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The Era of New Labour: 1997 - 2007 - Coggle Diagram
The Era of New Labour: 1997 - 2007
the labour governments
Northern ireland
talks with different parties had been on and off since 1996, and john hume persuaded gerry adams and martin mcguinness of Sinn Fein that a negotiated settlement was possible
blair developed a clsoe working relationship wiht the irish taioseach bertie ahern, helping keep republican support through 1997 to 2008
Mo mowlam (NI secretary 1997-99) kept paramilitaries onboard by visiting them in maze prison
final negotiations began in april 1998 and lasted for 17 hours with a final agreement reached on 10th, it would be put to a referendum for the people of NI and RoI
referendum was held on 22nd may 1998 and 71% in NI voted yes, while 94% in RoI voted yes
opposition to the good friday agreement strill remianed from both sides slightly, the omagh bombing of 1998 killed 30 people and was carried out by the so-called Continuity IRA
agreement involved claims to NI relinquished by UK and RofI, a devolved assembly with power sharing executive, decommissioning of arms, strengthened links between RofI and NI and RofI and UK
devolved institutions suspended in 2002 following disagreements such as decommission, early terrorist release and Protestant Orange Order march rights - st andrews agreement of 2006 reiterated the GFA and enabled institutions again
constitutional change
manifesto of 1997 promised referendums on devolution and they were held the same year
scottish people voted in favour leading to a scottish assembly established in edinburgh based on proportional representation
wales also agreed to setting up of a welsh national assembly in cardiff, although with less powers than scotland
in 1999 a reform for a mayor of london was introduced - with the first election in 2000
blair blocked ken livingstone in fear that he represented the 'loony left' and would ruin the new labour reputation
livingstone left labour and ran as an independent and won, forcing blair to accept him back into the party
there was an attempt in 1999 to reform the HoL's but hereditary peers were not abolished, only cut to 92 in a messy compromise
2000 - freedom of information act passed allowing public to request information from public bodies, by 2006 over 100,000 requests were being made each year
the european convention on human rights was incorporated into british law through the human rights act 1998 - however judge interpretations often made unexpected difficulties for the government
brown and economic policy
inherited favourable circumstances - main priorities were to keep inflation low and government spending under control
BofE made independent from the government - government set target inflation rate and BofE set interest rates to meet this
brown set treasury rules about how much government could borrow in order to control supply of money in the economy
there was an injection of money into public services reflected by the new schools and hospitals and rise in salaries of teachers, nurses and doctors
PFI's were continued to fund improvements in public services but were criticised over storage of future debts
inflation was kept under control, record numbers of people were in work, living standards remained high and the consumer economy boomed
economists warned the boom was not due to productivity but rising house prices, high levels of credit card spending and personal debt - the danger was of the 'bubble' bursting
Blair as leader and ideology
intention to shift labour party away from traditional beliefs, backed by brown and mandelson, fellow labour 'modernisers'
labour could no longer rely on working class vote
blair was charismatic, comfortable with the media and extremely adept at appearing on non-political tv shows, he managed to portray himself as an ordinary person
he was able to show he was in touch with the electorate, and was able to tap into what the people were thinking particularly after his tribute to diana after her death in 1997
his popularity soared to 93% according to an internal labour party poll
blair established the third way, a combination of old labour and thatcherite policies
domestic policies
1997 manifesto concentrated on improving public services and by 2001 all five pledges were fulfilled
emphasis on education, with blair promising 'education, education, education' would be the main priority
league tables and inspections introduced by major remained
targets were extended and specialist schools became more widely encouraged
blair promised that labour would be ' tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime' to counter the belief that only tories were strong on law and order
measures to reduce social exclusion = introduced, but paired with longer prison sentences
more teachers, doctors and nurses in fulfilment of the promise for investment in health and education
blair was disappointed in the slow progress of these reforms
rising fuel prices led to a blockade by lorry drivers and farmers in 2000
foot and mouth disease meant farmers had to cull 10m cattle and sheep
