The Making of Modern Britain A2 (1979-2007)

Thatcher as leader: character and ideology

• Self reliance rather than reliance on the state

• Change from traditional upper-class Tories

• In touch with middle-class values

• Critical of the post-war consensus

• Supportive of monetarist economic policies

• Belief that free market was superior to government intervention

• Influenced by the New Right including Friedman and von Hayeck

• Thought individuals should take responsibility for their own actions

• Emphasised the importance of the family

• Backed policies which strengthened law and order

• Disliked the permissive society

• Conviction politician

• Self improvement- people should be aspirational

Wets

Willie Whitelaw- Home Secretary 1979-83, Deputy PM 1979-88

Jim Prior- Employment 1979-81, Northern Ireland 1981-84

Michael Hestletine- Environment 1979-83, Defence 1983-86

Dries

Geoffrey Howe- Chancellor of the Exchequer 1979-83, Foreign Secretary 1983-89

Kieth Joseph- Industry 1979-81, Education 1981-86

Nigel Lawson- Treasury 1979-83, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1983-89

Norman Tebbit- Employment 1981-83, Trade 1983-85, Party Chairman 1985-87

Labour crisis

• Leadership election of 1980 led to the victory of Michael Foot against Denis Healey

• However, Denis Healey won the deputy leadership contest against Tony Benn in 1981

The emergence of the SDP

• Formed in 1981 by four leading Labour politicians: Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Shirley Williams and Bill Rodgers. They believed left-wing extremists had taken over and they could build an alternative centre-Left opposition party

• November 1981- Williams won the Crosby by-election, taking it from the Conservatives

• March 1982- Jenkins won the Glasgow Hillhead by-election, taking it from the Conservatives

• February 1983- the Liberal Party won the Bermondsey by-election, taking it from Labour

SDP-Liberal alliance

Two parties worked together at the 1983 and 1987 general elections. The Alliance seemed to be a more credible opposition to the Conservative government than the Labour Party.

Demographic changes

• Thatcher appealed to some of the working-class

• Some Labour voters disliked the domination of the Left so turned to the Alliance

• Trade unions no longer seen as a strength

• Labour seemed to have lost touch with ordinary people

Labour divisions 1983-87

• Michael Foot resigned and was replaced by Neil Kinnock

• Welsh MP from the Left

• Set about modernising Labour

• Changed the Party’s position on issues that had proved unpopular at the 83 election, such as unilateral nuclear disarmament and withdrawal from the EEC

• Prepared to criticise Arthur Scargill during 1984-85 strike

• Defeated hard-Left extremist such as Militant Tendency who were expelled from Labour in 1986

Reasons for the 1983 election result

• Conservatives’ record in office

• Success in the Falklands conflict

• Press support for the Conservatives

• Thatcher was seen as a strong leader able to make tough decisions

• Foot seen as a weak leader

• Labour manifesto- ‘the longest suicide note in history’

• Unilateral disarmament

• Withdrawal from EEC

• Split in the anti-Conservative vote

• First-past-the-post electoral system

Reasons for the 1987 election result

• Conservatives’ record in office

• Press support for the Conservatives

• Labour Party’s reputation

• Tension within the Alliance

• Decline of the Alliance as Labour became more electable

• Split in the anti-Conservative vote

• First-past-the-post electoral system

Northern Ireland and the Troubles

• Row over the status of IRA prisoners continued, hunger strikes began in 1980

• Bobby Sands stood in a by-election in Fermanagh South Tyrone and won, which showed public support for the strikers

• Electoral success meant that republicans such as Gerry Adams who became president of Sinn Fein in 1983, began to see the value of a ‘twin track’ strategy

• Sands died a few weeks later, nine other prisoners died before the protests were called off in 1981

• Sands and other strikers became IRA martyrs

• Thatcher’s intransigence made her a hate figure

• October 1984- the Grand Hotel in Brighton was bombed during the Conservative Party conference. Thatcher was uninjured but five people were killed.

