation it was returning to a policy of controlling prices and incomes. By then, it had also abandoned the notion of government non-interference in industrial matters. Contrary to John Davies’ warning that the government would not help lame ducks, the DTI began to do precisely that. One of Britain’s most famous companies, Rolls-Royce, had hit hard times. Its orders were falling and it was haemorrhaging money at an alarming rate. Rather than see the company, which historically was a beacon of British industrial success, go under, the government nationalised it in 1971. It was now to be sustained by government grants.
Subsidies were also granted to other private companies in difficulties, a major one being the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders. The threat that this Scottish company might be forced to close led to a determined resistance from the workers. Fearing that the industrial action, skilfully organised by Communist shop-stewards, might spill over into violence, the government backed down and authorised a subsidy of £34 million to be paid to keep the company going.
But by 1973 the investment the government had made into modernising industry seemed to be working. Unemployment had fallen back to 500,000.
However, this was to change with the oil price crisis of 1973 and the energy crisis that followed.
Why did Edward Heath lose the 1974 February election - Trade Union relations
Having had to abandon his original hands-off policy, Heath now appealed to the unions to cooperate with the government and the CBI in solving their common problems. But it was too late for cooperation; too much had happened.
The unions were suspicious and hostile. They asked the obvious question: why, if the government genuinely wanted partnership, had it introduced the ‘union-bashing’ Industrial Relations Act in the first place?
As soon as the Act had been passed in 1971, the TUC had resisted by formally voting not to cooperate with the government’s measures and calling on the individual unions to refuse to register. The unions responded with a collective rejection of registration. Such solidarity rendered it impossible to enforce or apply the Act. It made Heath and his Cabinet appear both incompetent and unrealistic and encouraged the more combative unions to increase their demands, something that was evident in the number of strikes that marred Heath’s four years in government.
It was the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) that forced the issue. In 1972, in a joint bid to gain a wage increase and to highlight the increasing number of pit closures that threatened its members’ livelihood, the NUM, led by Arthur Scargill, called a strike during which it effectively used flying pickets to prevent the movement of coal. This seriously disrupted fuel and electricity supplies and considerably reduced industrial production.
Key Developments Under Heaths Government - membership of EEC- Advantages and disadvantages of joining
Advantages-
* Gained access to European markets.
* Benefited from the final end of wartime antagonisms.
* As part of a European block, it stood a better chance of attracting global business.
* British regions were entitled to European development grants.
* British workers had the right to work in other EEC countries.
* Greater opportunity of movement for British people within Europe.
Disadvantages-
* Britain was no longer able to buy cheap food from the Commonwealth.
* Britain had to make higher contributions to the EEC budget than it received in grants from Europe.
* The Common Agricultural Policy’s (CAP’s) dear food policy meant higher prices for British consumers.
* The Common Fisheries Policy restricted Britain’s right to fish in its customary grounds.
* Britain had to impose value-added tax (VAT) on most commodities.
* Britain had joined a protectionist organisation that appeared dated in an era of global markets.
Key Developments under Heaths Government - International Oil Price Rise 1973
Heath had hoped that by joining Europe his government would be able to claw back some of the economic ground Britain had lost since 1970. But he was mistaken. Europe did not hold the key to British recovery. By a cruel twist the UK’s entry into the EEC in 1973 coincided with the onset of an international crisis which showed that however Britain and Europe might organise themselves, they were dangerously susceptible to events in the outside world over which they had no control.
Until the early 1970s, large multinational companies had controlled the production and distribution of oil and had provided the Western world with a steady supply of relatively cheap fuel. However, from the early 1960s, OPEC members began to establish greater control over their own oil industries. How strong OPEC had become was shown dramatically in 1973 when its Arab members chose to use oil as a weapon in their long-running conflict with Israel.
In retaliation for the West’s support of Israel in the Arab-Israeli war, fought in October 1973, the Arab members of OPEC drastically reduced their oil supplies to those Western countries which they believed had sided with Israel. At the same time, OPE sharply raised the price of its oil exports. Between 1973 and 1980, the cost of oil increased from $2 to $35 per barrel. The main target was the USA, but all the other Western states whose economies were heavily dependent on oil suffered. It was not simply fuel but all the many oil-based products, such as plastics, that became greatly more expensive. The result was rapid and severe inflation throughout the industrial world. In the decade after 1973, Britain suffered a severe recession.
The economic effects in Britain of the oil price rise
These included:
* The balance of payments deficit rose to £1 billion.
* The annual inflation rate rose to sixteen per cent.
* The value of sterling dropped to $1.57.
* The interest rate was raised to fifteen per cent.
* A record budget deficit occurred.
* Between 1974 and 1976 the unemployment figures more than doubled to 1.44 million and remained high for the rest of the decade. The unemployment statistics illustrate that although the oil crisis began during Heath’s time in office, it was to be the Labour government of 1974-9 that would suffer the full force of these developments.
Edward Heath Fact File
1916- Born the son of a builder
1930s -Travelled in Germany and Spain
1941-5- Served in Royal Artillery
1944- Took part in the Normandy landings
1950-2001- MP
1965-75- First elected leader of the Conservative Party
1970-4 -Prime minister
1971-Oversaw Britain’s adoption of decimal currency
1973- Led Britain into the EEC
1974- Introduced the three-day week
1975-Lost party leadership to Margaret Thatcher
2005- Died
Grammar school educated, Edward Heath was one of the talented young Conservatives who helped regenerate the party in the early 1950s. In 1960 Harold Macmillan gave him the task of negotiating the UK’s entry into the EEC (see page 38). This work became the defining characteristic of his career.
IRA
Irish Republican Army -
split between the Official IRA and the Provisional IRA in 1970. Seek establishment of a republic, end British rule of Northern Ireland and end the reunification of Ireland.
