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Towards a New Consensus: 1987 - 1997 - Coggle Diagram
Towards a New Consensus: 1987 - 1997
Major's government
fall of Thatcher
1987 stock market crash following 'Big Bang' in 1986
1988 budget created 'lawson boom', led to balance of payments problems
1990 inflation = 10.9%
loss of ultra safe seat of eastbourne to liberals in 1990 by-election showed declining popularity
declining popularity worsened by poll tax and reflected in opinion polls
party divisions worsened by europe, economic policies and thatchers style - thatchers resignation came after failure to win ballot on Heseltines leadership challenge
labour party realignment meant they led tories in opinion polls throughout 1990
political sleaze
scandals of tory sleaze emerged from more than a dozen MP's sex scandals such as cabinet ministers david mellor and tim yeo (both forced to resign)
corruption scandals involving illegal arms dealings meant in 1994 the scott enquiry was set up by major and found ministers had allowed matrix churchill to supply arms to components in iraq
cash for questions affair involving money for lobbying remained relevant throughout 1997 election
economy
at beginning of term, economy suffering from declining manufacturing output, high interest rates, steep rise in unemployment, slump in house prices
from 1991 to 1992 unemployment rose from 1.6 to 2.6 million
homeowners trapped in 'negative equity' and many had homes repossessed
forced high government spending due to high unemployment - huge borrowing as well to subsidise transport and NHS spending
september 1992 - british pound = under pressure and overvalued
pound kept sinking, forcing britain to pull out of ERM in 1992 (stabilised EEC exchange rates)
fall in support through opinion polls and tory party became labelled as ' throwing away long-standing trust on economy'
leaving ERM prevented britain from keeping high exchange rates and helped british exporters by allowing exchange rates to float down
by 1997 most economic indicators were positive
northern ireland
accusations of a shoot to kill policy following murder of 3 IRA members by SAS in 1988
loyalists and republicans engaged in 'tit for tat' killings, IRA began targeting mainland Britain
political breakthrough from 1993 - government began receiving messages that Sinn Fein was ready to discuss peace agreements
major had a good working relationship with the irish PM- reynolds
in 1993 major and reynolds went public with joint downing street agreement
1994 - IRA announced a ceasefire
unanimous agreement was difficult and the IRA began violent methods again
in 1966 the IRA bombed canary wharf, london and destroyed manchester centre
major as a leader
popular - thatcherites viewed him as 'one of them', national press tone = positive, conservatives soared in opinion polls
abandoned poll tax in 1991 in favour of council tax
intended to set britain at heart of europe while maintaining a 'middle way' on his stance
conservative election victory of 1992
described as having 'soapbox' politics = gained party popularity
election in 1992 - tories placed 29% in opinion polls compared to labours 41% yet still won
labour seen as unelectable in 1992, not reformed enough; tories seen as party able to get the country out of the mess it was in
political policies
privatisation was continued with coal in 1994 and railways in 1996
PFI introduced, public-private partnerships, were private firms provide infrastructure developments and deliver public services funded by the state for contract time
citizens charter introduced in 1991 to give people more power over quality of public services
continuation of pit closures - 1991 heseltine announced closure of 31 pits
mad cow disease - identified as threat in 1996, british beef = banned in europe
conservative divisions
thatcher used alan walters as economic adviser over chancellor nigel lawson = infuriating for him
divisions worsened over sleaze, scandals and europe - effect of drowning out any achievements
'back me or sack me' - 1995 re-election called by Major due to insecurities, 89 tories voted against
thatcher encouraged eurosceptics by demanding a referendum on europe
labour party changes
leadership
neil kinnock 1987-92
heavy defeat in 1987 election
peter mandelson "spin doctor" hired as director of communications for labour in 1985
mandelson drove the idea of new labour
by 1988 much of the 1983 manifesto was ditched
1989 - end of labour support for closed shop unions, signalling a split from TU's
labour looked in favour to win 1992 election, and the loss was blamed on kinnock - he resigned 4 days later
john smith 1992-94
'one member, one vote' introduced in 1993 in attempt to reduce TU influence - members of party voted on parliamentary candidates rather than TU vote block
