1964 – 1979 The Age of Consensus?

1. 1964 – 1979The Age of Consensus?

2. Labour and Conservative governments followed similar policies • Often due to economic problems

3. Developments in Britain from 1945 onwards • The welfare state • Rise in living standards • Defence commitments and expenditure • Manufacturing to service economy • Decline in trade union strength • Inflation and recession • Immigration • Class shifts and political realignments • Decolonisation • Entrance into the EEC

4. Harold Wilson's Governments 1964-70 • Won the election narrowly with 317 seats over Conservative's 304 • The tide had turned! • Appealed to the mood of the time • Wilson's image: plain, straight-speaking Yorkshire man • 'The white heat of the technological revolution'! • 1945 • Conservative's loss of support, a change • The planned economy

5. What difficulties did Wilson's government face? • First 2 years were successful • Department of Economic Affairs under George Brown which drew up a 'National Plan' in 1964 • Loan of 1 billion from IMF • Ministry of Technology • Labour did very well in 1966 election (47.9 %)‏

6. Problems! • Wilson's financial strategy • Strikes by seamen's and docker's unions enlarged balance of payments deficit • 1967 – devaluation of the pound • TV broadcast • An earlier devaluation could have been seen as technical financial adjustment • However, it appeared to be a great political and economic failure! • Trade unions made angry when blamed on strikes!

7. Labour and the Trade Unions, 1964

8. 'In Place of Strife', 1969 • A White Paper which proposed a series of legal restrictions on the right of workers to strike • Abandoned following pressure from a group led by James Callaghan and trade unionists in the party

9. A disappoinment? • For young people and the left wing of the Labour Party • Lack of reform • Consensus politics – very different from Conservatives • No substantial change • Certain industries improved, but no overall change • Rising unemployment, inflation, wage controls, trade unions restricted, immigration controls, reintroduction of prescription charges, retention of Britain's nuclear weapons, supporting USA's involvement in Vietnam

10. Groundbreaking social reforms? • Legalising of abortion, 1967 • Decriminalising of homosexual acts,1967 • Abolition of the death penalty, 1969 • The Permissive Age or the Civilised Age?

11. Election of 1970 • The results took Wilson by surprise • Economic policies and failure to control the unions had lost him support • 5% swing from Labour to Conservatives • Enough for the Conservatives to win • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80FFEc-uUlw

12. Edward Heath

13. The Heath Government, 1970-74 • Aims: reduce unemployment, reduce rising prices, increase productivity • Achieved none of these • In 1973 rapid inflation followed the oil price rise • Higher wages and strikes resulted in a decline in productivity • 1972 was a year of high unemployment • 4 years in office were overshadowed by the problem of industrial relations • Further measures introduced to reduce strikes

14. The National Union of Miners (NUM) 1972-3 • Movement of coal brought to a standstill during strike over higher wages and pit closures • Fuel and electricity supplies disrupted • 3 day weeks • Restrictions on the use of fuel • Austerity? • 1973 – 21% wage increase for NUM • 1974 – further strikes • Who should run the country...??

15. Harold Wilson and Labour!! • In February 1974, in a surprising election result Labour gained a majority of 4 over the Conservatives • Who was to blame for the strained relations between the government and the unions?

16. Wilson's Second Government 1974-6 The Problems • Thinness of overall majority in the commons • Liberals • Inflation and the effects of oil price rise of 1973 • Another loan of £4 billion was borrowed from the IMF • By 1979 the government’s spending programme had been reduced by £1 billion • Stabilised financial situation but 1.6 million unemployed in 1978 • Trade unions became embittered

17. Problems continue with the trade unions • These problems were linked to inflation • Workers would still not cooperate with the Industrial Relations Act • Wilson had had some success for a while, particularly with Jack Jones from the Trade and General Workers Union • Relations deteriorated when Labour failed to move away from ‘stop-go’ economic policies • James Callaghan adopted similar policies when he came to power in 1976

19. The Winter of Discontent 1978-9 • Destroyed Callaghan’s government in the 1979 election • Caused by grievances of public service workers • The government’s attempts to fight inflation by cutting public spending and discouraging wage increases were resisted by public-sector unions • Strikes by public-service workers caused disruption • Uncollected refuse and unburied bodies • Callaghan’s style was quite relaxed and the government failed to act quickly • The problems were very serious and a solution, within the constraints of IMF restrictions on public spending, is difficult to imagine

20. Party Difficulties

21. The Iron LadyMargaret Thatcher