INLA
Irish National Liberation Army - formed out of the IRA in 1974 by members against the ceasefire
UDA
Ulster Defence Association - Parliamentary group, defend loyalists against republicans.
UVF
Ulster Volunteer Force- goal was to combat Irish Republicanism. Loyalist parliamentary group.
UUP
Ulster Unionist Party- wanted to maintain Northern Irelands union with Britain and protect British citizenship of Northern Irelands residents.
The only major unionist party in Northern Ireland until the Troubles; it ruled Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972.
DUP
Democratic Unionist Party- want to defend Britishness and Ulster protestants culture against Irish Nationalism and republicanism. Formed in 1971 by the Reverend Ian Paisley and other Unionists disillusioned with the moderate unionists in the UUP; Paisley remained its leader until 2008.
Alliance
Formed in 1970 to be a moderate unionist party and aimed to gain support from both Catholics and Protestants; over time it has become neutral in its view about the future of Northern Ireland.
Social Democratic Labour Party
Formed in 1970 by nationalists such as John Hume to fight for civil rights for Catholics and a united Ireland but rejecting violent methods.
Sinn Fein
A republican party that dated back to 1905, although in 1970 it spilt; the new Sinn Fein Party supported the Provisional Irish Republican
Army; it was excluded from negotiations
Bloody Sunday
The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association had organised a march to protest against internment. Attempts to control the march resulted in British soldiers firing live ammunition. Twenty-six unarmed civilians were shot, with thirteen being killed on the day. The day became known as Bloody Sunday.
The Widgery Tribunal reported in April 1972 that the army had acted in self-defence but it was widely considered a whitewash. A new enquiry was set up in 1998 by Tony Blair. The Saville Enquiry reported in 2010 and found that the deaths were unjustified and unjustifiable’ and the British government issued an apology.
Ian Paisley
led the loyalist opposition to the Catholic civil rights movement in the 1960s and was involved in setting up paramilitary loyalist organisations. Paisley was an evangelical Protestant, establishing the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster in 1951, and was outspoken in his criticism of Catholics, famously denouncing the Pope as the Antichrist. He was an MP from 1970 to 2010 and an MEP from 1979 until 2004. The DUP was fiercely opposed to any form of power sharing or compromise throughout the Troubles and was initially opposed to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, although Paisley eventually served as first minister of Northern Ireland from 2007 to 2008 under its terms.
John Hume
was involved in the Irish civil rights movement of the 1960s. He co-founded the Social Democratic Labour Party (SDLP) and became its leader in 1979. He was instrumental in working with Sinn Fein to bring about the IRA ceasefires in the 1990s and in bringing Sinn Fein and the British government together for talks. He won the Nobel Peace Prize (jointly with David Trimble) in 1998 for his role in the Good Friday Agreement
Martin McGuinness
was a member of the Provisional IRA in the early 1970s, although he claims to have left the organisation in 1974. He was elected as an MP for Sinn Fein in 1997 (although like all Sinn Fein members he did not take his seat). He was Sinn Fein’s chief negotiator at the talks that led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. He later became deputy first minister in the devolved Northern Irish Assembly after 2007.
**
Timeline of events developing in Ireland
A selection of events from the Troubles, 1970-74:
-Mar 1971
3 British soldiers killed - Provisional IRA thought to be responsible
4000 shipyard workers march to demand internment for IRA leaders
-Aug 1971
300 people interned
-Dec 1971
McGurks bar - 15 killed by UVF bomb
-Jan 1972
Bloody Sunday - 13 killed by British army
-Feb 1972
Aldershot Barracks in England - 7 killed by IRA bomb
-Dec 1972
Irish parliament in Dublin - 2 killed by loyalist bomb
-Dec 1973
Sunningdale Conference
-Feb 1974
M62 army coach - 12 killed by IRA bomb
Domestically:
October 1974
Guildford pub bomb kills 5
November 1974
Birmingham pub bomb kills 19
Heath relationship with the UUP
Edward Heath’s government made strenuous attempts to find a political solution. Since 1912, the Ulster Unionists had always been part of the Conservative and Unionist Party and had tended to support them. At first, Heath backed Brian Faulkner; the UUP (Ulster Unionist Party) leader who led the Belfast government, going along with the policies of imposing night-time curfews and the introduction of internment in 1971. But these were ineffective as security measures and they alienated the nationalist communities - 95 per cent of those interned between 1971 and 1975 were Catholics: Jim McVeigh, an IRA commander, is quoted as saying that internment was, among the best recruiting tools the IRA ever had. These measures meant that the British Army came to be regarded as an enemy occupying power by Catholics and nationalists. The situation was made worse on 30 January 1972 (Bloody Sunday)
Events following Bloody Sunday
Following Bloody Sunday, the British Embassy in Dublin was burned down.
Support for the IRA grew and they were able to raise a lot of funds in the United States. 1972 turned into the bloodiest year of the troubles: there were 1382 explosions, 10,628 shooting incidents and 480 people were killed. Heath suspended the Stormont Parliament in March 1972 and brought in direct rule from Westminster, appointing Willie Whitelaw as secretary of state.
Heaths Policy was not only to try to defeat the IRA, as the unionists and loyalists wanted, but to look for a permanent political solution that would ensure peace. This led to negotiations with the main Northern Irish political parties.
Sunningdale Agreement
In 1973, Heath and Whitelaw negotiated the Sunningdale Agreement, a complex plan for a power-sharing government with the support of the SDLP and the Alliance and the leadership of the UUP. However the SDLP and the Alliance, both loyalists and republicans were opposed and the UUP were turning against it.
The Sunningdale Agreement was named after the hotel in Berkshire where the negotiations took place.
