Britain Booklet 2

Wilson and Labour government

Relationship with and policies towards USA

Liberal reforming legislation

Social and cultural change

Harold Wilson PM 1964-1970
and then 1974-1976

Labour and the trade unions

Ideology

Economy

Positioned the Labour Party as a modern alternative to old fashioned Tories

Unified Left and Right of the Labour Party

Policies

Aimed at ending the ‘stop-go’ policies of the last 13 years

Labour inherited a huge deficit of £800 million. Two options were available:

Deflation - prevent rise in inflation but would in reality continue ‘stop-go’ policy

Devaluation - exports cheaper but emphasise Britain’s weakness (+ Attlee had done this in 1949 = the party of devaluation)

Started the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) in 1964 and National Board for Prices and Incomes in 1965 to plan economic changes.

Trade Unions influence due to post war consensus politics - importance of maintaining full employment

• Favourable with general public > Opinion polls showed 60% people supported

• Macmillan and Wilson tried to court trade unions e.g. Wilson made Cousins (trade unionist) minister of technology

• Wild cat strikes broke out

• ‘IN PLACE OF STRIFE’ 1969 –necessary to curb unions

= Upset TU’s and Labour > storm of protests including the National Union of Mineworkers, 50 MPs ready to rebel

• One of many setbacks (Rhodesia, Northern Ireland), Wilson gave in after many months by striking a compromise with TUC =

• Abandoning the attempt at all times to have harmonious relations with unions meant that successive Labour leaders could not bring the party back together.

Labour divisions

click to edit

Personal rivalries between wilson and his most powerful cabinet colleagues

Women

General living

Race and immigration

Youth culture

The expansion of mass media

Growth of Leisure activities

TV accounted for 23% of leisure time

Hobbies such as DIY, gardening, cookery, knitting etc became more popular

Fewer people were expected to work on saturday mornings and weekends could be spent in leisure activities

Car ownership increased rapidly in the 1960s- 77% of journeys by 1974

number of holidays rapidly increased

TVs became available everywhere

Hugh Greene became the Director of BBC in which new programmes were commissioned

By 1961 75% of the population had a TV in their home and by 1971 it was 91%

Radios-BBC

2nd wave feminism spread over to the UK

Growth in female education

Easier divorce created greater freedoms

Still a lack of economic independence (e.g. a male need to sign mortgage forms, either husband or father)

Sudden influx of Kenyan Asians (Ugandan expulsions) led to introduction of COMMONWEALTH IMMIGRATION ACT (limited the right of return to Britain for non-white Commonwealth citizens).

Labour put forward further controls on immigration and set up a race relations board to implement controls and changes.

continuing influx from New Commonwealth = social tensions 1950’s that by 1960’s had not faded.

Young people clashed with their parents over fashion, music taste and moral standards

Alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, illegal drug use increased

Different youth subcultures emerged- The skin heads and the hipppies

Education

End of capital punishment

Private members bill

Divorce reform

Legislation of abortion

Until 1967 abortion was illegal

Between 100,000-200,000 illegal abortions were performed each year

Between 1958-60 82 women died from illegal backstreet abortions

The abortion act permitted the legal termination of a pregnancy within the first 28 weeks

Number of abortions increased from 35,000 in 1968 to 141,000 in 1975

Homosexuality

Up until 1961 men could be put in prison for 2 years for homosexuality

1967 sexual offences act- Both partners had to consent, both had to be over 21 and it had to be in private

Tripartite system- comprehensive schools established

Open University promoted equal opportunities in education

Until the late 1960s adultery had to be committed in order to get a divorce- only able to be investigated by the rich using private detectives

Divorce reform act passed in 1969

Allowed a no fault divorce

This law meant that they could divorce if they had lived apart for 2 years and both agreed to divorce or they had lived apart for 5 years and one partner wanted the divorce