3 The extent of political and social division in Britain
Introduction - While the southeast prospered under Thatcher, Scotland
- Thatcher promised to bring harmony and hope and Wales did not and so they increasingly voted for
- However, some historians argue by the end of the 1980s, nationalist parties as they felt the Conservatives no longer
there were deeper social divisions then there had been represented them
since WW2 - Thatcher rejected their argument, arguing citizens had a
- Riots, industrial conflicts, protests and controversy over moral duty to obey the law, regardless of their economic
section 28 and AIDS all indicate the social division circumstances
- Stats suggest Britain was a less equal society under - The sale of council houses created class conflict
Thatcher than it had been in the 1970s o Created a gap within the working class between those
- Some historians argue her economic policies were who could afford to buy and those who could not
responsible for growing divisions o Left the poorest with limited living choices
- Others argue social division emerged as a result of her o Took the right to rent decent affordable housing away
longer-term economic and social changes from the poorest in society
1 Thatcher and ‘class war’ The miners’ strike
- Dedicated to restoring the power of the government and - Long-term causes
ending socialism o Miners’ union was one of the most powerful – brought
- Desire to replace class division with national unity down the Heath’s Conservative government in 1974
- Hoped everyone would embrace ‘British values’ of hard o Thatcher wanted to show the miners that the elected
work and independence, rather than ‘foreign’/’socialist government ran Britain, not the unions
values’ of welfare dependency o 1978-79 winter of discontent turned public opinion
against the trade union movement so Thatcher felt she
National unity had public backing in adopting a tough anti-union
- Evident in her approach to foreign policy position
- Apparent during the Falklands War, 1982 o Strategy for dealing with the NUM included a law
o Presented the Argentinian invasion of the Falkland against secondary action and the development of
Islands an affront to the British values of democracy alternative sources of power so there was not an over
and the rights of Britons reliance on coal
o Initiated a complex military operation to take back the - Short-term causes
islands to defend national honour o Triggered by Thatcher’s determination to reform
o Created a sense of national unity, with nationalistic British mining and union rights
headlines in the tabloids and a surge of support for o Coal industry was nationalised in 1946
Thatcher o Determined to reduce state subsidies to the mining
industry as she believed taxpayers shouldn’t fund
The problem of class unprofitable pits, meaning pits would close –
- Believed class politics undermined national unity and devastating to the mining towns in Wales, Scotland
British values and the north where the majority of men were
, 3 The extent of political and social division in Britain
- Believed the unions undermined national unity by putting employed
the interests of the working-class first, evident in her o Had to deal with Scargill (president of the NUM) who
battle with the NUM, which arguably increased class defeated Heath in 1974 and determined to fight and
conflict by increasing inequality win any battle over the future of British coal
o MacGregor was appointed head of the National Coal
Board and initially announced plans to cut subsidies to - Public opinion and the strike
the British Coal Corporation, closing all 20 pits o Radical groups supported the miners – e.g. Women
o Scargill claimed he was downplaying the real scale of Against Pit Closures (formed by Scargill’s wife)
government plans as he really intended to close 70 organised a series of rallies in London and soup
pits, which was later revealed to be true kitchens for striking miners
o Scargill responded to threat of pit closures through o Labour split by the issue – right believed union power
strikes was out of hand and Thatcher’s actions were justified
- The ballot and refused to support Scargill’s illegal strike, left
o Thatcher introduced laws that took away some of the supported the strike and argued Scargill was defending
traditional rights of the union movement jobs across an entire industry
o The 1984 Trade Union act required all unions conduct o Most of the press opposed the strike, were critical of
a secret ballot of their members prior to announcing a Scargill and claimed miners were attempting to bully
strike which had to be approved by the majority of the country
members o Opinion polls revealed the majority of the public
o Scargill refrained from holding a ballot as he suspected disapproved of Scargill’s methods
he might lose as to miners in pits not closing had to o Surge of support for the government during the strike
work to make a living, undermining his claim that the - The end of the strike
strike was legit, proving to be a fatal weakness in his o Scargill’s hope of starving the British economy of coal,
strategy bringing the industry to standstill failed as Ridley’s
- The strike strategy of stockpiling coal, relying on more gas and
o Began in May 1984 nuclear power and importing coal kept the economy
o Scargill quickly organised pickets from pits on strike to running
protest at pits that stayed open o Power stations continued to function so there were no
o Other mining unions chose not to strike causing power cuts
resentment towards their members who went to work o NUM ran on low funds and mining communities
o Illegal strike meaning the government could confiscate experienced extreme hardship
some NUM funds o Scargill’s failure to call a national ballot weakened
o Government employed MI5 officers to infiltrate the support for the strike among some regions – e.g. in
NUM to find out its strategy, staying one step ahead of north Wales miners were less interested in industrial
the miners action than in south Wales
o Tens of thousands of police officers sent to major o During late 1984, some strikers returned to work
mining areas to police the strikes, but in some o NUM voted to call off the strike in March 1985,