countryside felt labour was too urban, coming to a head when labour tried to ban hunting with dogs, there was a long battle with the house of lords and the pressure group countryside alliance launched a march in 2002 with half a million people, the law was however passed in 2004
society
workers
decline of trade unions continued - % of workforce belonging to trade unions fell from 29% to 26%
new labour did not repeal tu legislation passed by tories between 1979-97 - it was often openly critical of strike action by unions
emphaiss on the pro-business attitude by new labour seen in limiting of tu power on labour party such as block vote reform
some tu's were critical of labours decision to continue PFI's, but the labour government protected the rights of workers moving between private to public sector
extended privatisation - Air traffic control sold off, and london underground moved to private-public partnership
opted back into social chapter in terms of employment and social rights such as parents allowed to request 3 months of unpaid leave for children under 8 years old
welcomed globalisation with an emphasis on improving workers skills - aims to support people into work 'work for those who can, support for those who can't'
emphasis on 'making work pay' - 1998 the NMW was set up and brown introduced tax credits as a means-tested benefit for people on low incomes
women
1997 - number of women elected as MP's rose to 120, 101 were labour MP's due to the all-women shortlists blair introduced
appointed women to prominent positions in his cabinet, such as margaret beckett as foreign secretary, the first woman in this role
women tended to be the main beneficiaries of new labour's policies
provision of free childcare was extended in 2007 to include 3-4 y/o's entitlement to 12.5 hours a week, rising to 15 hours by 2010
when women were unable to work due to caring responsibilities they were given pension credits
between 1997 and 2007 the % of FTSE 100 companies that had no female workers fell from 36% to 24%
limited progress on the pay gap, women still only earnt 87% of what men did, however had risen by 7% since major
emphasis on paid employment undervalued the unpaid work in the home, by 2007 it was found that women still did 3x the amount of housework as men
youth
government was seen as a youthful alternative to the conservatives, and blair was the youngest PM to be elected
a concentration on issues that affected young people complemented new labour priorities - an aim was made on ending social exclusion and the social exclusion unit was set up in 1997 to coordinate this effort
sure start centres were introduced to help families by providing info and guidance to ensure preschool children were supported to be ready for school
1999 - blair pledged to end child poverty in 20 years and by 2005, he had reduced it by a quarter through policies like child tax credit
connexions service set up to advise teenagers on options after leaving school, labour aimed for 50% of young people to go to university
number of NEETS had increased to nearly 20% by 2007
ASBO was introduced in fear over growing youth crime - it limited what defendants could do through bans or curfews - breach of an ASBO was a criminal offence
the aim of ASBO's were not young people, but by 2005 46% of recipients went to under 17 y/o's
multicultarilism
globalisation accelerated the movement of people - migrants included skilled workers, foreign students, asylum seekers, families of immigrants already in britain
2002 saw the first black cabinet minister appointed - paul boateng as chief sec of treasury
mosques became a familiar feature of towns and cities and schools, governments and organisations launched initiatives to celebrate the cultural background of people from ethnic minorities
notting hill carnival attracted millions of poeple, and in 2005 london successfully bid to hold the 2012 olympics through the bid of multiculturalism of london
increase in racial tension
macpherson report of 1998 showed met police to be institutionally racist
BBC chairman acknowledged that his workforce was 'hideously white'
terrorist attack in london on 7th july 2005 - 52 people killed as 4 suicide bombers attacked 3 underground trains and a bus
2 weeks later another 4 were caught attempting the same thing
question over how people could work to make sure people felt integrated and prevent extremism within communities
2006 national identity card introduced to fight terrorism; terrorist act 2006 extended days a suspect could be held without charges to 28 days
the conservative party
leaders
william hague 1997- 2001
party inherited was half of what the party was under major in 1990
party was more eurosceptic, with 145 of 165 remaining MP's being eurosceptics
hague won due to having fewer enemies than other candidates, and he was the preferred choice of Thatcher
hague managed to unite the party on europe by promising a rule out of a single currency in the foreseeable future
conservatives remained far behind in opinion polls, and were viewed as 'uncaring, intolerant, old-fashioned and obsessed with europe'