Anglo-Irish Agreement

• Supported by SLDP and the Alliance

• Opposed by Republicans who objected to the fact it confirmed that Northern Ireland was part of the UK

• Opposed by unionists and loyalists who objected to the fact it gave the Republic of Ireland an advisory role in the NI government

• A rally of 200,000 unionist and loyalist protesters and a new loyalist paramilitary organisation, Ulster Resistance, was set up in response

  • Republican paramilitaries continued to commit atrocities

Monetarism theory

• Promoted by Friedman

• Inflation could be controlled by restricting the money supply

• Cuts in government spending and borrowing

• Individuals spent money more efficiently than government so there should be a shift away from direct taxation to indirect taxation

Monetarism in practice

• Public spending cuts in 1980 and 1981 budgets

• Income tax cut from 33% to 25% at the basic rate and from 88% to 50% at the top rate

• VAT rates increased from 8% to 15%

Consequences of monetarism

• Economy went into recession in 1980

• Inflation rose to 15% initially but then fell to 5% by 1983

• Unemployment rose over 2 million by 1981 and 3 million by 1983

• High levels of unemployment meant that public spending was necessary

• Tension grew between left-wing local councils and central government as spending was cut, eventually leading to a policy of rate capping

Privatisation of businesses

Oct 1979- British Petroleum

Feb 1981- British Aerospace

Aug 1984- Jaguar

Dec 1984- British Telecommunications

Dec 1986- British Gas

Feb 1987- British Airways

May 1987- Rolls Royce

Dec 1988- British Steel

Dec 1989- Water

Dec 1990- Electricity

Supply side economics

• Deregulation for businesses encourages enterprise and entrepreneurship

• Flexible labour makes it easier to hire and fire

• Employees spend on goods and services, encouraged by low taxation

• Businesses make profits

• Profits encourage further expansion and investment into business

Demand side economics

• Government uses tax to support full employment

• Employees spend on goods and services produced by businesses

• Businesses make profit

• Profits encourage expansion / further investment into business

• Governments can tax business and individuals

Privatisation

Sell-offs increased the number of individuals owning shares from 3 million in 1979 to 9 million in 1990

Attractions of privatisation

• Anti-socialist

• Fitted with the belief that the private sector was more efficient with the public sector

• Thatcher government wanted to roll back the frontiers of the state so the state didn’t intervene as much in the economy

• Cuts to public spending and the subsequent financial pressures of local government meant there was a drive to outsource goods and services to the private sector

• Brought in revenue to the government

Criticisms of privatisaion

• National assets sold off too cheaply

• Job security and conditions for employees got worse

Deregulation

• Loan Guarantee Scheme- made it easier for small businesses to borrow money

• Enterprise Allowance Scheme- unemployed people could claim £40 a week for a year when setting up as self-employed

‘Big Bang’

27th October 1986- deregulated the Stock Exchange

• Opened the way to computer screen trading

• Old boys’ network gave way to more competition

• Foreign banks could operate as stockbrokers

• London became an important financial centre

• Nature of dealers and speculators changed

• Bigger financial risks could be taken

• Financial services became an important export industry

Consequences of deregulation

Higher interest rates made it difficult for businesses to borrow and increased the value of the pound which made British exports more expensive. The economy went into recession and many businesses went bankrupt

Unemployment

• Manufacturing output fell by 15% in two years

• In the West Midlands, production fell by a quarter

• Steel production was cut by 30%

• Numbers employed in manufacturing fell from 7.1 million to 5 million by 1990

• By 1983 unemployment rose to over 3 million which was 13.5% of the workforce

• Unemployment did not fall below 3 million until 1987 and was still above 2 million by 1990

Long-term economic trends

British industry was failing to compete effectively with foreign competitors. The British economy had started to shift away from manufacturing and heavy industries to service industries

Negative consequences of economic realignment

• Workers with traditional skills in heavy industry found their skills were outdated as industries tried to modernise and mechanise to stay competitive

• Shift away from manufacturing and heavy industries meant men tended to be hit harder than women by unemployment

• Unemployment was concentrated in the areas most hit by deindustrialisation- in Liverpool unemployment hit 25% of the workforce at its highest and never fell below 10% during the 1980s

• North-south divide became more pronounced as heavy industry, mainly based in the north, contracted and service industries, based in the south, grew