It proposed:
* a power-sharing Executive of both nationalists and unionists - both sides would be guaranteed representation
* a new Northern Ireland Assembly elected under a system of proportional representation
* a Council of Ireland that would have some input from the Republic of Ireland.
Extremists, both Republicans and loyalists, denounced Sunningdale denounced Sunningdale as a sell-out. Both the UVF and UDA were opposed. The UUP then voted to pull out in January 1974 and Brian Faulkner, the head of the Executive, was replaced as leader of the UUP by Harry West who was opposed to the agreement. Even worse, the prospects of a settlement were further undermined by the problems that were on edition mainland Britain, the miners strike and the February 1974 general election. Those parties opposed to Sunningdale put up a single candidate in each constituency in Northern Ireland. In contrast, the pro-Sunningdale votes were split. Eleven of the twelve constituencies returned candidates that opposed the agreement. Moreover, concern about the Sunningdale Agreement meant that the Conservative Party could not rely on the support of the UUP, as might have been expected, preventing the Conservatives from continuing in government.
Problems in 1974
When the Labour government came back into power in March 1974, Harold Wilson found himself in a much less promising position than he had been in 1964. The economic situation was awful: inflation was at 15 per cent and the balance of payment deficit was £3 billion. The trade unions would need to be dealt with; the Northern Ireland situation was precarious. The Labour Party was less united than ever and Wilson himself was older and less energetic. In addition, as a minority government Labour had to depend on support from other parties to get legislation through Parliament.
But by October 1974, Wilson felt safe enough to call a new election. Voters still associated Heath and the Conservatives with the three-day week and conflict with the miners. Wilson won his majority, but only just. Labour gained 18 seats. The Conservatives lost 21. Labour had 42 more seats than the Conservatives but their overall majority was only 3.
Industrial relations, 1974-76 - Policies and Actions taken
When Labour came into government, Wilson acted quickly. He wanted to demonstrate that the Labour Party was better equipped than the Conservatives to work with the trade unions. In 1973, while in opposition, he had negotiated the Social Contract with the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
The trade unions were sent a clear message that the government was not looking for any confrontations.
Industrial relations, 1974-76 -Success?
Agreement was quickly reached with the National Union of Miners (NUM) allowing Wilson to end the state of emergency and the three-day week. Two left-wingers, Tony Benn and Michael Foot, were put in charge of the departments of Industry and of Employment. Wilson’s new chancellor, Denis Healey, issued two budgets, first in March and then in July, both aiming to deal with the economic crisis without annoying the unions.
Economic Reform, 1974-76 - Policies and Actions taken
The first major problem was a surge in inflation due to the rush of large wage increases that were deemed necessary to get out of the industrial crisis that had brought down Heath. In January 1975, Chancellor Denis Healey made a speech in Leeds, giving a stern warning of the dangers: that wage inflation caused unemployment and that it was vital to control public spending. In April 1975, Healey’s budget imposed steep rises in taxation, and public spending was cut.
The National Enterprise Board (NEB) was also set up in 1974 under Tony Benn to administer the government’s share holdings in private companies. It could also give financial aid.
Economic Reform, 1974-76 - Success?
While the NEB’s aim was to increase investment, by 1975 its effectiveness was being questioned. The government’s decision to nationalise the failing car manufacturer British Leyland caused renewed controversy about the role of government in rescuing lame-duck industries.
It was also becoming apparent that the Social Contract was not limiting wage demands. By 1975 a more formal pay restraint policy was introduced. These shifts in policy intensified party divisions. Left-wingers like Michael Foot and Tony Benn did not want to put so much pressure on the unions and they also believed in more, not less, State intervention in industry.
In March 1976, Harold Wilson suddenly resigned as leader of the Labour Party.
Callaghans Premiership, 1976-79
Wilsons successor as prime ministe was James Callaghan, a ‘safe’ pair of hands with long experience and good links to the unions. Callaghan was seen as an ideal leader to maintain party unity.
This was not easy because the government faced difficult problems over the economy. Throughout 1976 the poor balance of payments was putting pressure on sterling and there were concerns that Britain did not have enough reserves of currency to support it.
Devolution
By 1977 the Labour majority in the House of Commons had disappeared so Callaghan strengthened the government by making the ‘Lib-Lab pact. In this way he was able to defeat a vote of no confidence tabled by the Conservative Party. This deal meant that the 12 Liberal MPs agreed to vote with the government in Parliament and in return Callaghan promised to move ahead with devolution for Wales and Scotland.
Nationalists in Scotland and Wales, who had been growing in strength since the late 1960s, welcomed this opportunity but the majority of MPs in the Conservative Party and many within the Labour Party were against any form of devolution. There were lengthy debates in Parliament but eventually in 1978 devolution Acts for Scotland and Wales were passed opening the way for referendums. Nevertheless the terms of the referendum wereset up in order to make it unlikely that devolution would pass. A Labour MP opposed to devolution inserted a clause that at least 40 per cent of the electorate oad to approve of devolution in order for it to pass.
The referendums were held on 1 March 1979. The vote in Wales was conclusively against devolution. In Scotland, more people voted in favour of devolution than against it, but the rules stating that a simple majority was not enough meant that devolution was defeated. The disappointed Scottish nationalist MPs withdrew their support from the Labour Party. This was to prove decisive in the aftermath of the events of the winter of 1978 to 1979.
IMF
In September 1976 Callaghan gave a speech to the Labour Party conference where he warned the party that the ‘cosy world’ whereby the government could ensure full employment was gone. Productivity would need to improve to avoid what he called ‘the twin evils’ of unemployment and inflation. He argued that governments of the previous 20 years had failed to sort out this problem. This Seemed to be a criticism of both previous Labour and Conservative governments.
