WILSON 1964-70 CHAPTER 6

Question 1

Jenkins became home secretary in 1965 - a position to influence society.
Society had already undergone considerable change since the 1950s but changes in the

what were needed?

Answer 1

law were needed if personal freedom was allowed to develop further.

Question 2

PRIVATE MEMBERS’ BILLS

The labour government did not set out with a liberalising agenda - the manifesto

Answer 2

made no mention of moral issues.
(Wilson and Brown were conservative on moral issues and many working-class labour MPs remained suspicious of change.)

Question 3

PRIVATE MEMBERS’ BILLS

labour MPs remained suspicious of change.
Laws on moral questions are usually free votes – individual MPs vote according to their own conscience.
Although the vast majority of proposed legislation passing through government is through government bills, there is also provision for

who

Answer 3

backbench MPs to propose legislation through private members’ bills.

Question 4

PRIVATE MEMBERS’ BILLS

1960s saw backbench MPs bring forward a number of reforms through this mechanism.
They were successful because?

Answer 4

Jenkins was sympathetic and enabled enough parliamentary time to be available for the reforms to be passed.

Question 5

THE END OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

what happened in 50s, 55 and 57 regarding this issue?

Answer 5

1950s - arguments against the abolition of the death penalty advanced although public opinion remained divided.
1955 - anti hanging campaign receives a boost from the case of Ruth Ellis, a young mother convicted of murdering her abusive boyfriend.
1957 - conservatives reduced the number of offences carrying the death penalty.

Question 6

THE END OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

• The labour backbencher Silverman campaigned to win support for total abolition.
  in 1965…

think hanging

Answer 6

hanging abolished for a trial period of 5 years on a free vote and made permanent in 1969.

Question 7

THE END OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

• Jenkins refused to authorise the beating of prisoners which ceased after 1967 and brought in majority verdicts for English juries rather than unanimity - which made it so

Answer 7

instead of all 12 jurors having to agree on the verdict, majority allowed a decision could be reached if at least 10 agreed.
This helped convict many dangerous criminals.

Question 8

THE END OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

the downside of the abolition of hanging was that it

Answer 8

did not significantly reduce the number of murders or violent crimes as its supporters had hoped.

Question 9

DIVORCE REFORM

Until the 1960s, divorce law demanded evidence that one party had committed adultery.
Jenkins believed the laws were out of date and passed the Divorce Reform Act in

Answer 9

1969.

Question 10

DIVORCE REFORM

This allowed couples to divorce if:

Answer 10

• They had lived apart for 2 years and both agreed to a divorce.
• They had lived apart for 5 years and one wanted a divorce.

However, not all MPs were in favour.

Question 11

DIVORCE REFORM

Following the reform there was a huge increase in the number of divorces:

Answer 11

• In 1950 there had been fewer than 2 divorces per 1000 married couples.
• By mid 1970s nearly 10 in every 1000 marriages ended in divorce.

This could be explained by growing female independence, but the act did play a major role.

Question 12

THE LEGALISATION OF ABORTION

• Until 1967 abortion, except strictly on medical grounds, was

Answer 12

illegal.

Question 13

THE LEGALISATION OF ABORTION

• The only way was to find private clinics or search for a backstreet abortionist.
  how many abortions were perfomed every year

Answer 13

• Between 100,000 – 200,000 illegal abortions were performed each year.

Question 14

THE LEGALISATION OF ABORTION

• Around 35000 women were admitted to hospital with complications as a result.
  how many women died?

Answer 14

• Between 1958-60, 82 women died after backstreet abortions.

Question 15

THE LEGALISATION OF ABORTION

The abortion law reform association had campaigned for a reform from 1945, but it was the thalidomide disaster of 1959-62 that swayed public opinion:

what was it?

Answer 15

1960s - thalidomide was a drug prescribed to pregnant women to help with morning sickness. It was found to produce deformities in children when it was taken early in the pregnancy – children were commonly born without the long bones in the arms or legs. Because of this, opinion polls showed a majority in favour of allowing abortion when an abnormality had been detected in the fetus.

Question 16

THE LEGALISATION OF ABORTION

• However, not everyone was convinced. The society for the protection of the child was set up in 1966 to

purpose?

Answer 16

oppose any liberalisation of the law, fearing this would lead to abortion on demand.

Question 17

THE LEGALISATION OF ABORTION

• Roy Jenkins ensured an

what to pass the bill?

Answer 17

all-night Commons sitting in order to ensure the passing of the bill.

Question 18

THE LEGALISATION OF ABORTION

• The abortion act permitted the legal termination of a pregnancy within the first

Answer 18

28 weeks, under medical supervision and with the written consent of 2 doctors.

• The only justification needed was the mental suffering of the woman, not just the physical condition.