• Urban decay became a feature of many cities

Negative consequences of economic realignment 2

• Whole communities went into decline as when the primary industry in an area closed, jobs disappeared which in turn hit local shops and services

• Young people had to move away from their families in order to find work

• Increased ill-health, depression and use of alcohol and drugs in areas of economic deprivation

• Series of riots between April and July 1981 in areas which had high levels of unemployment- Brixton, Toxteth, Chapeltown

• The Scarman Report into the causes of these identified one of the key components to be poverty

Attempts to mitigate the effects of economic realignment

• Youth employment schemes created- these gave employers a subsidy if they employed young people under the scheme

• National Insurance rates were reduced for lower paid jobs to encourage job creation

• Hestletine spearheaded redevelopment projects in the old dockland areas of London and Liverpool. Following this the Canary Wharf development on West India Docks in London became the second most important financial district in the country

How were different areas of the country affected in different ways by economic realignment?

Average weekly household income in 1985 was £248 in the south east whereas it was £173 in the north, and the percentage of the population that was unemployed in 1986 was 10.1% in the south east and 19.1% in the north east.

Average economic growth over Thatcher’s whole period was 2.2%- this was similar to Britain’s competitors and to the economic growth achieved in the 1970s.

Right to Buy scheme

• Extended and encouraged by the Housing Act, 1980

• Council tenants received a discount of between 33% and 50%

• By 1988 around 2 million people had used the scheme to buy their house

• The policy was so popular that the Labour Party dropped its opposition to the scheme

• More council houses were sold in affluent areas, which widened divisions in society

• Councils were forced to use the proceeds to pay of debt rather than build new housing stock

• In the long term there was a shortage of council property for rent and waiting lists for council accommodation got longer

• Councils were forced to house people in less suitable and more expensive accommodation such as B&Bs

Background of the miners’ strike

• In 1981, when the NCB announced that 23 pits needed to close, the government reduced imported coal and gave the coal industry subsidies to avoid an industrial dispute

• By 1984 stocks of coal had been built up and North Sea oil meant that the country was less dependent on imported oil

• In March 1984 the NCB announced the closure of 20 pits

• Arthur Scargill believed the real plan was to close 70 pits

What happened in the miners’ strike?

• No national strike ballot weakened the miners’ case

• Some public sympathy for miners

• Arthur Scargill was unpopular

• Long and bitter dispute

• Working miners condemned as ‘scabs’ and ‘traitors’

• Violent confrontations between striking miners and police, e.g. Battle of Orgreave (June 1984) in which 5000 miners tried to stop coal being brought in; more than 50 picketers and 70 police were injured; allegations of police brutality

• Accusations that the government was politicising the police

• Some miners did not support the strike

• Nottinghamshire miners formed their own UDM

• More and more miners gradually went back to work

Consequences of the miners’ strike

• Pit closures went ahead

• Numbers employed by the coal industry fell from 200,000 to 60,000 between 1979 and 1990

• Power of the unions was diminished

• Similar reorganisations and job losses happened in other industries

• By 1990 union membership had dropped by a third

• Thatcher used the miners’ strike to demonstrate her authority and to compare her leadership favourably with previous prime ministers such as Heath and Callaghan

Aims of the Poll Tax

1. To make local government finances fairer: only homeowners had paid Rates, whereas the Community Charge would be paid by all electors

2. To make local government more accountable: because all electors would contribute, the link between electors and local government would be stronger

3. Local government would be forced to spend responsibly and be more efficient in order to attract votes

Criticisms of the Poll Tax

1. Under the Community Charge most people’s bills would go up

2. It was difficult to justify why a poor pensioner would pay the same as a millionaire

Poll Tax consequences

• Introduced in Scotland in 1989 and in England and Wales in 1990

• Hugely unpopular. Anti-Poll Tax Unions were set up, in some areas 30% of people refused to pay and authorities seemed unable to enforce payment.

• March 1990- anti-poll tax demonstration in Trafalgar Square. 200,000 people turned up and by the evening the demonstration had turned into a riot. 5000 people were injured and there was looting of nearby shops. 300 people were arrested but the police seemed to have lost control.

