High grade Alevel history (The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007) essay on ‘Labour was largely successful in its domestic policies between ’. Assess the validity of this view.
‘Labour was largely successful in its domestic policies between 1997-2007’.
Topic: domestic policies
Chronological: 1997-2007
Analysis: was it ‘largely successful’ or not?
Labour’s domestic policies can be seen as ‘largely successful’ as notably they achieved all
their five pledges (made in 1997) by 2001 such as cutting NHS waiting lists and cutting class
sizes to 30 or under. Successful changes were made with Labour’s promises of investing into
public services and education being carried out. However, the extent of the success of
Labour’s policies can be questioned as government debt increased, educational standards
did not improve significantly and the NHS was generally perceived as ‘in crisis’.
Labour’s economic policies between 1997 and 2007 can be seen as ‘largely successful’ as the
majority of Brown’s economic aims were achieved and they played a role in Labour being
able to win two subsequent elections. The aim to keep inflation under control was achieved
and unemployment was kept low with a record number of people in work. Arguably, Labour
managed to move away from their previous party image of ‘tax-and-spend’ by avoiding
raising taxes through the use of private sources of funding. Brown’s ‘prudence with a
purpose’ approach can be seen as successful as it was a decade of reasonably steady
economic growth whilst big increases in investment into public services were carried out. In
1998 £40 billion was put into public services leading to new schools, hospitals and pay rises
for doctors and teachers. The success of this investment was reflected in the rising exam
results and decline in waiting lists. Furthermore, Blair’s aim to prove to Middle England that
Labour was pro-business and could be trusted with running the economy was achieved
through the Bank of England being forced to surrender its regulatory powers over the City
and give to the Financial Services Authority. This decision aligned with the Neo-Liberal
model of deregulation and won a lot of support from key businessmen such as Murdoch.
Additionally, Labour maintained high living standards and the consumer economy was
booming with interest rates being kept low and the pound being strengthened by 14%.
However, critics accused Brown of borrowing to excess and increasing the government’s
debt, which ultimately resulted in 2008 financial crash. Economists (such as Hutton) argued
that the consumer boom was fragile as it was built on rising house prices and personal debt
rather than increasing productivity. Therefore, Labour’s economic policies were more of a
short term success, as whilst the economy was reasonably steady during this period,
problems were shored up for the future.
Labour’s education policies… (preview ends)
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