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Thatcherism & Society
Mind map: Thatcherism & society
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Thatcherism & Society
Trade Union Policy
- Employment Act 82
- restricts def of lawful strike to one wholly between workers & employers
- those in sympathy with other workers became illegal
- made closed shops difficult to sustain
- workers dismissed for not being union entitled to high levels of comp
- TUC in Dec 83 told small NGA that it would not support strike
- NGA wanted to continue with strike in support of closed shop even after high court said it was illegal
- TUC in Dec 83 told small NGA that it would not support strike
- workers dismissed for not being union entitled to high levels of comp
- Tebbit's
- restricts def of lawful strike to one wholly between workers & employers
- Trade Union Act 84
- postal ballots every 5 years for all union offices
- but govt subsidised holding of ballots
- postal ballots every 5 years for all union offices
- TU & Employment Acts 88
- workers could no longer be disciplined for working during strike
- TU's legal immunity from prosecution for damages due to strikes only sustained if secret ballot showed majority members supported strike action
- Macmillan: 'TU movement no Tory should ever tangle with'
- Employment Act 82
Miners strike 84-5
- Evans: 'coal miners traditional elite' 'industrial muscle was legendary'
- appointed free marketeer Ian MacGregor as chairman NCB in Sept 83
- previously been success at British steel
- had cuts from from 166k in 80 to 71k in 83
- began stockpiling coal & preparing imports
- wanted a fight?
- Peter Walker, Energy Secretary, secured national grid & forbade electricity board from reducing voltage - trying to not show weakness
- imports even from communist countries
- previously been success at British steel
- Pres of NUM Arthur Scargill thought defeat would result in rapid closure & eroding of community
- failed to hold ballot, lost moral authority
- Sept 84 High Court prevented NUM calling strike official
- On Oct Union assets in Eng/Wales sequestrated as they defied this ruling
- Sept 84 High Court prevented NUM calling strike official
- NUM called strike April 84
- against pit closures, especially Cortonwood in south Yorkshire
- & for vastly increased wage
- support for strike initially solid even in moderate areas such as Lancashire & Durham
- federal structure of NUM used so different areas could strike due to lack of national ballot
- 3 March Jack Taylor + Scargill held NUM Yorkshire meeting & used NEC rule 41 to authorise strike action
- Scotland + Yorkshire areas did vote on 8 March
- federal structure of NUM used so different areas could strike due to lack of national ballot
- in March 84
- official plans to close 20 in 84
- secret govt doc said 95 pits with 100k lost jobs
- first since 26
- against pit closures, especially Cortonwood in south Yorkshire
- failed to hold ballot, lost moral authority
- Evans think Thatcher won in 3 March 85 due to mild winter & moderate breakaway union in profitable East Midlands area
- Nottinghamshire, only 3k/40k miners striked
- Kinnock distanced himself
- Scargill was a marxist
- had succeeded moderate Joe Gormley in 82 with 70% vote
- shows miners anger
- accepted money from Qadaffi
- had succeeded moderate Joe Gormley in 82 with 70% vote
- Scargill was a marxist
- Thatcher: 'British coal industry could not remain immune to economic forces'
- Print Workers strike in defence of closed shop defeated in 86
- Murdochs Wapping Plant Jan 86
- Print Workers strike in defence of closed shop defeated in 86
- NUM lost 72% members 79-86
- Union members as a whole fell from 13.5mil in 79 to 10.5mil in 86 & below 10mil by 90
- Welsh pits had less than 5k workers by 89
- Scot + Lanc only 3k
- Militant Kent pits shit down with Snowdon & Tilmanston pits
- Welsh pits had less than 5k workers by 89
- fell to 60k by 89
- lost auto right to seat on Labour's NEC
- Union members as a whole fell from 13.5mil in 79 to 10.5mil in 86 & below 10mil by 90
- 18 June 84 violant clashes at Orgreave coking depot in Rotherham
- National Reporting Centre & latitude given to police