Extra-parliamentary criticism- education and the arts

Opposition to cuts in funding of higher education- Oxford University voted against awarding Thatcher an honorary degree

Opposition to cuts of funding of the arts and opposition to Thatcherite social and economic policies - plays satirising Thatcherism written by Hare and Churchill, Red Wedge, alternative comedians, TV programmes such as Boys from the Blackstuff

Extra-parliamentary criticism- the church

Concern about the impact of Thatcherite policies on society

Faith in the City, 1985- a Church report calling on the government to do more to help deprived communities. Speeches and comments from individual bishops such as David Jenkins.

Extra-parliamentary criticism- pressure groups

Concern about the impact of Thatcherite economic and social policies- Shelter campaigned against rising levels of homelessness, Age Concern campaigned against pensioner poverty

Opposition to Thatcher’s defence policy- the Greenham women- camp set up at the Greenham Common base to prevent Cruise missiles being based here

Concern about environmental issues- disasters such as Chernobyl, growing scientific evidence about the impacts of pollution such as CFCs and acid rain

Growth of pressure groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth

Argentina

• Claimed ownership of the Falkland Islands since 1817

• Saw the withdrawal of a British military force in 1981 as a signal that Britain no longer wanted to keep the Falkland Islands

• Argentinian leaders, a military junta, sent invasion force in March 1982

• Argentinian forces surrendered on 14th June 1982

General Belgrano

Argentinian battleship that was controversially sunk on 2nd May 1982 by a British submarine, ending the possibility of a diplomatic solution

Ascension Island

American base used by the British task force during the Falklands Conflict. This strengthened the special relationship between the US and Britain

Britain and the Falklands

• No longer saw the islands as strategically significant

• Government approved the withdrawal of HMS Endurance in 1981

• May 21st- British troops landed at San Carlos Water

• Islanders wanted to remain British

The Special Relationship

• Thatcher allowed the US to station Cruise missiles in the UK

• Both supported supply-side economics

• Both disliked trade unions

• Thatcher instinctively preferred the US to Europe

• Thatcher believed the US had rescued Europe twice when entering WWI and WW2

• Reagan supported Thatcher over the Falklands Conflict

• Thatcher allowed the US to use British air bases to bomb Libya, against British public opinion

• Both favoured taking a tough line with the USSR

Cold War key chronology

1979- Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

1981- election of Ronald Reagan who believed the USSR to be an ‘evil empire’ and committed the USA to the development of SDI

1983- Cruise Missiles based at Greenham Common

1984- first meeting between Thatcher and Gorbachev

1985- Gorbachev became leader of the USSR

1986- Gorbachev launched perestroika and glasnost and summits with the USA began

1986- Reagan and Gorbachev met in Iceland

Society’s response to the threat of nuclear war

• The government published Protect and Survive booklets which told people what to do in the event of a nuclear attack

• Popular culture reflected fears- Threads (1984)- a documentary-style account of the impact of a nuclear strike on a British city; When the Wind Blows (1986), a cartoon book showing an elderly couple’s preparation for nuclear war; pop songs by Kate Bush and Frankie Goes to Hollywood

• CND marches across Europe, including one of 200,000 people in London in 1983

The Cold War by 1987

• USSR faced pressure on resources

• USSR faced challenges from within the Soviet bloc: in Poland the Solidarity movement was gaining support and had been strengthened by the support of Pope John Paul II

• Reagan met Gorbachev in 1986, and in 1987 the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty that began a process of mutual disarmament was signed between the USA and USSR

Britian’s involvement in ending the Cold War

• Thatcher’s belligerent attitude to USSR during the early 1980s which mirrored US foreign policy

• Thatcher’s willingness to negotiate with the reformist Gorbachev, when he came to power in 1985; and her encouragement that Reagan should do the same

Promoting closer ties with Europe

• Close relationship with some European leaders, i.e. President Francois Mitterand of France

• Agreement to build the Channel Tunnel in 1986

• Signing the Single European Act in 1986, which set up the European single market, changed the Assembly into a European Parliament, mentioned the possibility of future monetary union and increased the role of the European Court