died in 1994 of heart attack
didn't want to extend OMOV to party conference motions that decided party policy
tony blair 1994-2007
blair and brown made a deal to avoid divisive leadership battle - blair would lead and brown would be a close partner on advising strategy and policy
persuaded labour to rewrite clause IV in 1995 - end of commitment to nationalisation, acceptance of privatisation of thatcher and major - embrace modern capitalist economy
brown promised labour to follow conservative spending plans to convince people labour was economically competent, and remove stigma of being 'tax and spend' policy
blair was a skilful communicator, attractive to women and young voters
all-women shortlists introduced, meaning labour had a record number of female candidates
blairs press secretary alistair campbell used his experience as a former journalist to win over the press and media - they were won over, and the labour campaign was run by a disciplined 'spin machine'
1997 victory
opinion polls during election showed a large labour lead but the party still feared of conservative victory like the 92 election
blair secretly discussed possibility of coalition with lib dem leader paddy ashdown in fear of conservative victory
labour pledge card contained five promises
classes cut to 30 or less for 5, 6 and 7 y/o from money for assisted places scheme
fast-track punishment for young offenders by halving time from arrest to sentencing
cut NHS waiting lists by treating 100,000 more a year by using £100m saved from cutting NHS red tape
250,000 under 25 y/o off benefits and into work by using money from windfall levy on privatised utilities
no rise in income tax, cut VAT to 5% and inflation and interest rates as low as possible
accusations of tory sleaze remained damaging and battles over maastricht and europe continued - tory party were divided and unelectable
labour viewed a modern, fresh and vibrant
widespread tactical voting occurred to maximise the anti-conservative vote - labour supporters voted lib dem and vice versa
society
gender
beginning of third-wave feminism at start of 1990's
more emphasis on breaking down stereotypes about women based on race, gender and sexuality
emergence of the Riot Grrrl movement following Bikini Kill and Huggy Bear that sang about feminist issues with a punk sensibility
'girl power' became a mainstream message and was led by the pop group 'spice girls'
thatchers position of PM showed that women could achieve highly, but critics argued she did little for women when she was in power, with only 1 female cabinet minister and stating in an interview in 1982 'i owe nothing to women's lib'
in 1992 the first female speaker of the house of commons betty boothroyd, and the first female head of MI5 stella rimmington were appointed
1994 - rape within marriage became a criminal offence
by 1993 68% of working age women were employed, and by 1996 50% of employees were women
womens pay improved to be 80% of mens earnings, and they became taxed separately from their husbands
race relations
series of riots happened in 1991-92 across oxford, newcastle and burnley involved predominantly young white men on deprived council estates
1987 general election four non-white MP's elected, first since 1920's
1992 - black tory candidate for cheltenham lost seat to lib dem following rumours of racism from some tories
tensions remained between young black men and the police, these rose following the murder of stephen lawrence in 1993
Met police failed to sufficiently investigate the death of a black teenager in southeast london, assuming he was causing the crime not a victim to it, and the CPS let off the youth white boys who murdered him following a lack of evidence
in 1998 following a campaign in the daily mail, the government ordered a public enquiry into the Met police, the MacPherson report found them to be incompetent and institutionally racist
sharp increase in asylum seekers in the 90's, many being muslim
there was concern over the muslim integration into british society following the publication of 'the satanic verses' in 1988 by a british indian author
it was considered blasphemous and the author was sentenced to death by the iranian ayatollah
some muslims accepted it as british culture, others burnt it - some muslims couldn't reconcile the difference between british societal values and their islamic beliefs
anti-establishmentism
major outlined an aim in 1990 to create a classless society and society saw an increase in challenges to traditional authority, seen in rising criticism of the monarchy
changing attitudes to the monarchy showed a decline in deference to the establishment
1987-1997 - 3/4 queens kids marriages broke down, details of extramarital affairs and recorded phone calls were splashed over tabloids
