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Towards a new consensus 1987-97 - Coggle Diagram
Towards a new consensus 1987-97
Social issues
Anti-Establishment culture
There was lots of criticising the monarchy. Tabloids were filled with details of extra martial affairs such as phone conversations. there was a shift in attitude over the financing of Windsor castle after a fire. this debate led to the queen agreeing to pay tax on her income. The princess of wales talking about her bad treatment also hurt the monarchy's reputation. The YBA challenged what art was and created art from materials not associated with art. Youth culture also challenged the establishment. in the summer of 1988 and 1989 saw an explosion of raves and free parties. in response the government passed the criminal justice and public order act in 1944 which gave more powers to the police to break up these free parties. the free party and race movement also overlapped the environment movement
A series of protests against road developments started at the M3 and spread to other place. they bought a wide range of people together. the protesters used new measures to delay work such as climbing trees and building tunnels underground.
The position of women
The beginning of the 1990's saw the start of what was termed third wave feminism. this was broader than legal and financial equalities and included more about breaking down stereotypes about women including race, gender and sexuality. By the mid 1990's the message of girl power had become a more mainstream idea. While Thatcher's position as PM showed women could achieve more highly, her relationship with feminism was very difficult. Lots of women argued she did little for women while in power and she did nothing to encourage women to get into politics.
Regardless of this there was lots of progress in women's rights. The first female speaker in the house of commons and the first female head of MI5 were both appointed 1992. in 1994 rape within marriage became a criminal offence. it also became increasingly common for women to work by 1993 68 percent of women were in employment. Women's pay also improved in this period even though it remained at 80% of mens and married women could also be taxed separately from their husbands.
The Extent of social liberalism
Major's speech known as 'Back to Basics' reflected a period of time when there was substantial changes in society that many people found unsettling. the beginning of this period was socially conservative but over the next decade it became more socially liberal.
Both the social conservatism of Thatcherism and the changes in attitudes can be seen in attitudes to Homosexuality and the changes on attitudes. negative attitudes grew and peaked in 87. it is believed this is because of the of AIDS crisis. it was referred to as the gay plague. AIDS stirred up greater prejudice about gay people. and the Right accused the left of promoting homosexuality as they were funding support groups. After a book about Homosexuality was stocked in many school libraries. Section 28 was passed in response to this. This banned the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities.
Divorce hit record highs and the percentage of babies born to unmarried parents doubled. Single mothers and absent fathers were heavily criticised.
The Child support agency was set up to ensure that absent parents paid maintenance for their children.
Victoria Gillick set up a campaign about under-age sex. She advocated against the availability of contraceptive advice to girls under the age of consent without their parents’ permission. Initially the high court ruled that this advice could only be given with the consent of a parent or guardian, though this was overruled in 1985 by the house of lords. Mary Whitehouse continued her work to get all video works rated and if necessary, cut or rejected. She influenced the passing of the video recording act in 1994. Their attitudes towards under-age sex was very conservative and that children needed protecting from an increasingly permissive society. It is also clear from the impact of the scandals that enveloped conservative MPs during the 1990’s that public expectation about the behaviour of public figures was still high. Extramarital affairs, illegitimate children and issues of sexuality all led to MPs resigning as ministers or stepping down.
Race relations
By the later 1980's there was some signs of progress in race relations. During this time period there were no mass outbreaks of disorder. in the 1987 general election 4 non-white MP's elected. Britain started to be seen as more comfortable with multiculturalism. Progress was never consistent a Black conservative MP was voted out and tensions remained between Young black men and the police. This was exemplified by the murder of Stephen Lawrence. In the 1990's there was a massive increase in asylum seekers, fleeing from violent areas such as Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq. As well as this migration into Britain from The New Commonwealth. These immigrants were often relatives of people who already lived in the UK. Many of these immigrants were muslim. This raised concerns about muslims in British culture. Due to the publishing of the Salman Rushdie there was lots of tension between British values and Islamic beliefs
The realignment of the labour party
Realignment under Neil Kinnock, John Smith and Tony Blair
The revival of the labour party in the 1990's seemed to be dominated by the ideas and personality of Tony Blair. But the transformation of the Labour Party was not only due to Blair, Neil Kinnock and John Smith also made important contributions.
Despite Kinnock's changes between 1983-1987 the labour party lost the 1987 election. Kinnock then wanted to reorganise the party and move its policies towards the centre. The party became more professional in its presentation. A policy review was launched after the defeat at the 87 election. by 1988 much of the 1983 manifesto had been scrapped such as EEC withdrawal, unilateral nuclear disarmament and rises in taxation on high incomes.
Kinnock's successor was john smith. He was seen as serious and someone to be trusted on the economy. john smith signalled a shift in the labour party by moving to abolish the trade union block vote by introducing 'one member, one vote' (OMOV) He died 2 years after becoming the head of labour
Blair set out to further remodel the labour brand and promote 'new labour'. Blair wanted labour to drop the socialist ideas that appeared outdated and to instead embrace the modern capitalist economy. The labour party also worked hard to ensure that it was no longer seen as the party of 'tax and spend' economic policies. he made the labour party appear more vibrant and fresh away from the sleaze of the conservative party
The 1997 general election
Labours victory
Labour created a pledge card with five promises. these were clear and easy to understand and designed to attaract a range of voters. The labour party was no longer an easy target for attack.
Pledge card
Cut NHS waiting lists by treating an extra 100,000 patients as a first step by releasing £100 million saved from NHS red tape
No rise in income tax cuts, cut VAT on heating to 5% and inflation and interest rates as low as possible
Fast track punishment for persistent young offenders
Get 250,000 under 25 year olds and into work by using money from a windfall levy on the privatised utilities.
Cut class sizes to 30 or under by using money from the assisted places scheme
Reasons for the conservatives defeat
Divisions in the party over Europe
Withdrawal from the ERM
John major did not Have the loyalty of the conservative party
The cons had lost all the by-elections since 1990
Lots of sexual and financial scandals