Tension with Europe

• Handbag diplomacy

• Demands to get a British rebate which were met in 1984

• Thatcher’s natural suspicion of Germany and her cool relationship with Chancellor Kohl of Germany

Divisions within the Conservative Party over Europe

• Creation of a single market fitted well with Thatcherite economic policies

• Only a few opponents to the Single European Act such as Enoch Powell who argued that the EEC was a threat to British sovereignty

• Westland Affair- Hestletine wanted Westland to be taken over by a European consortium, Thatcher didn’t have a preference, Hestletine believed she was blocking cabinet discussions over the issue so regisned

Thatcher as an international figure- positive reputation

• Earned reputation as the Iron Lady for her tough stance with the USSR

• Admired her role in bringing Reagan and Gorbachev to the negotiating table

• Strengthened the special relationship

• Supporters argued Falklands Conflict increased Britain’s reputation

• Robust negotiations earned Britain a rebate from the EEC

Thatcher as an international figure- criticisms

• Combative style made European allies wary

• Critics argued that her failure to find a diplomatic solution to the Falklands Conflict led to unnecessary bloodshed

• Some, including Denis Healey and Enoch Powell were concerned that Britain was not independent enough of the United States

The fall of Thatcher

• Inflation rising to 10%

• Balance of payments problem

• Stock market crash

• Loss of safe seats like Eastbourne at by-elections

• Unpopularity of poll tax

• Poor opinion polls

• Thatcher’s leadership style

• Party divisions over Europe

• Recovery of the Labour Party

• Resignations of Lawson and Howe

• Hestletine’s popularity

• Loss of support of the cabinet

Major as leader

1. Supported a middle way on Europe between the Europhiles and Eurosceptics, and made a speech setting out his hope that Britain would be ‘at the very heart of Europe’

2. In November 1991 he announced the replacement of the Poll Tax with the Council Tax

Factors favouring the Conservatives in 1992

• Long election campaign gave a longer time for the polls to change

• Major’s more consensual style and shifts in policy

• Major’s style of campaigning

• Conservative’s economic reputation

• Fears about Labour and Kinnock as prime minister

• Continued media support for the Conservative Party

Factors weakening the Conservatives in 1992

• Opinion polls showed unpopularity

• Splits within the Conservative Party

• Major linked to Thatcher and her government

• Economic problems, especially affecting traditional Conservative voters

• Changes within Labour

Major’s inherited economic situation

• Declining manufacturing output

• High interest rates

• High inflation

• Rising unemployment

• Falling house prices leaving home owners in negative equity

Black Wednesday, 16th September 1992

• Britain joined the ERM in 1990 in an attempt to lower inflation. The value placed on sterling was high and was only allowed minor fluctuations.

• By September 1992 investors felt sterling was overpriced and started to sell it, preferring to hold other more stable currencies

• The Bank of England brought sterling to try to maintain its value at the level set in the ERM, and raised interest rates to 15% to try to raise the value of sterling

• Both measures failed and the government was forced to leave the ERM and devalue

Political consequences of Black Wednesday

• Humiliation for the Major government

• Loss of reputation for economic competence

• Loss of press support

Economic consequences of Black Wednesday

• Interest rates could be lowered, helping businesses to borrow and invest

• Cheaper pound made it easier for British exporters to sell their goods and services

• Unemployment fell

• House prices rose

• Consumer spending rose

• Britain was well placed to benefit from an upswing in the global economy

Political sleaze

• 1994 Scott Enquiry into illegal arms dealing by Matrix Churchill proved government ministers had broken the rules and been economical with the truth

• Two leading Conservatives, Jonathan Aitkin and Jeffery Archer, convicted of perjury in 1999 and 2001

• Cash for Questions: Conservative MPs accused of accepting money in return for asking parliamentary questions in 1994.

• Neil Hamilton lost a libel case but refused to resign, Martin Bell stood against him and defeated him in 1997.

