The era of New Labour, 1997-2007

What was Blair drawn to tackling?

Problems that hadn’t been solved before, like Northern Ireland

Did Blair live up to his social justice promises in the first term?

Yes, he introduced a minimum wage and reduced school class sizes

What occurred for Wales and Scotland in the first term?

Devolution in 1999, creating a Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament

What was done to the Bank of England?

It was privatised in 1997

What did this mean for the Bank of England?

They were now in control of interest rates- a legacy of Black Wednesday

What were average earnings growing at in the first term?

4.75% annually

Despite wage growth, what was growth like?

Steady and non inflationary

How did Brown stick to his election promises?

Controlled expenditure, low personal taxes, rising employment

What was inflation at in the first term?

Below its 2.5% target

What did budget surpluses allow him to do in 2000 and 2001?

Increase state education investment, and address poverty

What did the European Social Chapter do for workers?

Rights for individual workers and a minimum wage were brought in

Why were unions not especially grateful for the minimum wage?

It was only 3.60 an hour for those above 21, well under TUC demands

Elsewhere, was minimum wage welcomed?

Yes, and it was raised in march 2001

Working Families Tax Credit

Guaranteed any family with a full time worker £214 a week

New Deal programme

Offered skills training, easing youth unemployment

Children’s Tax Credit

Reduced child poverty, so by 2001 child poverty had fallen by 1.2m

What was occurring in Kosovitch in Blair’s first term?

Ethnic cleansing by Serbia and President Milosevic

What role did Blair play against the cleansing?

He took a lead role in NATO action against Serbia

What did Blair convince Clinton to do in Serbia?

Threaten ground troops as well as air strikes in 1999

How was the House of Lords reformed?

In 2000 only 92 peers were temporarily kept, the rest were abolished

How did this change the HOL?

They were now appointed, instead of retaining it by right, making them more politicised

Freedom of Information Act

The public could now ask for information about decisions made by the gov- Blair came to regret it

Anti discrimination legislation

The age of consent was equalised for gay men, and they could now serve in the armed forces

However, what was one of the first disagreements between Blair and Brown?

Government spending was kept too low to improve public services, so Brown had to be convinced to raise it

Why was Brown eventually convinced?

Blair admitted on TV that the NHS needed a massive injection if it was to do more than just survive

What in particular had been affected by low public spending?

The NHS

Whose benefits were cut in the first year?

Single parents

What inequalities remained in Britain?

Daughters of unskilled parents were still 9x more likely to end up as unemployed teenage mothers

What did the gov put emphasis on?

Individual effort in reducing poverty, but more effort was required from them

What was sterling’s value like?

Uncompetitive, affecting exports

What else did low sterling value cause?

Layoffs in the car industry, like Vauxhalls in Luton, and job losses in Wales and NE England

Although income tax was lowered, what were raised for alternative funds?

Stealth taxes

Example of stealth tax: Tax allowances

Frozen, stopping people from changing the money they kept back

Example of stealth tax: Tax thresholds

Frozen, so more people were raising into higher tax brackets

How many people moved into the top bracket?

1.5 million

Example of stealth tax: National Insurance

Contributions were raised

What stopped in the first term?

Tax relief on dividends from pension fund investments

Broken promises: To reduce car journeys

The treasury didn’t make money available for the necessary public transport improvements

Broken promises: Free University tuition

Fees were introduced for all but the poorest students

Sleaze: Bernie Eccleston

Labour donor Bernie Eccleston was alleged to have persuaded Blair to exempt Formula 1 from the tobacco advertising ban

Broken promises: Peter Mandelson

Mandelson had to resign as a minister twice

What was the first resignation for?

He borrowed money to buy a desirable house from a Labour MP with large sums in an offshore tax haven

What was the second resignation for?

It was claimed that he had secured passports for wealthy Indian backers of the millennium dome project

Private Finance Initiative

Inherited from Major and expanded to build new schools, prisons, police stations etc.

How was the PFI funded?

Initially by private companies, but repaid with interest over 30 years, causing tax payers far more

What happened with devolution in London?

Ken Livingstone became London’s first elected mayor in 2000

Ken Livingstone

Ex loony left head of the Greater London Council in the 1980s

How was his victory a humiliation for Blair?

He had run as an independent after Blair pressured MPs not to support him

What was happening to petrol prices?

They were at record levels due to rising world prices and fuel tax, which Brown refused to cut

What happened as a consequence in September 2000?

Lorry drivers and farmers blockaded supplies, leading to empty stations and factory closures

Why were the blockades eventually lifted?