This speech was made to help prepare the Labour Party for the fact that the government was planning to apply for an emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It was anxious that there might be a run on the pound.
In December the chancellor, Denis Healey, received a loan of £3 billion. In return, the government had to make big spending cuts.
In fact the economic situation was not as dire as the Labour government had feared. Callaghan handled the IMF crisis well and the economy recovered, but it reinforced the image of Britain as being in economic decline. The Conservatives denounced this as a national humiliation. The left wing of the Labour Party saw it as a betrayal, caving in to international financiers.
Although Callaghan maintained unity among Labour MPs, there was a growth of leftist militancy in some public-sector trade unions and in local councils.
However, the economic situation did begin to improve as North Sea oil came on stream. By 1978, there were nine oilfields in production. Inflation rates fell to 10 per cent. Unemployment at 1.6 million was still considered high but had started to fall and the number of days lost to industrial disputes had fallen to a ten-year low.
The winter of discontent
In the autumn of 1978 the TUC rejected the Labour government’s proposed wage increase limit of 5 per cent. This encouraged trade unions to put in higher demands. Ford lorry drivers achieved a 15 per cent increase in December after a nine-week strike. More unions followed their example.
The wave of industrial action included disruption to transport, through strikes by lorry drivers and the train drivers’ union ASLEF. There was also shock and outrage in reaction to strikes by public sector workers, such as hospital porters and clerical staff in local councils and, above all, by dustmen and gravediggers.
The industrial unrest that gripped Britain in the winter of 1978 to 1979 was not on a massive scale and it was not as serious a challenge to the government as the miners’ strike of 1974. The disputes were only brought to an end in March 1979 and the average pay increase achieved was 10 per cent but the psychological effect of the winter of discontent had a devastating impact on the public mood.
1979 general election
At the 1978 Labour Party conference, Jim Callaghan teased the delegates about the timing of the election. In the event, he decided to wait. This turned out to be a mistake. By the spring of 1979, the political landscape had been reshaped by the winter of discontent. The economic situation had deteriorated and the reputation of the trade unions had been damaged; even many skilled and unskilled workers began to consider voting Conservative.
Then, in March 1979, the government lost a vote of no confidence in Parliament, on the issue of Scottish devolution. The government was forced to resign, the first time since 1924 that a government was brought down by a confidence vote.
The images of the winter of discontent’ dominated the media and the press for weeks on end. Most of the press, including The Times, The Sun, the Mail and the Express, were supporting the Conservatives. The Conservatives were able to fight the campaign mostly by hammering away at the unpopularity of the government, especially on the issues of unemployment, law and order, and the excessive power of the unions. In fact, many of the strikes in 1979 showed the weakness of the old union leaderships and their failure to control the new militancy of their workers.
Even with all these problems for Labour, the outcome of the election was not a foregone conclusion. The Labour vote actually held up quite well, dipping by 3 per cent overall. However, the Conservatives benefited from a sharp drop in support for the Liberals and for the Scottish Nationalist Party.
The result was by no means a landslide, but produced a comfortable working majority of 43 for the Conservatives.
Seats:
269 seats - Labour
339 seats - conservatives
11 seats - Liberal
16 seats - other
% votes:
43.9% - conservative
36.9% - labour
13.8% - Liberal
5.4% - other
The Economy 1974- 79
Weekly earnings- change in %
74: +17
79: +18
Retail Prices- change in %
74: +16
79: +13
Average % of workforce unemployed
74: 2.6
79: 5.1
Working days lost in strikes in millions
74: 14.75
79: 31.19
GDP change in %
74: +0.2
79: +2.2
Balance of payments
74: -£3565 million
79: -£902 million
Problems in Northern Ireland 1974
As well as the economic, political and industrial problems that the Wilson government inherited in 1974, the Northern Irish Troubles were continuing.
Although the Heath government had negotiated the Sunningdale Agreement with the UUP, the SDLP and the Alliance, both loyalists and republicans were opposed and the UUP were turning against it.
The Ulster Workers’ Council was set up by a shipyard worker, Harry Murray, and it was determined to bring down the Executive. They announced a strike to start on 15 May 1974. The strike severely limited power and telecommunications and the British government declared a state of emergency.
Within a fortnight Faulkner resigned as the chief executive of the power-sharing Executive. Wilson was forced to reimpose direct rule. The Sunningdale Agreement had collapsed.
The Troubles continued. Wilson announced the establishment of a Northern Irish Constitution Convention, an elected body that would determine the future of government in Northern Ireland.
The elections in July 1975 resulted in a majority for unionists who were opposed to any form of power sharing. An agreement with nationalists would not be possible. The convention was dissolved in 1976.
Problems in Northern Ireland 1974 - Dirty protests and Blanket protests
From 1976 Special Category Status was removed from terrorist prisoners; this meant they were no longer considered political prisoners but would be treated as criminals. This was disliked by paramilitaries, who believed that they were engaged in a war. As criminals they had to wear the prison uniform.
Their refusal led to what became known as the blanket protest’ by INLA and IRA prisoners whereby prisoners were either naked or wore only blankets.
This escalated to become the Dirty Protest’ after 1978. Republican prisoners, alleging ill treatment by prison guards, refused to leave their cells. This meant they were unable to ‘slop out’ and instead they smeared excrement on their cell walls. By 1979 over 250 prisoners were taking part in the protest and demands were growing for them to regain their political status.