Political scandals

• More than 12 sex scandals involving MPs

• Resignation of two cabinet ministers after extramarital affairs

• Damaging in the context of the ‘Back to Basics’ campaign which had been launched at the 1993 Conservative Party conference

Political satire

Private Eye: Adrian Mole spoof, ‘The Secret Diary of John Major aged 47 and three-quarters’

Steve Bell cartoons: a grey superhero wearing his underwear on top of his trousers

John Major’s political policies

• Coal pit closures in Nottinghamshire: this caused disquiet among those who remembered how the Nottinghamshire miners had supported Thatcher during the 1985 strike

• Citizen’s Charter 1991

• Attempted privatisation of the post office which was abandoned due to unpopularity

• Privatisation of coal industry 1994

• Privatisation of the railways 1996

• Private Finance Schemes

• Recognition of BSE as a threat to human health 1996

Thatcher’s approach to Northern Ireland

• British government banned organisations which they believed supported terrorist activities from broadcasting in Britain, though broadcasters got around this by employing actors to read the scripts

• Journalists, families and MPs among others, accused the British government of employing a ‘shoot to kill’ policy when three members of the IRA were shot dead by the SAS in Gibraltar in 1988

• Some miscarriages of justice such as the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four uncovered

• Loyalist and republican atrocities continued

• The IRA started to target mainland Britain again including bombing the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and firing a mortar bomb at 10 Downing Street in 1991

Northern Ireland under Major

• IRA indicated it may be ready to stop its campaign of violence

• Unionists tended to trust that Conservative governments would protect their interests

• US president encouraged IRA to give up violence

• Major had a close relationship with the Irish Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds

• 1993- Downing Street Declaration made by Major and Reynolds restated self-determination and the principle of consent in deciding the future of Northern Ireland

• 1994- IRA announced ceasefire

• 1994- loyalist paramilitaries announced ceasefire

• 1996- IRA ended ceasefire, bombing London and Manchester

Divisions over Conservative leadership by the late 1980s

• Thatcher seen as aloof and not listening

• Thatcher alienating key supporters

• Major seen as weak and inept

• Major unable to quieten criticism from the party

Divisions over Europe by the late 1980s

• Thatcher and some of her supporters becoming more Eurosceptic

• Growth of Euroscepticism

• Demands for referendum on the Maastricht Treaty

• Difficulty in ratifying Maastricht Treaty in parliament

Conservative divisions over other policies

• Some moderate Conservatives did not want more radical social policies or further privatisation

• Some on the Right of the party feared a move away from Thatcherism

Attempts by Major to unite the Party

• John Major resigned as leader in June 1995, forcing a leadership election, and asking his critics to ‘back me or sack me’

• Redwood stood against Major supported by Eurosceptics and die-hard Thatcherites

• Hestletine and Portillo agreed to support Major

• Major won by 218 votes to Redwood’s 89

Society timeline - 1980s

1981- births outside marriage at 12%

1981- first case of AIDS recorded

1985- House of Lords overrules earlier court judgement and ruled that children under the age of 16 could be given contraceptive advice without parental consent

1985- government began AIDS prevention campaign

1986- tabloid outcry over the book, Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin, being in some London school libraries

1987- British social attitudes survey showed that 75% of people believed same sex relationships were wrong

1987- Diana shook hands with an AIDS patient

1988- Section 28, which banned the promotion of homosexuality by Local Education Authorities, was passed

1989- Stonewall established to campaign for gay rights

Society timeline- 1990s

1991- births outside marriage at 30%

1992- criticism of single mothers by Peter Lilley at the Conservative Party conference

1993- divorce rates reached record levels

1993- Child Support agency set up

1994- reduction of the age of consent for gay men from 21 to 18

1994- Video Recording Act passed

1998- British Social Attitudes survey showed that 50% of people believed same sex relationships were wrong

2000- equalisation of the age of consent

2000- lifting of ban on homosexuals in the military

Anti-establishment culture - the monarchy

• Marriages of three of the Queen’s children broke down and embarrassing details of extramarital affairs were reported in the tabloids

• Public disquiet about public money being spent on repairing the damage done to Windsor Castle in a fire in 1992. This led to a reduction in the size of the civil list and to the Queen agreeing to pay tax on her private income