- Notorious BBC TV News coverage
- shows picket hurling missiles at police then police cav charge but it actually was in vice versa order
- no one convicted or charged
- miners wanted to stop lorries carrying coke to fuel Scunthorpe steel furnaces
- 6000 officers, orders to use loads of forces
- 'short shield' offensive tactics
- 70 police injured
- 5000 miners
- 'short shield' offensive tactics
- 95 arrested - 'word for word' paperwork by officers
- Derek Smith led corrupting statement detective team
- Chief constable Peter Wright wanted serious charges of riot
- up to 25 years in prison
- trial collapsed due to forged signatures & photographs not matching up with police account
- up to 25 years in prison
- Home Sec Brittan & Thatcher discussed accelerating prosecutions & giving greater publicity
- govt close to defeat in Nov 84 when pit deputies union NACODS almost striked
- would mean safety procedures would be cancelled so all pits would be scrapped
- Oct 84 Economist said Thatcher wouldn't outright win
- But NACODs inexplicably accepted review procedure
- Scargill blames them for loss of 164 pits
- But NACODs inexplicably accepted review procedure
- 82% members supported
- Nottinghamshire pits continued to operate despite mass picket intimidation
- new TU: UDM 30k members
- Early Jan 85 71/187k miners back at work
- violence largely directed against working miners
- 1000 miners sacked & 206 in Scotland
- Start 85 Walker announced there would be no power cuts
- General strike never on agenda as TUC Gen Sec Willis got bad treatment from miners
- Coal no longer as important
- employed on 150k & supplied a fifth of energy
- challenged by nuclear power!
- employed on 150k & supplied a fifth of energy
- NCB provided financial incentives to strike breakers
- Govt spent 6bil in lost production, tax rev, coal stocks & oil power, policing
- NCB would have only cost govt 100mil that year...
- Lawson called it a 'worthwhile investment' for wider aims
- goal was to impose economic costs on govt to force u-turn
- but dispensations were agreed which British steel exceeded
- only allies were marginalised groups e.g. Greenham Women & gays
- 142k miners at its height
- 1st Nov 83, overtime ban led to 30% reduction in output
- 65% public support govt/police
80-1 Events
- Thatcher wanted NCB to be self-financing by 84
- ambitious as increasing unemp to 3mil by 82 decreased demand for electric
- pits must be closed to fit demand, 4 mil unwanted capacity
- in challenging geographical areas
- Feb 81 miners joined unofficial strikes vs. NCB plans to cut production by 10%
- Govt reliant on NCB coal so relaxed cash limits
- Govt stockpiled NCB coal & trends to alternative energy accelerated
- Govt reliant on NCB coal so relaxed cash limits
- 83, Monopolies & Mergers commission recommends 10% cut in capacity
- NUM claims secret hit list to close 75 pits with loss of 64k jobs in 3 years
- this list was actually discussed on 15th Sept 83 with Walker, Tebbit, Thatcher & Lawson
- NUM claims secret hit list to close 75 pits with loss of 64k jobs in 3 years
- Before MacGregor's appointment NCB managers such as Wheeler for Scottish area were pio-neering anti union methods
- he closed several pits 82/3 & told pit managers to leave workplace agreements with TU's
- had already meant 50% Scottish miners were in dispute
- At Polaise miners were on strike before Cottonwood announcement
- he closed several pits 82/3 & told pit managers to leave workplace agreements with TU's
- NCB had already cut jobs from 700k to 300k but NUM accepted as they promised to invest in new gen of sustainable pits
- + Lab govts 64-70 subsidised manufacturing industry setting up in former pit areas
- Thatcher wanted NCB to be self-financing by 84
Sale of Council Houses
- Housing Act 80
- tenants right to buy
- discount of 33-50% depending on how long they had lived there
- Pimlott: 'would have happened anyway'
- tenants right to buy
- by 88 2mil new homeowners
- was first proposed by Horace Cutler leader of GLC in late 60s
- mainly sold in better off areas
- councils ordered to use profits to reduce debts not build new council housing
- home available for rent reduced
- expensive B&B accom
- Housing Act 80