Due to public pressure, and Brown made concessions in his next budget

Foot and mouth epidemic

2001, the first since 1967, costing the UK 8bn

What effect did the foot and mouth epidemic have politically?

It delayed the general election by a month as farmers accused the gov of reacting too slowly

Did the gov react to the crisis?

Yes, they reorganised the gov ministry in their second term

When was the Good Friday Agreement?

April 1998

What was the fate of NI under the Agreement?

It would remain part of the UK as long as the majority wished; the Republic would renounce their constitutional claim to it

What would happen to policing?

It would be made fairer

What politically came out of the Good Friday Agreement?

A power-sharing government, which created a Northern Ireland assembly

How was the Agreement ratified?

Through referendums in NI and the Republic, with a clear majority in both

When did the Agreement thus come into force?

1999

What did all paramilitaries have to do under the Agreement?

Hand in their weapons and renounce violence, committing to only political struggle

What was the Agreement thus also meant to do?

Curb violence as well as calm political tensions

Figures involved: Blair

Made NI an immediate priority, working long hours and taking risks

What did some of his advisers grumble about?

That he was spending too much time on the issue

How did Blair immediately demonstrate his commitment?

NI was his first visit after winning power

Why was Blair in a good position to tackle NI?

A lot of vital work to build nationalist-unionist relations had been done under Major

How did Blair win unionist trust?

He emphasised his family’s unionist roots

Since when had talks between all NI parties been happening?

Since 1996, as Hume had persuaded Sinn Fein leaders that a negotiated settlement was possible

Example of a risk taken by Blair in the process

He invited Sinn Fein leaders to Downing Street

Who did Blair keep a close working relationship with?

Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, keeping Republican support

What did Blair convince Trimble and the UUP of?

That Sinn Fein could be trusted

Figures involved: Mo Mowlam

As Secretary of State, she went into prisons to directly convince Maze prisoners

When did Mowlam visit the Maze?

When talks broke down, showing her influence

What was Mo Mowlam’s character like?

She was quite unorthodox and willing to take political risks

How did UUP politicians react to Mo Mowlam?

They found her a bit much, suspecting that she was green, so she focused on Nationalists

Figures involved: John Major

Didn’t sign, but did meaningful work whilst in power

However, why hadn’t Major been successful?

He had been overcome by IRA bloody mindedness and his parliamentary weakness

Figures involved: David Trimble (UUP)

Won Nobel peace prize for effort with unionists

Figures involved: John Hume (SDLP)

Won Nobel peace prize for effort with Nationalists

Figures involved: Senator George Mitchell

Helped with negotiations by laying down agreement principles

However, what happened to the final deadline set by Mitchell?

It was missed, meaning that negotiations had to go on for 17 hours

Figures involved: Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness

Cooperated with negotiations

However, what did the Sinn Fein leaders fear?

A backlash for appearing to give out

1996 Mitchell Principles: Peace

Democratic and exclusively peaceful means of resolving political issues

1996 Mitchell Principles: Disarmament

Total disarmament of all paramilitary organisations, independently verified

1996 Mitchell Principles: Punishments

Urged that ‘punishment’ killings and beating should stop, taking effective steps to prevent such actions

Negatives of the aftermath: Omagh Bombing

Aug 1998, done by a faction of the IRA who didn’t support the Agreement

Significance of the Omagh bombing

Deadliest incident of the troubles, killing 29 and injuring 220 others

Negatives of the aftermath: Polarisation

It polarised NI, as extreme parties rose in popularity

Over the next 10 years, what happened politically?

The DUP overtook the UUP as the main NI political party

Negatives of the aftermath: Devolution

Devolution had to be suspended in 2002 for 5 years as it wasn’t working

Positives of the aftermath: Nobel

Moderates Trimble and Hume won the Nobel Peace Prize

Positives of the aftermath: DUP and Sinn Fein

Paisley and McGuinness’ parties agreed to share power after the 2006 St Andrews Agreement

Positives of the aftermath: Belfast

Belfast became popular as people became confident enough to visit and go out

Positives of the aftermath: Businesses

Large businesses increasingly worked on an all-Ireland basis

What was Labour’s majority in the next election?

167

What overshadowed their next term?

9/11 and the subsequent war on terror, leading to Iraq

What was the economic situation like?

Low inflation, low unemployment, rising affluence

However, why was debt rising?

People felt confident due to the positive economic situation, and there was a lack of regulation from banks

What was more cash invested in?

The NHS and education