Thatcher economy + society

Stats of inflation

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

Stats on unemployment

rose to over 2 million by 1981 and in 1983 it was over 3 million which was 13.5% of the population did not fall below 3 million until 1987

Stats on privitisation

February 1981 British Aerospace; Aug 1984 Jaguar; Dec 1984 BT; Feb 1987 British Airways

Examples of deregulation

The ‘Big Bang’ on 27 October 1986 deregulated the Stock Exchange - financial services became one of Britain’s most important export industries

Method to control inflation

1979 interest rate was raised to 17% - inflation reach low of 2.5% in 1986

Stats on deindustrialisation

Manufacturing output fell by 15% in 2 years; In the west midlands, production fell by a quarter; steel production was cut by 30%; the number employed in manufacturing fell from 7.1 million to 5 million by 1990

Regional unemployment stat

In Liverpool unemployment hit 25%; average weekly household income in 1985 was £248 in the south east whereas it was £173 in the north

High unemployment leading to social unrest

Series of riots between April and July 1981 in areas which had high levels of unemployment and depreivation: Brixton, Liverpool, leeds

examples of tax

Cuts - June 1987 basic rate of tax was reduced by 33% to 30% while top rate was reduced from 80% to 60% - to fund this two rates of VAT were combined and set at 15%

Stats on Council Houses

When she came to power just under a third of British families lived in council accommodation, five million tenancies – by the time she left nearly one and half of those council houses had been converted into mortgages at great benefit to the owners

Example of government manipulation of stats

(1) depends how you count unemployment (may not count those people who have given up looking for a job (2) Youth Training Scheme (YTS) had 300,000 people involved which meant they were not included in unemployment statistics

Example of privatisation money raised

In the 1980s £29 billion was raised via the sale of land and businesses

Example of ‘shareholder democracy’

The proportion of adults holding shares rose from 7 per cent when Labour left office, to 25 per cent when Thatcher did

Stats from undersold shares

Shares from privatisation were sold of £2.5 billion bellow the level they should have been sold

Failure of privatisation

Large corporations such as British Gas and British Telecom managed to stay as one limiting the ability of a competitive market

Thatchers early moves against unions

Employment Act 1982 banned secondary picketing; clegg report meant civil service, notably police got a pay rise

What was the Ian MacGregor plan

Closing 20 pits and loosing 20000 workers and cut by 4 million tonnes of coal a year

Stats for preparation of strikes

Central electricity generating board – 17, 18 weeks of surpless

Stats on right to buy

But after three years of residents a tenant would have the right to a third discount to market rate, a one percent discount each year and up to 50% discount. Cash maximum of up to £50,000.

Negative of right to buy

But after three years of residents a tenant would have the right to a third discount to market rate, a one percent discount each year and up to 50% discount. Cash maximum of up to £50,000. by the end of 1980s councils stop building homes

Stats on positive of right to buy

2 million homes brought up until 1990

Negative stats of right to buy

Local authorities stopped building homes (from c 800 000 pa in 1980 to c. 200 000 in 1990, and in the 1990s negligible amounts)

When did the NCB announce closure of Pits

March 1984 closer of 20 pits - Scargill believed real plan was close to 70 pits - he was correct

Consequence of miners strike

Strikes end March 1985; number employed by the coal industry fell from 200,000 to 60,000 between 1979 and 1990