Society in 1970s- change timeline
1970- Equal Pay Act
1971- Birth Control Pill available on the NHS
1975- Equal Pay Act comes into force
1975- Employment protection act passed
1975- Sex Discrimination Act passed
1976- Domestic violence act
1977- International Women’s Day established by the UN
1979- TUC publishes Equality for Women within Trade Unions
Society in the 1970s - Progress of feminism
The 1970s saw the high point of second- wave feminism which had developed in the 1960s and in some ways saw the fruition of changes that had started then. This was a movement that had support across world as can be seen in the inaguration of International Womens Day by the United Nations in 1977. Following the initial Women’s Liberation meeting in 1970, Women’s Liberation groups sprang up all over the country aiming to give support to women. Women’s Lib organisations disrupted the 1970 Miss World Contest held in November because they felt that it objectified women. The host, Bob Hope, was heckled and protesters threw stink and smoke bombs onto the stage. Women’s Lib also organised demonstrations in both London and Liverpool in March 1971, demanding equal pay for women and free 24-hour nurseries.
However, feminism was also split between different ideologies. Radical feminists, who were sometimes also separatists, believed that women were oppressed by the patriarchal society and campaigned particularly on issues such as reproductive rights. Socialist feminists identified a clearer class dimension to women’s equality and campaigned on issues that would enable women to achieve financial independence.
Progress was made in advancing reproductive rights. Although the birth control pill had been available in the 1960s its use became much more widespread once it was available through the NHS in 1971. Attempts were also made to tackle violence against women. The first rape crisis centre opened in London in 1976 and also in 1976 the Domestic Violence Act made it possible for women to take out court orders restraining violent partners. A year later, Reclaim the Night marches were held in cities across Britain in response to the murders of the Yorkshire Ripper.
Society 1970s - The sex discrimination act
The Sex Discrimination Act was passed in 1975. It was passed to end discrimination against men or women on the basis of their gender or their marital status. It also aimed to ensure equality of opportunity in the fields of employment and education and to outlaw harassment.
The Act also set up the Equality Opportunities Commission. This was set up to oversee both the Sex Discrimination Act and the Equal Pay Act. It could bring court proceedings against any party it judged not to be compliant with these Acts. However, the Equality Opportunities Commission only launched nine investigations in eight years between 1976 and 1983 and only ten per cent of sex discrimination claims in the workplace were successful as it was so difficult to prove.
But women’s economic position did start to improve during the 1970s.
From 1971 women were able to take out a mortgage without a male guarantor. The Equal Pay Act which had been passed in 1970 came into force in 1975. In the same year Barbara Castle steered through reforms to the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme with the Social Security Pensions Act; this became more generous to women whose contributions had been limited by caring responsibilities. The Employment Protection Act 1975 introduced paid maternity leave and outlawed dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy.
However, there continued to be inequalities. Trade unions still tended to be dominated by men and suspicions remained that women in the workplace would suppress wages for men. It was not until 1979 that the TUC published a charter, Equality for Women within Trade Unions. Furthermore, the Equal Pay Act did not solve all the concerns that women were not treated equally; employers could get around it by making the tasks slightly different and therefore not comparable. Nevertheless women’s wages did go up from 59 per cent of men’s wages in 1970 to 70 per cent by 1977.
Immigration Act 1971
Immigration continued to be a source of social concern. In 1971 the Conservative government passed the Immigration Act which restricted the right of people from the New Commonwealth from coming to Britain; they would need to have a guaranteed job and have at least one grandparent born in Britain.
There remained a steady flow of immigrants from the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) and events abroad often caused sudden
influxes. In the early 1970s, the dictator of Uganda, Idi Amin, persecuted and then expelled the Ugandan Asians. Many of those affected had British passports, having moved from India to Uganda when India was still a British colony. These made exceptions from the Immigration Act and Heath set up a resettlement board: 28,000 arrived in Britain. Similarity, there was also a sudden rush of immigrants from Bangladesh after its breakaway from Pakistan in 1974.
By 1974 over 1 million New Commonwealth immigrants had come to Britain: 325,00 from the West Indies, 435,000 from India and Pakistan 150,00 from Africa.
These immigrants tended to settle in the same areas where there were already cultural and familial networks. However despite this political representation in these areas remained limited. For example in the London Borough council elections only 10 non-white councillors were elected ; by 1978 this had gone up to 35 but this did not reflect the size of the immigrant population.
Despite strict immigration rules, race relations continued to be an issue.
In 1976 the Labour government passed another Race Relations Act to try and tackle discrimination on the basis of race. It established the Commission for Racial Equality which had the power to instigate investigations and to compel witnesses to appear in front of it.
The National Front 1970-79
The national front were a political party founded in 1967 by John Tyndall to oppose non-white immigration.
The National Front became very active in parts of London where
immigrants had settled, such as Brick Lane and Southall. Although it never won any elections, its popularity grew in the 1970s and it had up to 20,000 members by 1976. In February 1974 it put up 90 candidates in the general election and by 1977 it was being described as Britain’s fourth largest political party.
The growth of the National Front that seemed to indicate ongoing concern over immigration produced a response by the main political parties. By the late 1970s, the Conservative Party announced that they would toughen up immigration policy even further in order to limit the number of immigrants coming into Britain.
One strategy of the National Front was to hold marches and demonstrations particularly in areas where there were high levels of immigrants living. These were considered provocative and were often marked by violence. The Trades Council of East London gave details of over 100 incidents including 2 murders between January 1976 and August 1978 and assaults on, and robberies of, Asians and Afro-Caribbean rose by a third. The pressure group, the Anti- Nazi league, was set up in 1977, in part to combat this.
Violence against ethnic minorities 1970-79
Some skinheads were attracted by National Front ideas. They were often behind violent attacks on people from other ethnic backgrounds, what
was sometimes called Paki-bashing. However, other young people fought
against racist attitudes. Rock Against Racism started in 1976 as a reaction to comments made by the rock guitarist Eric Clapton in support of Enoch Powell. A huge demonstration and concert held in Trafalgar Square in April 1978 attracted 100,000 people. The concert was headlined by The Clash who drew on reggae and ska influences as well as punk rock.