Poll Tax
- ensures everyone contributes
- councils more accountable & efficient
- Scotland in 89
- England/Wales 90
- in some areas up to 30% were non payers, authorities couldn't enforce & anti-poll tax unions provided legal aid
- March 90 demo in Trafalgar Square, 200k people attended
- 5000 infjured
- 300 arrests
- Families on less than 1/2 avg salary up from 5mil 79 to 14.1mil 92
- but real earnings up 2.8% in 80s vs. 0.5% in 70s
- avg income up 37% 79-92
- real incomes up 10% increased 61%, poorest 10% fell by 18%
- but real earnings up 2.8% in 80s vs. 0.5% in 70s
- ensures everyone contributes
Education & The Arts
- Feb 85 Oxford voted against by 3 to 1 giving Thatcher an honorary degree, had given one to every Oxford-educated post war PM
- because of higher ed spending cuts
- but no. uni students increased 535k to 710k from 81 to 89
- 79-86 spending on schools reduced 10% real terms
- nat curric 88, GCSEs to reduce diff between bright students & not
- league tables
- residential zoning & house price
- league tables
- nat curric 88, GCSEs to reduce diff between bright students & not
- 81 - 18% cut in uni funding over 3 years started
- University Funding Council led by former Cambridge don Sir Peter Swinnerton-Dyer threatened financial cuts
- 85 Jarratt report imposed new managerial structures
- because of higher ed spending cuts
- Artistic establishment despised thatcher due to cuts in arts subsidies
- playwrights such as David Hare
- private funding allowed for less artistic experimentation
- Financial crisis for Tate Gallery in London
- but others like Barbican theatre in central Ldn opened
- BBC in rows with govt over funding, due to anti-govt reporting of Libyan bombing of 86 covered by Kate Adie
- govt banned interviews with Sinn Fein
- commercial TV rivalry for BBC
- cutbacks in overseas news dept
- Red Wedge Musical collective with Madness & Paul Weller
- alternative comedians like Ben Elton
- Boys from the Blackstuff was a black comedy on hand to mouth existence of some workers, coined phrase 'gizzajob'
- Murdoch takes over Sun/Times
- strong Thatcher press support
- newcomer Independent +ve
- Govt prefered cost effective Polytechnics
- Feb 85 Oxford voted against by 3 to 1 giving Thatcher an honorary degree, had given one to every Oxford-educated post war PM
The Church
- report in 85 called Faith in the City, called on govt to do more to help deprived areas & bishops e.g. Jenkins in Durham & Sheppard in Liverpool were critical of impact of Thatcherite Policies
- Jenkins criticised miners strike (Thatchers reaction)
- Archbishop Runcie condemned Jingo Spirit of Falklands war
- report in 85 called Faith in the City, called on govt to do more to help deprived areas & bishops e.g. Jenkins in Durham & Sheppard in Liverpool were critical of impact of Thatcherite Policies
Pressure Groups
- Sheltler & Age Concern, CND, USSR new Phase
- Greenham women
- 79, US stations US cruise missiles at UK bases
- CND organises mass protests
- Sept 81 women set up camp outside Greenham Common Base
- stayed for 19 years
- missiles left in 91
- stayed for 19 years
- April 83, due to arrive, 70k protesters formed 14mile human chain from Greenham to Aldermaston
- in 84 Newsbury local council evicted camp & demolished it
- women returned after dark & rebuilt
- Enviromentalism
- Dec 84 Bhopal Gas leak India kills 3k-8k & causes many more long term health issues
- Chernobyl nuclear accident USSR in April 86 1000s got cancers
- CFCs depleted ozone layer so harmful radiation was accepted into earth, UN Montreal Protocol in 87 phased out treaty - ratified by 09
Law & order: 79-82, extra 10k police & 'short, sharp, shock, treatment for young offenders + prison rebuilding programme
- crime increased 5-7% year, car theft, burglary, vandalism
- spending on justice up from 2bil 79/80 to 3.9bil 84/5
% familes with phones 62-85% & those with central heating 54-77%
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- AS - Level History (Britain Year 2) Mind Map on Thatcherism & Society, created by Oliver Callaghan on 19/01/2017.
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- Oliver Callaghan
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