-
Period: to
Attlee
-
Welfare State introduced
-
NHS Created
Part of Attlee's welfare state, use as evidence that Labour has a commitment to public spending and thats why consenus politics kept them out of power -
Prescription charges (Bevan & Wilson resign temporarily)
pay for glasses and prescribed drugs, evidence that wilson was a bevanite -
Period: to
Newcastle unemployment
between 3.1%-8.5% in 50s -
1.2% Unemployment
-
Period: to
1.7M homes built
-
Period: to
Churchill
-
Last woman is hung in Britain
Ruth Ellis, had a child, caused outcry in the UK and encouraged anti-death penalty campaigns -
itv created
commercial tv emerges due to increase in demand -
Challenge to Britain
1955 Labour Manifesto -
"Cold Porridge Stirred Through A Wet Blanket"
Bevan describing 1955 labour manifesto - challenge to britain -
Lancs Wake Weeks
2 weeks off a year for lancashire cotton towns, timed with 1955 election, ensured constituencies such as bolton, rochdale & darwen. also caused gains in manchester -
Period: to
Eden
-
Clean Air Act
aimed to prevent smog of early 1950s -
Suez Crisis
Israel would invade egypt and france and britain would intervene to protect the canal and topple naser, found out and was placed under economic sanctions by the US -
Rent Act
put 6M properties on the market -
"You've Never Had It So Good!"
Macmillan Speech -
Wolfden Commission
suggested homosexuality should be decriminalised, by John Wolfden -
Homicide Act
less crimes made worthy of the death penalty -
Rent Act
Rent went up, harder for ppl at the lower end of the scale to afford leases -
Period: to
White Defence League active
-
Period: to
Macmillan
-
CND created
-
Thornycroft & Team resigns over stop-go row
-
2.2% Unemployment
-
Printers Strike
were being paid 73% of what skilled craftsmen in car industries were until strike -
Home Ownership x2
-
Period: to
British National Party active
formerly white defence league -
Period: to
600 000 employed in coal industry
-
IMF Loan
international monetary fund, -
Working week 48 → 42 hrs
-
Profumo Scandal
John Profumo (Secretary of State for War) had an affair with 19yrs model Christine Keeler beginning in 1961. denied in a statement to the HoC, but weeks later a police investigation exposed the truth, proving he had lied. public interest was heightened by reports that Keeler may have been simultaneously involved wt Captain Yevgeny Ivanov, a Soviet naval attaché, thereby creating a possible national security risk. Keeler knew both through her friendship wt Stephen Ward, an osteopath and socialite -
Britain applies to join EEC
-
Private Eye
a magazine that wittily criticised the establishment -
Vassall Affair
William John Christopher Vassall was a British civil servant who spied for the Soviet Union, allegedly under pressure of blackmail, from 1954 until his arrest in 1962. Although operating only at a junior level, he was able to provide details of naval technology which were crucial to the modernising of the Soviet Navy. He was sentenced to eighteen years' imprisonment, and was released in 1972, after having served ten -
That was the Week that was
BBC programme that criticised the government and class system, satire, estimated 50% of population watched tv in the evening -
£100M BoP Deficit
problems of stop go -
"Britain's Economy has been sick for many years"
The Times -
Night of the Long Knives
Macmillan cabinet reshuffle, 1/3 of cabinet sacked, involved 52 people and 39/101 ministerial posts -
Rejected from eec
-
Kim Philby
a senior official in the foreign office caught running a spy network for the USSR for decades -
Argyll Divorce Case
the Duke of Argyll accused his wife of infidelity and inc Polaroid photos of the Duchess naked, save for pearl necklace wt another man. There were also photographs fellating a naked man whose face was not shown. It was speculated that this man was Defence Min Duncan Sandys who offered to resign from the cabinet. A list of 88 men with whom the Duke believed his wife had fked said to include 2 government ministers & 3 members of British royal family. The judge "disgusting sexual activities" -
Rejected from EEC 1.0
Charles DeGaulle vetos britain's entry, blaming it on that the economy was weak -
Beeching Report
british rail cuts, left many rural areas isolated -
Robbins Report
- unis expanded
- 12 CATS (college of advanced technology) upgraded to uni status
- larger grants so no potential students would be deferred by lack of income
-
Period: to
Douglas-Home
-
Last men hung in Britain
Peter Anthony Allen was hanged at Walton Prison in Liverpool, and Gwynne Owen Evans at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, for the murder of John Alan West -
No of Railway Lines cut by 30%
-
£750M BoP Deficit
-
Only 1/10 kids in Comprehensives
-
Period: to
Wilson
-
Race Relations Act