There was also distrust regarding the police’s treatment of ethnic minorities. In 1976 there were only 70 police officers with a black or ethnic minority background in the Metropolitan Police out of a total workforce of 22,000. Young black people often felt that the police were harassing them unnecessarily. Tensions were often apparent at events like the Notting Hill Carnival. In 1976 this hostility erupted into a riot where over 300 people were injured and following this there were calls to ban the event.
Suspicions regarding police attitudes were highlighted by events such as the death of Blair Peach in 1979. Blair Peach was a teacher and Anti-Nazi League supporter who was killed when a demonstration was blocked by police; it was alleged that he was struck on the head by a police truncheon. The Metropolitan Police finally admitted responsibility for his death in 2010.
Both progress in race relations and ongoing racism were also visible in popular culture. Black footballers such as Justin Fashanu and John Barnes became increasingly common on the pitch and in 1978 Viv Anderson became the first black player to be picked for the England team. Reggae and ska music became increasingly popular. Local authorities began to follow multiculturalist policies. These sought to recognise and respect the different cultures of different ethnicities equally.
However, football terraces were also scenes of overt racism with fans making monkey noises and throwing banana skins at black players.
Comedians still felt able to make racist jokes; The Black and White Minstrel Show, in which white actors blacked up, continued to be made until 1978. By 1980 the Commission for Racial Equality was warning: Racial prejudice is still rife, and so is racial discrimination, while the response of the Government has been disappointingly inadequate.
Youth Culture 1970-79
Youth culture in the 1970s continued to cause concerns for older generations.
In many ways youth subcultures reflected the social, political and economic battles going on elsewhere.
In 1975 to 1976 the punk movement started. It was influenced by bands from the United States such as the New York Dolls who rejected commercialism.
British bands like the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned and the Buzzcocks played loud, fast guitar music where the words were often shouted over the top of the music. Much of the punk philosophy was nihilistic. It rejected the hippy culture that had gone before and embraced a DIY attitude - being able to play musical instruments was less important than the attitude. The lyrics reflected the social alienation that many young people felt.
The image of punks was also designed to be shocking. Punks wore bondage gear, safety pins and ripped t-shirts and had spikey hair. Vivienne Westwood anc Malcolm Mclaren opened a boutique called SEX on the Kings Road in Chelsea, which sold these items and was extemely infuential on the punk image. At punk concerts both performers and audience spat at each other, and there were often violent scuffles. Punk created a moral panic. The Sex pistols, managed by Malcolm Mclaren and fronted by Johnny Rotten, swore live on TV; newspaper headlines such as ‘The Filth and the Fury’ and ‘TV Fury over Rock Cult Filth’ followed. The Sex Pistols also released a controversial single, ‘God save the Queen’, during the Queens silver Jubilee year, 1977. The BBC refused to play it but it reached number two in the charts.
Skinheads had developed from Mod culture at the end of the 1960s. They tended to be working class and were initially influenced by Jamaican music and culture. Although many skinheads were apolitical, by the end of the 1970s some skinheads were becoming increasingly linked to the National Front and football hooliganism.
Football hooliganism was already a growing problem at the beginning of the 1970s but it gradually worsened over the decade. Organised hooligan groups were set up linked to particular football clubs, such as the Chelsea Headhunters, and scenes of violence became so common that football hooliganism became known as ‘the English disease.
Environmentalism 1970-79
Environmentalism as a political philosophy covers a multitude of topics connected by their impact on the planet: industrial pollution, protection of wildlife, organic farming, and the dangers from radiation and nuclear waste.
Pictures taken of the earth from space had a big impact on people’s views of the planet as they highlighted the earth’s fragility. A new word, ‘ecology, entered the vocabulary, defining the health of the satural ervinment. It drew on a number of issues that had emerged in the 1960s but by the 1970s had gained enough potency to impact more greatly on the public consciousness.
These ideas also drew on the counterculture of the 1970s that had rejected consumerism and commercialisation, and on emerging fears of a downside to what had been perceived as scientific progress.
1970 was announced to be the year of European conservation and in the early
1970s, disparate environmental concerns began to coalesce into organised campaigns. The environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth was formed in the United States in 1969 and expanded to include Britain, France and Sweden in 1971.
Whereas the original drive behind CND had been protest against atomic weapons, a new form of anti-nuclear protest campaigned against 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.
Between 1957 and 1979 there had been five incidents at the nuclear power station Sellafield which was on the Cumbrian coast. The partial nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island, New York in 1979 further increased anxieties.
Direct action was an issue that split the environmental movement.
The radical organisation Greenpeace was founded in Vancouver, Canada in 1971, to campaign against whaling. Greenpeace UK was formed in
1977. There was outrage in 1975 when it was discovered that beagles in laboratories were being forced to smoke 30 cigarettes a day to study the effects. Animal rights protesters carried out violent attacks on pharmaceutical laboratories from 1973. The Animal Liberation Front, formed in 1976, adopted extreme violence: letter bombs were sent to politicians, including Thatcher, in 1984.
Alongside environmental pressure groups, there was a general increase in Interest in the natural enviroment and the need for conservation. Television
programme, many made at the BBC natural History Unit in Britol,did a lot to raise awareness. In 1979, David Attenborough’s Life On Earth, used new techniques of colour photography and gained massive television audiences worldwide. In the same year, the British thinker James Lovelock gained many adherents for his Gaia theory, about the interconnectedness of all ecological issues. Environmental concerns were also reflected in popular culture. The book Watership Down, about a group of rabbits forced to move by a road development, was published in 1972 and became a bestseller. A sitcom comedy, The Good Line, which started airing in 1975, depicted a couple trying to be self-sufficient in a suburban house.
