MOMB The end of post war consensus, 1970-79

When did Heath become Conservative leader?

1965

How long was Heath Conservative leader for?

10 years

Significance of Heath as Conservative leader:

First leader to be state-school educated with a humbler background than Wilson

What was Heath described as?

A technocrat, like Wilson

Technocrat

Believed efficiency and technology would solve anything

Wilson was a manipulator…

Heath was more honest but less politically skilful

What was Heath’s greatest achievement?

Gaining EEC entry in 1973

When were the worst years of the Troubles?

1970-74, particularly in 1972

Why was Heath unlucky to inherit the NI situation?

It was something that could never truly be resolved by British governments

What else was Heath’s reputation damaged by?

Strikes, power cuts, stagflation and u turns on his 1970 manifesto

Stagflation

Inflation and no growth

What happened in 1973-74?

A major political/economic oil crisis where prices quadrupled

How did the war between Israel and Arab states affect oil?

The Arab states stopped providing oil to Israel’s allies as a punishment

What was the oil crisis for Heath?

The last straw for him and his government

Who was Heath’s biggest opponent?

Margaret Thatcher

Did Margaret Thatcher have previous experience as PM?

No, she used to be Education Secretary

Legacy of Thatcher as Education Secretary

She was known as the milk snatcher for ending school break time milk

Heath was so despised by this point…

Thatcher was welcomed as party leader in 1975

How was Heath similar to Macmillan?

He was a one-nation Tory

Selsdon Manifesto

Promised a different economic direction towards the unions and on issues like immigration

Was Heath totally comfortable with the Selsdon Manifesto?

No, he wanted a ‘quiet revolution’ rather than a radical one

How did Thatcher differ to Heath’s approach?

She was willing to allow unemployment to sort other economic issues

When was Decimal Day?

February 1971

Decimal day

Replacing the old currency with a simpler one to keep in line with other countries

What did Heath do in September 1972?

Raised the school leaving age to 16

1972 Local Government Act

1972, reorganised county councils to make them more efficient

How were the total number of county councils reduced?

From 1,245 to 412

Significance of the 1972 Local Government Act

It was unpopular with some as many councils held historical significance

How did Heath want to reverse economic decline?

Encourage productivity with less state control and public spending and no lame ducks

Which industries counted as lame ducks (only surviving with government funding)?

Older industries

How would prices and incomes now be determined?

Free collective bargaining

Industrial Relations Act

1971, allowing the government to actively reduce the harmful effects of strike action

What did the years 1970-72 mark?

An end to the post war consensus between labour and conservatives on the economy

From the start of Heath’s premiership what affected his beginning?

Dockers strike, large pay increase for dustmen, power cuts by a power worker’s ’go slow’

What did inflation rise to in 1971?

9%

1971 Industrial Relations Act

Insisted on strike ballots, a cooling off period and suggested a court to adjudicate on disputes

Response to the Industrial Relations Act

Opposed by the TUC and CBI, and unions refused to register with the court so it failed

What was the government’s first major U-Turn in their Selsdon Park manifesto?

They intervened to save Upper Clyde Shipbuilders and Rolls Royce from collapse

What was Heath’s second major U-Turn in the Selsdon park manifesto?

He turned to his own version of Labour’s old statutory prices and income policy

Did the first two stages of Heath’s prices and income policy work?

Yes

Stage 1 of Heath’s prices and income policy

1972-73, 90 day wages and price standstill

Stage 2 of Heath’s prices and income policy

Pay rises at no more than 4% and £1 a week up to a maximum of £250 per annum

What did 1972 see?

The largest number of days lost to strikes since 1926, including pivotal workers like ambulance drivers and firefighters

1972 Industry Act

Involved the gov, TUC and CBI in agreeing wages and regional investment plans to avoid disputes

Downside of the 1972 Industry Act

Gave the government huge powers (opposite of manifesto) and didn’t prevent more disputes

What unusual economic occurrence happened in this period?

Stagflation

Unemployment in 1972

1 million, which was a post-war record

What happened January-February 1972?

Miners strike

Miners strike

Coal stopped moving around the country, Yorkshire miners blocked access to a major depot at Saltley

Effects of the miners strike

State of emergency declared, schools closed, 1.2 million laid off work and 3 day week to save power

Who did Heath appoint to negotiate with the miners

Whitelaw, but the miners rejected his offer

What did the miners call in 1974?