outlawed discrimination on the "grounds of colour, race, or ethnic or national origins" in public places in Great Britain. It also prompted the creation of the Race Relations Board in 1966. -
Education Reform
Anthony Crosland issued circular 10/65 to all local education authorities (LEA’s) requesting them to convert to comprehensives. Comps replaced the Tripartite system these schools did not select their students. 1964 1 in 10 pupils were in comps. 1970 only 8 LEA had failed to convert, there were 1145 comp schools catering for 1 in 3 state educated pupils. Polytechnics introduced focus on work skills & science. 9 colleges of advanced technology (CATs) became unis. 1968 30 polys and 56 unis. -
Circular 10/65
Anthony Crosland, request all schools to become comprehensives, Although it was a circular and not compulsory, many authorities responded and by 1970, only 8 local authorities had failed to draw up plans for comprehensive schools. -
20% of population were anti-comprehensive
roughly same number were in grammar schools -
Period: to
Death Penalty abolished for trial run
a free vote abolished for trial run 5 years 1969 made permanent. 5 year trial period, opinion polls support for hanging never dipped below 60% and ocassionally rose to 80% when big crimes were taking place e.g Moors Murders. Final vote HOC- 343:185 HOL- 220:174 -
Race Relations Board set up
Its purpose was to assess and resolve individual cases of discrimination. Committees were set up across England, Wales and Scotland to receive and investigate complaints. -
Devaluation of £ by 14%
weak economy, Financial Times says it was ‘an open and humiliating admission that the government’s policy has failed’. James Callaghan was forced to resign as chancellor, and Wilson made an unwise television broadcast, assuring people that ‘the pound in your pocket’ was unaffected. Wilson was trying to prevent panic buying, but the popular reaction to the broadcast was extremely negative as inflation soon made the pound in everyone’s pocket worth less. -
Dangerous Drugs Act
Doctors required to notify Home Office of addicted patients. Restriction on prescription of heroin and cocaine for treatment of addiction. -
NHS Family Planning Act
Made contraception readily available through the NHS by enabling local health authorities to provide advice to a much wider population. Previously, these services were limited to women whose health was put at risk by pregnancy. Edwin Brooks MP introduced it into the House of Commons as a Private Members Bill -
Sexual Offences Act
-
Abortion Act
an abortion was lawful if 'the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman, 2 doctors notes needed -
National Front established
formerly white defence league and British national party, a far-right, fascist political party, still a thing today sadly -
Precription Charges reinstated
under Roy Jenkins, had been taken away in 1964 by labour, roy didn't want to but the economy was crap so he had to -
Ombudsman Introduced
Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967: official appointed to investigate complaints referred to them by an MP where there has been evidence of "maladministration" having occurred which has resulted in an "unremedied injustice". Complaints to the Ombudsman are subject to a "time bar" – this means that the Ombudsman may determine a complaint to be out of jurisdiction if too much time has passed between the event or course of events being complained about and the complaint being received -
Pound in your Pocket Speech
after devaluation, humiliating, tries to lie to the ppl that the pound in their pocket isn't worth less, except for the fact that it is because it's been devalued by 14% so yeah, its worth 14% less the speech! -
Race Relations Act 2.0
an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom making it illegal to refuse housing, employment, or public services to a person on the grounds of colour, race, ethnic or national origins in Great Britain (although not in Northern Ireland, which had its own parliament at the time). -
Theatres Act
abolished censorship of the stage -
Commonwealth Immigrants Act
effectively revoked British citizenship and made thousands of people stateless barred the future right of entry previously enjoyed by Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies, to those born there or who had at least one parent or grandparent born there. -
Divorce Reform Act
Introduction of no-fault divorce enabling couples to divorce after they had been separated for two years if they both desired a divorce, or five years if only one wanted a divorce. ... People could end marriages that had "irretrievably broken down" and neither partner had to prove "fault". -
Open University
set up by Jennie lee Championed by Wilson, and his enthusiasm for equal opportunities in education, modernisation and white heat of technology.