Teddy Goldsmith published A Blueprint for Survival in 1972 which advocated a return to self-sufficiency and a de-industrialised society. This formed the political platform of The People’s Party which was set up in 1973.
The Peoples Party put up 5 candidates in February 1974, including Goldsmith.
It changed its name to the Ecology Party in 1975 and put up 53 candidates in the 1979 general election. By the end of the 1970s, environmentalism had carved a permanent place on the political scene.
Britain application to EEC- Entry
In 1973, and at the third time of asking, Britain finally joined the European Economic Community (EEC). However, the debate was far from over.
Both the Labour and Conservative parties remained divided on the issue throughout the 1970s.
By the time Britain’s third application to join the EEC was being prepared in 1971, the situation was very clear. Everyone knew in advance that Britains bid was likely to be accepted.
Instead of Harold Wilson, who was uncommitted to European membership and worried about maintaining unity within the Labour Party, the British prime minister was the passionately pro-European Edward Heath. Heathis first speech in Parliament had been about the Schuman Plan, the forerunner to the EEC. As a student he had visited Germany in the 1930s and been appalled by the Nazi government; he saw European cooperation as key to preventing any repetition.
Instead of Charles de Gaulle, the French president who was suspicious of Britain’s links with the United States, France was led by Georges Pompidou, a man convinced that the EBC needed Britain as much as Britain needed Europe. In addition, all the hard, detailed arrangements and exceptions were already in place, as a result of the work done in 1962 by Heathis team of negotiators. The formal process of Britain’s accession, along with Ireland and Denmark, took more than two years but it was mostly a foregone conclusion.
The bigger issue was gaining parliamentary approval in Britain. There were doubters in the Conservative Party, partly from those who believed strongly in the Commonwealth and also from those who believed that Britain would be surrendering her sovereignty. One of the most vociferous critics was Enoch Powell. His relationship with Heath was already very poor in the aftermath of the rivers of blood’ speech.
Powell voted against the passage of the European bill through Parliament at every single stage. He believed that Heath had betrayed the country by signing the treaty before it had been debated in Parliament. He refused to stand as a Conservative candidate in the February 1974 election and even called on his supporters to vote Labour.
EEC- divisions in Labour
The Labour Party was even more badly divided on the issue of Europe. There were some who were committed pro-Europeans, such as Roy Jenkins, but the Labour Left was mostly hostile. Wilson himself was neither strongly for nor against membership and he continued to be obsessed with ensuring party unity - a difficult task on this issue.
The Labour Party officially opposed Heath’s plans when they came to Parliament. However, the Labour Party could not argue against joining on principle as there were too many pro-Europeans in the party. Instead Wilson argued that the terms offered were not good enough. Even this compromise didn’t satisfy everyone. In the end Wilson could only keep the party together by promising a re-negotiation and national referendum - an idea of Tony Benn’s - as and when Labour came back to power. In the end, 69 rebel Labour MPs helped the Conservative government to win the decisive Commons vote with 20 more abstaining. In January 1973, “The Six’ became “The Nine.
Heath’s persistence and commitment had at last brought Britain into Europe but the likelihood of a referendum in the future meant that there was still uncertainty. Others feared that Britain’s membership was 16 years too late and Britain would suffer adversely from missing out on the formative years of the EEC since 1957.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Britain joining EEC
Advantages:
- Gained access to European markets.
- British regions were entitled to European development grants.
- Benefited from the final end of wartime
- British workers had the right to work in other
antagonisms.
EEC countries. - As part of a European block, it stood a better chance of attracting global business.
- Greater opportunity of movement for British people within Europe.
Disadvantages:
- Britain was no longer able to buy cheap food from the Commonwealth.
- At the time of entry, Britain was classified as an advanced industrial economy. This meant that it had to make higher contributions to the EEC budget than it received in grants from Europe.
By the early 1980s Britain was paying twenty per cent of the revenue raised by the EEC but was receiving only eight per cent of the expenditure. - The European policy of supporting farmers meant that British consumers found themselves paying inflated prices.
- The Common Fisheries Policy severely restricted Britain’s right to fish in its customary grounds and led to a significant reduction in its fishing industry.
- As a condition of entry, Britain had to impose a value-added tax (VAT) on most of the commodities which British consumers bought; VAT began in 1973 at eight per cent.
- In entering the EEC, Britain had joined a protectionist organisation that was already beginning to look dated now that the world was entering into the era of global markets.
Weakness of Britains Bargaining position
The Six knew that, notwithstanding Heath’s personal ambitions, Britain had sought membership because it judged it could not survive economically on its own. This remains a highly controversial viewpoint. There are those who now argue that membership of the EEC, far from helping Britain, proved to be a brake on its progress. But, at the time, the majority view prevailing in government circles, though not in the Conservative or Labour parties, was that Britain could not afford to remain outside.
Britain could not negotiate from a position of strength in 1972. It had had no say in the setting up of EEC and, understandably, the existing members were not going to allow Britain as a late-comer to change the workings of the system they had created. One of the most significant EEC demands that Britain accepted was that Commonwealth food and goods would no longer enter Britain on preferential terms. Produce, for example, from Australia and New Zealand now had a European tariff placed on it that made it decreasingly profitable for those countries to sell to Britain or beneficial to Britain to buy from them.
It was true the EEC did permit a transition stage so that Britain and the Commonwealth countries could adjust to these changes, but the position was now clear. Britain had sacrificed its economic ties with the Commonwealth.
There is a strong argument for regarding Britain’s accession into Europe as an irreversible moment. Britain seemed resigned to the fact that it was a declining economic force whose only chance of survival was as a member of a protectionist European organisation.