In January they called a general strike

Effects of the miner’s general strike

50mph limit on roads, TV off at 10.30

Central question of the February general election

Who governs Britain?

Effect of ‘Who governs britain?’

Although it was meant to blame the unions and get people to vote conservative, it backfired on them

‘Barber Boom’

1972-73, Chancellor Barber cut taxes and unemployment fell to half a million

Other effects of the ‘Barber Boom’

Led to a housing boom and the gov’s election prospects improved

What international event occurred in 1973?

In October the Yom Kippur war between Israel and an Arab state coalition triggered an oil price crisis

OPEC

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries

What did OPEC do in the crisis?

Declared an embargo on oil exports so the price of oil quadrupled and queues formed outside of petrol stations

Did Heath want to call an election in 1974?

No, but his cabinet felt they should do so and blame problems on the miners

Heath’s character trait problem

He was not pragmatic and believed he could negotiate with the miners instead

How did the miners maintain public sympathy?

They moderated their tactics to diminish the sense of emergency

Example of the miners moderating their tactics

No flying pickets, where union members would travel around the country and block access to depots

What did the new lack of emergency mean?

Heath couldn’t use the situation to his benefit

Other issues damaging the conservatives

Rapidly rising prices and a record BOP deficit

How did Enoch Powell affect the conservative’s election campaign?

He was furious about entry to the EEC and Europe, resigning and urging voters to back labour

What sort of election was the 1974 February election?

A protest election- the country was disillusioned with both the Conservatives and Labour

Where did protest votes go?

The liberals gained significant protest votes

Fact about Conservative vote statistics February 1974

They polled their lowest number of votes since the 1920s

Which parties increased their seats in the Feb 1974 election?

Liberal and nationalist parties, reinforcing the sense of political as well as economic crisis

Who else significantly withdrew support for Heath in 1974?

The ulster unionists in protest against his northern Irish policies

How did Heath try and salvage his term?

Tried and failed to reach a coalition deal with the liberals

Who returned in the Feb 1974 election?

Harold Wilson, to head a labour minority government due to the hung parliament

When had the British army been sent to Northern Ireland?

Late summer 1969 under Callaghan

Why did British troops enter Northern Ireland?

They faced pressure from the NI PM to keep the peace between the increasingly violent Nationalists and Unionists

How did ordinary catholic and Protestant families initially react to the British army?

They initially welcomed them, but it led to the formation of the provisional ira

What were the provisional IRA a symbol of?

British oppression

What did British troops seem like to nationalists?

As if they were only looking for the IRA

When did the army impose a curfew?

July 1970 to root out terrorists

When were the first British soldiers killed by the Provisional IRA?

1971

Internment

Imprisonment without trial

Why did internment occur in Northern Ireland?

The British government was under pressure by new NI PM Brian Faulkner

Who enforced internment?

The RUC and army

Operation Demetrius

Soldiers entered homes, ripped men from their beds and shipped them to a makeshift prison camp at Long Kesh

Problem of Operation Demetrius

The soldiers missed lots of the guilty and rounded up the innocent

Significance of Operation Demetrius for the IRA

It was their most successful recruitment campaign as poor intelligence enraged many who were previously uninterested

When was internment ended?

1975 by Wilson’s government

What was the DUP and when was it formed?

The Democratic Unionist Party, formed by Ian paisley in 1971 to strengthen the unionist movement

When was Bloody Sunday?

January 1972

Bloody Sunday

Peaceful protests in Derry by nationalists against internment

What did the army think about the Bloody Sunday marches?

That it was to be used as a cover for terrorist activity

Events of Bloody Sunday

The army opened fire and 13 civilians were killed

What was the British army’s military intelligence like?

Poor

What happened to 3 off duty officers in 1971?

They were lured from a bar and shot

What did the Saville Enquiry find 30 years later?

That there was no evidence to justify the killings and David Cameron apologised to the victims

What did the heath government set up in April?

An enquiry led by Lord Widgery that exonerated the army

Effect of Bloody Sunday on the Provisional IRA

It was yet another recruitment campaign for them

What did the heath government do in March 1972?

Decided the NI gov was no longer capable of governing itself so the British government became responsible for NI law and order

How did the unionists see the suspension of the NI parliament as?

A loss of their own power over their own country