1999 peter lilley speech criticised elements of thatcherism, suggesting labour was viewed as likely to better protect public services, and the public was cautious over further privatisation
failed to make progress in polls, and lost 2001 election where hague resigned immediately
iain duncan smith 2001 - 2003
won the election due to negative voting against clarke and portillo
had little charism and was not a match for tony blair - tories remained behind in opinion polls and some MP's were plotting to get rid of him after only a few months
introduced compassionate conservatism - convinced the tories had to do more to tackle poverty
aggressively eurosceptic and reopened divisions over europe
remained socially conservative, voting against the repeal of section 28 and allowing unmarried couples to adopt
supported british entry into the iraq war which lead tories to criticise him as it made it hard to criticise labour for the unpopular decision
faced a vote of no confidence amid press speculation over how much he paid his wife to be his secretary
michael howard 2003 - 2005
unifying figure that brought stability to the party
struggled to compete with blair in opinion polls
social justice was abandoned - remained distrusted in key areas of policy such as health and education
promoted modernisers in his cabinet and made it clear his preference for a successor was a moderniser
david cameron 2005-2016
set about modernising the party to be more tolerant and inclusive and no longer hostile to all kinds of social groups, gays, single mothers, young people, ethnic minorities
highlighted policy that was not traditionally conservative, such as climate change, gay rights, increasing overseas aid and praised the NHS for the care of his disabled son and promised future tory govt. protection for the NHS
promised to maintain labour levels of spending, ruling out tax cuts
right wing tories remained sceptical, such as norman tebbit who was openly critical of it being a rejection of thatcherism
electoral failure
failures of leadership, divisions over thatcher and europe, social liberalism, failure to learn lessons from electoral defeats and resistance to social reform
until 2003, the labour government remained fairly popular
FPTP system distorted the results in number of seats won
hague found it difficult to be taken seriously, and was mocked for 14 pints a day at 16, baseball cap and attending notting hill carnival
howard was associated with the previous tory governments of thatcher and major - the 2005 manifesto reinforced this and it was called a 'victor meldrew' manifesto
suffered a 3rd consecutive defeat in 2005
foreign affairs
europe
opted back into social chapter - blair had high personal standing and good relationships with other european leaders allowing britain to take a leading role in negotiations, such as nice treaty of 2001
took the lead in european initiatives such as climate change, world trade and in aiming to 'make poverty history'
2007 EU had expanded to 27 states and was in negotiation with further member applications
there were few concrete achievements and progress over climate change and aid in africa was slow
special relationship
number of similarities between the governments, both were influenced by the third way
after the failure of the EU and UN to deal with yugoslavia, blair was convinced it was essential to keep USA involved in EU affairs and make full use of NATO to defend the new world order
vitally important to blair to maintain britains special relationship
when clinton was defeated by bush, blair and him developed a close relationship and were committed to meeting the threat of global terrorism
military interventions and the war on terror
blair firmly believed in liberal interventionism
yugoslavia and sierra leone
blair devoted diplomatic efforts to convince clinton to back military action against serbia
when rebel forces in sierra leone threatened to take over the capital city, blair sent in british armed forces to help, they helped UN peacekeepers to secure the capital and bring about an end to the civil war a year later
afgahnistan
NATO foces invaded afghan where the taliban govt. had allowed Al-qaeda to use the country as base and planning for terrorist organisations
in 2001 british forces joined with US military campaign to expel al-qaeda and overthrow the taliban - however leaders of both organisations escaped
iraq
saddam hussein was feared to link up with al-qaeda and provide a new base for terrorism in iraq, or that he was secretly building WMD
2002 UN resolution forced Hussein to allow weapons inspectors into Iraq, but US believed he was no cooperating fully - a second resoltuion by blair was denied by UN
in march 2003 US forces launched, backed by a coalition of willing by poland, britain and italy
military victory and overthrow of saddam hussein was complete by april 2003, but the end of the war was not
british involvement was extremely controversial and led to four ministers resigning
a 'stop the war' march in feb 2003 had attracted more than a million people