• Sympathy for Diana after the breakdown of her marriage to Charles

• When Diana died in a car crash in 1997, the royal family was accused of being uncaring

Anti-establishment culture- the arts and popular culture

• YBA movement challenged the idea of what art was

• Artists such as Tracey Emin and Damian Hirst created art out of dead animals

• Key Parton was the advertising executive, Charles Saatchi, whose collection formed the basis of the infamous Sensation exhibition held in 1997

Youth culture in the 1990s

• Acid house music had a psychedelic edge and there were links to the drug ecstasy which created a moral panic in the tabloid press

• Thousands of young people followed the secret instructions of the organisers to attend parties such as the week long rave held at Castlemorton in 1992

• The government responded with the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act in 1994 which gave more powers to the police to break up these raves

Environmental movement in the 1990s

• From 1992 there was a series of protests against road developments including the Twyford Down M3 extension in 1992, the Newbury Bypass in 1996, and the M11 link road in 1993

• These protests brought together local residents, environmental campaigners and New Age travellers

• New methods, including protesters chaining themselves to trees or tunnelling underground, were used to delay work, although they rarely succeeded in preventing it altogether

Changes in the lives of women 1987-97- ideas

Third-wave feminism extended the debate from second wave feminism’s emphasis on employment and financial equality to question ideas about gender, sexuality and race

Changes in the lives of women 1987-97- laws

Rape within marriage became a criminal offence in 1994, married women were able to be taxed separately from their husbands

Changes in the lives of women 1987-97- employment

By 1993 68% of women of working age were in employment, by 1996 50% of employees were women, women’s pay improved though it remained at 80% of men’s earnings

Changes in the lives of women 1987-97- politics

Thatcher as prime minister but few other senior ministers until 1997, first female Speaker in the House of Commons, Betty Boothroyd, appointed in 1992

Changes in the lives of women 1987-97- popular culture

Spice Girls and girl power, leading female TV characters such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ‘ladettes’

Changes to the lives of women 1987-97- underground culture

Riot Girl movement in which female bands such as Bikini Kill sung about feminist issues

Improvements to race relations

No recurrences of the race riots seen in 1981 and 1985, four non-white MPs elected in 1987 and all held their seats in 1992

Issues with race relations

• John Taylor failed to be elected in 1992 among rumours of racism

• Lack of trust between young black men and the police- murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 exemplified this, Macpherson Report found the police failed to investigate the case properly

• Salaman Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses was denounced by the Iranian Ayatollah who issued a death threat against Rushdie

The Bruges speech

• Thatcher rejected the idea of a close union and move towards federalism, and emphasised the role of the EEC as a trade association

• This encouraged Eurosceptic MPs to campaign against federalism and caused tension with ministers such as Howe and Major who saw this as a reversal of previous policy

• Divisions became widened within the Conservative Party- Europhiles such as Kenneth Clark and Chris Patten and Eurosceptics such as Portillo, Redwood and Duncan Smith

The Maastricht Treaty

• changed the structure of the EU

• Opt-outs- Britain was not committed to joining a single currency and did not have to follow the Social chapter

• 1993- MPs blocked ratification of treaty in parliament

• Major had to threaten a vote of no confidence to force the rebels to ratify the treaty, which took 18 months

• Anti-Federalist League set up in 1993, Referendum Party set up in 1994

• Major looked weak as rebels continued to embarrass him

Collapse of communism

• Gorbachev introduced glasnost and perestroika

• Poland announced it would hold free elections

• Berlin Wall fell in 1989

• December 1989- end of Cold War

Interventions in the Balkans

• Yugoslav president Milosevic moved towards aggressive Serbian nationalism

• 1991- Slovenia declared independence

• Violent clashes between Serbia and Croatia

• War began in Bosnia in 1992, the Muslim population was ethnically cleansed

• 1992- Major hosted UN conference, UN peacekeeping force put in place

• October 1992- Vance-Owen plan set out framework for settlement

• No European pressure so violence continued

• Srebrenica massacre in 1995- 7000 Bosnian men killed

• NATO forced to intervene

• Peace treaty signed in 1995 which guaranteed Bosnian independence