Offered high quality learning in arts and science to those who never had the opportunity to attend campus unis. It started with the experiment on radio and TV 1963, ‘university of Air’ . opening its headquarters in Milton Keynes. It became a rapid success beginning Jan 1971. Often attracting mature women and disadvantaged. By 1980 it had 70,000 students -
Abolition of Death Penalty
Anti-hanging campaign boost after case of Ruth Ellis (1955) became last woman to be hung in Britain, Sydney Silverman campaigned for abolition despite Tories reduced the no of crimes that carried capital punishment (1957). 1965, a free vote abolished for trial run 5 years 1969 made permanent. 5 year trial period, opinion polls support for hanging never dipped below 60% and ocassionally rose to 80% when big crimes were taking place e.g Moors Murders. Final vote HOC- 343:185 HOL- 220:174 -
Callaghan sends troops into Ulster
foreign secretary, troops welcomed by catholic community however violence continued, army stays till 2007, opposition from IRA -
Period: to
British Troops in Ulster
-
Equal Pay Act
Established principle of equal pay for equal work.
Didn't come into force until 1975. Some employers got round by, raising women's wages to the lowest male rate, even when the women's jobs were more demanding or by creating different job titles for women. Equal Pay for equal value of work was vague and acted as a loophole. -
Matrimonial Proceedings Property Act
the work of a wife should be considered in divorce settlements, whether paid or in the home. introduced new powers of the divorce courts to order either spouse to make financial provision for or transfer of money to the other spouse or a child of the family. -
Only 8 schools weren't comprehensives
became independent schools that charged fees -
1145 Comprehensives
-
British Mines running at a loss
government unwilling to put any more public money into it, cause for the strike -
140 000 Kill the Bill Protest
140,000 union members marched through central London chanting ‘Kill the Bill’ in response to the Industrial Relations Act 1971 -
Industrial Relations Act
Its basic terms were: Unions had to register, Secret ballots had to be held of members to agree to strike, The National Industrial Relations Court ensured that the Act was obeyed, The Commission for Industrial Relations would iron-out conflicts between unions. Unpopular with the rank and file members. In February 1971, 140,000 union members marched through central London chanting ‘Kill the Bill’. Unions exploited loopholes and never complied with it. -
Miner's Strike (under Heath)
Long-term cause for miner's strike, resulted in 27% pay rise to equal with other industrial workers -
2000 comprehensives
-
Period: to
Wilson
-
Ridley Report
an internal document produced by right-wing MP Nicholas Ridley. Leaked to economist magazine. Revealed gov plans to confront the unions. Detailed plans to stockpile coal & import it and to close uneconomic pits Photos from the Miners' Strike! -
200 000 employed in coal industry
see 1990 for comparison -
17% interest rates
Higher interest rates at 17% in 1979 – made it expensive for businesses to borrow and increased value of the £1 so difficult for British business to export = economic recession early 80s -
Period: to
Steel employment 1/2
halves, job losses due to cuts -
Period: to
No of shareholders 3M → 9M
impact of privatisation, popular capitalism -
Inflation 15%
impact of monetarism, only solved inflation problem in short-term/immediate term -
2M Unemployment
impact of monetarism, 1980s recession -
NCB announces plan to close 23 pits
-
Budget
impact of monetarism, govt borrowing went down , grants to local councils were cut (led to clashes between Labour run councils , Thatcher called the lefty councils wasteful – Ken Livingston in London and Hatton in Liverpool) rate capping limited amount of money council could raise in local taxation, Howe the chancellor called it ‘the most unpopular budget in history’ -
Employment Act
made sympathetic strikes illegal (striking in support of other workers on strike) & made closed shop hard to sustain, cause for the strike and reason for its failure -
