Was the Labour government of 1964-70 good or bad?
- Created by: hastr010
- Created on: 15-05-18 19:21
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- Was Labour good or bad between 1964 and 1970?
- Policies
- Permanently abolished the death penalty in 1969
- Discrimination in public facilities made illegal in 1965
- Abortion legalised in 1967
- Voting age lowered to 18 in 1969
- Men and women received same pay in 1970
- tightened grip on immigration as labour supporters found they were competition for jobs
- Race relation Act aimed to tackle discrimination
- attempt to replace the system with a comprehensive system for all abilities
- Open University made enabling adults to study to
- Foreign and Colonial issues
- Vietnam war; Wilson believed that in order for Britain to recover economically they had to close links with the USA, his refusal to send troops to Vietnam caused disunity in the party
- 1967 De Gaulle vetoed Britain again to join the common market although wilson attempted to persuade the president
- Southern Rhodesia - colony rebelled but Wilson only tried to negotiate deals - looked weak and did not solve the issue
- Economic difficulties
- Economic performance lagged behind many other states
- Balance of payment defecit reached £800million
- Britain required that workers were only granted wages if they worked productively
- Maintained investment in nationalised industries
- the government had to deflate the economy by tax rises or in gov. expenditure
- September 1966 - Wilson believed he could make the industry more competitive by creating a Department of Economic Affairs to modernise Britain's economy - annual growth rate of 3.8% and an increase of exports of 5.25% each year to wipe the payment deficit
- Unions didn't accept it because it brought some sanctions to workers
- Balance of payment deficit had been left by Conservative government before
- Devaluation of the pound 1967 - accepting defeat
- May 1966 seamen strike demanding increased pay
- Damaged Britain's exports
- May 1966 seamen strike demanding increased pay
- 1967 - 2.5 million unemployed
- trade unions
- striking due to inflation
- strongly resisted attempts to restrict pay rises for the good of the economyy
- High labour costs made payment defecit worse
- Almost half of Britain's work force belonged to a union and the unions provided Labour with the most money so Labour had to listen
- 'in a place of strife - industrial reform program - offering compensation to works
- failed
- Policies
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