the revelation of diana's treatment at the hands of the royal family damaged their reputation
the queen was forced to agree to pay tax on her income and a reduction in the civil list following public disquiet about finances of the family after the restoration of windsor following the fire in 1992
queen was accused of not caring following public mourning over diana's death in 1997 - blair gave a speech which increased his popularity
youth culture challenged the establishment, in the late 80's ' acid house' dance music with a psychedelic edge arrived from USA, there was an explosion of raves and parties linked to the use of MDMA (ecstasy)
government passed the criminal justice and public order act in 1994 in response to rising moral panic over drug use - it gave the police more powers to break up free parties
series of protests began against road developments such as twyford down M3 extension in 1992, and the M11 link road and newbury bypass - it involved people climbing and chaining themselves to trees to be uprooted and building tunnels and living underground
social liberalism
negative attitudes to homosexuality grew in the 80's reaching a peak in 1987 - the identification of AIDS in 1981 became referred to as the "gay plague" creating stigma
government started a prevention campaign in 1985 to educate people and provide needle exchanges
1987 - princess diana shook hands with a patient with AIDS = significant in de-stigmatising AIDS
section 28 banned promotion of homosexuality by local councils was passed in 1988 - people believed it made it illegal to discuss homosexuality in schools
outrage! and stonewall were pressure groups that fought against prejudice
outrage! fought against section 28 by threatening to 'out' gay clergy and MP's
stonewall backed test legal cases at the european court of human rights challenging the unequal age of consent and ban on homosexuals in armed forced
age of consent for gay men was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1994, and finally to 16 in 2000
ban of homosexuality in armed forces lifted in 2000
divorce rate records hit record highs in the 90's, with babies born to unmarried parents doubled from 12% in the 80's to 30% in the 90's - family campaigners feared for the future of marriages
child support agency set up in 1993 to force absent parents to pay child maintenance
victoria gillick led a campaign against the availability of contraception/ advice to girls under 16 without parental consent - overruled in 1985 by HoL's
highlighted the concern of under-age sex
foreign relations
europe
thatcher signed SEA in 1986 but became progressively more negative about britain and europe relations afterwards - she wanted a single market, but feared the limit the SEA placed on britains influence
1988 bruges speech by thatcher to set out her intention with the EEC and emphasises it was a trade association - it infuriated other european leaders and made them question british commitment to further integration
thatchers negativity over europe causes internal tension within government, some poeple blamed brussels federalists changing the EEC, others blamed thatchers 'backtracking' on promises
following the collapse of communism thatcher was keen to expand the eec to eastern states, favouring a wider and shallower union over a deeper union
the tory party under major remained divided over europe, with europhiles including kenneth clarke and chris patten and eurosceptics including IDS, michael portillo and john redwood
maastricht treaty of 1992 set up new structures to deal with the expansion of the EEC, it also secures british opt-outs of the single currency and social chapter
the debate over the maastricht treaty mobilised opposition against major in regards to europe - anti-federalist league in 1993 and the referendum party, after 18 months the treaty was ratified by parliament
balkans
1989 yugoslav predisent transformed from communist leader to a serbian nationalist who threatened extreme violence agaisnt the albanians in kosovo
1991 - slovenia declared independence and serbia and croatia had large violent clashes
EU and UN began urgent diplomatic efforts
1992 - war began in bosnia and the muslim population was driven out in 'ethnic cleansing', a UN peacekeeping force was put in place - in 1995 7000 bosnian men and boys = massacred a srebrenica while UN troops were ordered not to intervene
american air strikes on serb forces forced a peace confernece at dayton, ohio and peace treaty was signed at paris in 1995
end of cold war
soviet union fell apart in 1991
collapse of communism across eastern europe in 1989 following repudiation of brezhnev doctrine
withdrawal from afghan, fall of berlin wall and end of cold war in 1989