The European referendum - yes campaigners
When the Labour Party returned to government in 1974, Wilson’s main aim was party unity. This was demonstrated in the referendum campaign of 1975.
Wilson’s strategy was to allow his anti-European cabinet colleagues to campaign according to their own views, rather than trying to enforce a party line. Wilson and Callaghan argued that they themselves were neutral.
By 1975, voter support for Britain staying in the EEC was much stronger than before. The economic mess the country was in seemed to prove Britain needed to be in for its own economic survival. Most of the press was strongly in favour. The “Yes’ campaign was well financed by business supporters; a survey in 1975 found that of 419 company chairmen, only 4 wanted to leave the EEC. The politicians at the head of the “Yes’ campaign included most of the cabinet led by Roy Jenkins, plus Edward Heath and most senior Conservatives, and also the Liberal leader, Jeremy Thorpe. They therefore made a bigger impression on public opinion than those on the other side.
The European referendum - no campaigners
The Nơ campaigners fell into two main categories. There were those who argued that it would be bad for British workers - these included Barbara Castle and Michael Foot, both from the Left of the Labour Party. There were also those who were against membership on the basis that Britain would lose its independence.
These included Tony Benn from the Labour Party, as well as Enoch Powell, formerly of the Conservative Party but now a UUP MP, and Ian Paisley of the DUP.
The European referendum - the result
The question asked in the referendum was: ‘Do you think that the United Kingdom should stay in the European Community (the Common Market)?”
17 million (68.3 per cent) voted yes in July 1975; 8 million (32.5 per cent) voted ‘no. Britain’s membership was confirmed.
The margin of victory was decisive, by more than two to one. This looked reassuring, proof that Britain really was ‘in, but the fact that the referendum was held at all could be seen as a worrying sign of a lack of commitment. For Wilson personally though, the referendum was a triumph; he had successfully avoided a Labour split.
After the referendum the European issue quietened. Roy Jenkins, one of the key Labour supporters of membership, left Parliament to become a European commissioner. The Labour Party was increasingly anti-European and those Conservatives who were opposed to the increasing influence of Europe had not changed their opinions; but the people had voted to stay in so the debate was closed for the time being.
Heaths special relationship with the USA
Because Edward Heath’s approach was orientated towards Europe he was less inclined to strengthen the Atlantic Alliance. He rejected attempts by the United States’ secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, to use Britain as a link with Europe and insisted that the United States should negotiate with the European Community as a whole, rather than using Britain as a go-between.
Kissinger commented that Heath dealt with us with an unsentimentality totally at variance with “the special relationship”. However, Heath personally got on with the US president, Richard Nixon, and he was more forthright in his support for the United States’ policy in Vietnam than Harold Wilson had been.
State of the Special relationship with the USA
Because Edward Heath’s approach was orientated towards Europe he was less inclined to strengthen the Atlantic Alliance. He rejected attempts by the United States’ secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, to use Britain as a link with Europe and insisted that the United States should negotiate with the European Community as a whole, rather than using Britain as a go-between.
Kissinger commented that Heath dealt with us with an unsentimentality totally at variance with “the special relationship”. However, Heath personally got on with the US president, Richard Nixon, and he was more forthright in his support for the United States’ policy in Vietnam than Harold Wilson had been.
But relations between Britian and the US worsenend in October 1973 during the Yom Kippur War. The US wanted to use NATO bases in Europe for an airlift of supplies to Israel. Most European states, including Britain, refused permission: this was because they feared that supplies of oil from the Middle East would be put at risk. This put Anglo-American relations under great strain.
Wilson and Callaghan were both still keen on the Atlantic alliance. Callaghan forged a strong personal relationship with Kissinger and negotiated the replacement of Polaris nuclear missiles with Trident in 1979 with President Jimmy Carter. Nevertheless, they completed the withdrawal from East of Suez that had been started in the 1960s despite US disquiet.
Attitudes to the USSR and China
One of the reasons that Britain and the United States continued to work together in the 1970s, despite disagreements, is that they continued to share the foreign policy objective of holding back communism.
The USSR and China were the most powerful communist nations in the world. The context of the ongoing Cold War meant that relations between Britain and these countries had been based on suspicion, bordering on hostility.
However, in the 1970s the United States relationship with both the USSR and China improved - and in both cases Britain followed the United States’ lead.
USSR:
During the 1970s there was what was called a détente. After the tension of the Cuban Missile Crisis, successive presidents of the US and the USSR tried to prevent such a situation recurring by establishing direct contact. This led to meetings and eventually agreement to limit the build-up of arms.
Nevertheless, an underlying tension remained as there were still fears about the USSRs influence in Eastern Europe. This was demonstrated by the Georgi Markov affair: Markov was a Bulgarian who defected to the West in 1969 and was outspoken in his criticism of the Bulgarian communist regime. He was assassinated in London in 1978, supposedly by a poisonous pellet fired from an umbrella; the Russian secret service, the KGB, were suspected of being behind it though this was never proven.
China:
Up until the early 1970a relationships between China and Britain, the United States and Western Europe were strained.
This changed suddenly in July 1971 when Nixon surprisingly announced a thawing of relations followed by a visit to China in February 1972 where he held meetings with the Chinese leader Mao Zedong.
In March, Britain followed suit, agreeing an exchange of ambassadors with China. Edward Heath made many visits to China from 1974 onwards, and was awarded the title of ‘People’s Friendship Envoy’, the highest possible honour given by the Chinese to a foreigner. By the end of the decade, improved relations meant that in October 1979, the Premier Hua Guoleng
visited Britain as part of a European tour; this was the first visit to Britain by a Chinese leader since the communist revolution.