Ian MacGregor becomes Chairman of NCB
-
Trade Union Act
required all trade unions to hold a secret ballot before calling a strike -
Scargill claims to see list of 75 pit closures
it was true! 30 yr rule means its been released! plan for 75 pit closures over 3yrs leading to loss of 64 000 jobs, government had claimed it'd only be 20 -
British Telecom Privatised
successful sale but shares sold too cheaply, popular capitalism, gov took all revenue -
Period: to
Miners' Strike
-
Battle of Orgreave
a violent confrontation on between pickets and South Yorkshire Police and other police forces, including the Metropolitan Police, at a British Steel Corporation coking plant at Orgreave, in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, later investigation found that the SYP had acted unlawfully and had used unnecessary violence, 123 injured, 95 arrested, politicisation of the police -
NCB announces 20 pit closures, 20 000 jobs lost
National Coal Board -
The Union of Democratic Mineworkers [not NUM]
![The Union of Democratic Mineworkers [not NUM]](https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.timetoast.com/public/uploads/photo/19727564/image/medium-0a0a323daff0111b64c42ef6da9dd13a.jpg?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAJB6ZCNNAN7BE7WDQ%2F20240504%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20240504T103253Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=6d4e1192e8da7e8785451537fc489795e1546004f5e5d68e32259b0d5b12fd86)
broke off from NUM, 30 000 membership -
Wapping Dispute
that bitch rupert murdoch, newspaper proprietors led by Murdoch tried to reduce the power of the print unions and there was a massive confrontation at Murdoch's wapping plant in jan 1986, print unions failed to prevent to publication or distribution of any newspapers and the strike collapsed after 13 months -
Local Government Act
abolished big local authorities in cities and benefits were frozen ‘the biggest fiscal squeeze of peacetime’ -
British Gas Privatised
biggest share offer in history, popular capitalism -
Inflation 22% → 2.5%
impact of monetarism -
Financial Services Act
south and southeast higher employment due to big bang and impact of FSA 1986 and creation of jobs in service industry, freed up city of London and financial markets from the tight control of bank of England. The big bang deregulated the London stock exchange – free from competition . Foreign banks could now operate as stock brokers. Made London a world trade centre of the world to compete with Wall Street. -
3M Unemployed 13.5% of workforce
-
Employment Act
ppl could no longer be disciplined for continuing to work during an official strike -
Top rate Income tax 83% → 40%
top rate tax fell from 83% to 40 % by 1988 and standard tax rate fell to 25% from 33%. -
Standard Rate of Income Tax 33% → 25%
top rate tax fell from 83% to 40 % by 1988 and standard tax rate fell to 25% from 33%. -
Poll Tax introduced
flat rate tax, used to be based on property, in order to fund local councils, the hope was that it'd encourage ppl to be more active abt decisions in the community if they contributed more but was hard to justify as it was clearly unfair due to differences in income, replaced by council tax 2 years later -
60 000 employed in coal industry
dropped from 200 000 in 1979, impact of miners strike -
Union membership 2/3 of what it was in 1979
impact of the miners' strike -
-
Poll tax riots
Non-fatal injuries: 113, Arrests: 339, 200 000 ppl -
David Mellor
resigns after affair with a Spanish actress, 'The People' newspaper claimed he wore Chelsea FC's strip whilst making love -
Tim Yeo
resigns after an affair with a local tory councillor had produced a love child -
David Milligan
accidentally throttles himself to death after engaging in sexual self-strangulation -
Neil Hamilton
was accused by the Guardian of having received brown envelopes containing money from Mohamed Al Fayed who asked for commercial favours in return -
Martin Bell
(BBC correspondent) stood as an independent against Hamilton in Tatton constituency, Labour & Libs agree not to propose a candidate, Bell won by 11 000 majority
