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the heath government

Published on Dec 01, 2015

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

the heath government

background

  • Chosen as Home's successor because of his 'normal' roots
  • Seen by the electorate as 'Selson's Man'
  • Character was ill-suited to be Prime Minister

Industrial relations act

  • Passed in 1971
  • To work, it needed unions to register
  • Would have limited union power
  • Unions refused to register, leading to its failure

u-turn

  • 'Selsdon's Man' opposed government bail outs
  • But; 1972 he bailed out Rolls Royce and the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders
  • Employment was close to 1 million
  • Heath therefore spent vast sums on Health, Education and welfare

trouble with the miners

  • In 1972, the miners went on strike
  • Led to the three day week in 1973
  • Heath eventually gave in
  • The Miners achieved a 21% pay increase

europe

  • Heath considers British EEC membership his greatest achievement
  • Britain became a member on 01/01/1973
  • However, it opened a rift within his party
  • Confusion emerged over his promise of 'full hearted consent'

northern ireland

  • Heath's Premiership coincided with increased troubles in NI
  • The low point of the troubles was Bloody Sunday, 30/01/1972
  • 13 civilians were shot dead by British paratroopers
  • Following the incident, Heath ordered Home Rule of NI

oil crisis

  • 1973; Arab-Israeli war
  • OPEC raised the price of a barrel of oil
  • Result = miners were in an even stronger position
  • They therefore called a strike in early 1974
  • Heath's response; call a general election he subsequently lost