Question 19

THE LEGALISATION OF ABORTION

• The hopes that the availability of more effective contraceptives and better education would limit the need for education proved false: the number of abortions increased from

Answer 19

35,000 in 1968 to 141000 in 1975.

Question 20

THE LEGISLATION OF HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONS

• Up until 1960s men could be imprisoned for

Answer 20

2 years for participating in homosexual acts

Question 21

THE LEGISLATION OF HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONS

• The conservative government had rejected the Wolfenden recommendation to

Answer 21

decriminalise (the action can no longer be subjected to prosecution) homosexuality, and the labour government of 1964 was divided on the issue.

Question 22

THE LEGISLATION OF HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONS

• Thanks to Jenkins’ support, Abse was able to get up 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 3 conditions were met:

Answer 22

• Both partners had to consent
• Both had to be over 21.
• It had to be in private.

Question 23

THE LEGISLATION OF HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONS

The Act was welcomed by men who previously had been afraid to declare their sexuality and forced to live double lives.
However. This did not mean

Answer 23

the complete end of prosecutions for homosexual practices since ‘in private’ was interpreted as no one else being in the same building.

Question 24

EDUCATIONAL REFORM

THE DEVELOPMENT OF 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

Answer 24

11+ failures and the whole system appeared socially divisive – the majority of grammar school places went to those from a middle-class background.

Question 25

EDUCATIONAL REFORM

THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS
* Local Education Authorities were responsible for schools and in some labour-controlled areas, had established comprehensive schools

in these every child would

Answer 25

(provides education for all children in a given area – does not select its pupils). In these, every child would have the same opportunities to learn at their own pace and sit exams according to their own abilities in each subject.

Question 26

THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS

• By 1964, 1 in 10 pupils were educated in a comprehensive school –

compare to 1951

Answer 26

10 times more than 1951 – but still a minority.

Question 27

EDUCATIONAL REFORM

THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS
* 1965 - Crossland, supporter of the comprehensive system, became minister for education and accelerated this process.
* He requested all LEA to convert to

Answer 27

comprehensive schools and although it was not a requirement, many did, especially after 1966 when government made money for new comprehensives.

Question 28

EDUCATIONAL REFORM

THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS
* By 1970, only 8 authorities had failed to respond and there were

how many?

Answer 28

1145 comprehensives catering for 1 in 3 of all state educated secondary pupils.

Question 29

EDUCATIONAL REFORM

THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS
* Hard to say how successful it was - Wilson justified them by claiming all comprehensives meant a grammar school education for all, but many remained unconvinced. Some turned to

Answer 29

direct grant schools, some turned independent

Question 30

EDUCATIONAL REFORM

THE EXPANSION OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE INAUGURATION OF THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
* Fears that Britain was slipping behind in science and technological education had already led to the establishment of

Answer 30

the Robbins committee in 1961.

Question 31

EDUCATIONAL REFORM

THE EXPANSION OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE INAUGURATION OF THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
* The Robbins report found that Britain lagged behind

Answer 31

France, Germany, and the US in the provision of university places and that too many students followed arts-related courses.

Question 32

EDUCATIONAL REFORM

THE EXPANSION OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE INAUGURATION OF THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
The labour government responded by expanding higher education:

3

Answer 32

• Polytechnics replaced colleges of technology and were focused on applied education for work and science, concentrating on teaching rather than research.
• 9 colleges of advanced technology became full universities.
• New universities were to be founded – Warwick 1965, Bath 1966.

Question 33

EDUCATIONAL REFORM

THE EXPANSION OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE INAUGURATION OF THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
By 1968, there were

number of polytechnis and universities?

Answer 33

30 polytechnics and 56 universities.
The new polytechnics and universities opened up higher education for many whose families had never attended university.

Question 34

EDUCATIONAL REFORM

THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
* Harold Wilson said he most wanted to be remembered for the creation of the Open University.
* It attempted to offer

Answer 34

high quality, degree level learning in arts and sciences to people who never had the opportunity to attend campus universities.

Question 35

EDUCATIONAL REFORM

THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
* In September 1969, the Open University headquarters was established in Milton Keynes and by the middle of 1970 there were enough applications for

Answer 35

the first-year students to begin their studies in 1971.
* It became a rapid success.

Question 36

EDUCATIONAL REFORM

THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
Used radio and television in forms of distance learning, and recruited part-time students, especially the

Answer 36

mature, women and the disadvantaged, raising their self-esteem of those who had previously regarded themselves as educational failures.

Question 37

EDUCATIONAL REFORM

THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
* By 1980, the Open University had

how many students

Answer 37

70,000 students and was awarding more degrees than Oxford and Cambridge combined.