Glorious Britain? Revisiting the politics of the 1970s
Volume 4 | Issue 1 - Glorious Britain
Article by Alice O’Driscoll. Edited and Researched by Rob Russell.
British politics in the 70s is known for its lacklustre governments clinging to the remnants of the Post War Consensus, causing disillusionment of the electorate to the point of counterrevolution by 1979. The stagnating economy is only the baseline upon which was piled industrial turmoil and political exhaustion, which has until now caused any defence of the era proposed to be met with scorn. However, the credibility of Keynesianism is making a resurgence, a different approach can be taken. Perhaps the reluctance to rejuvenate the style of governing was not born out of apathy or misplaced dogma but out of genuine concern for the effect a more individualist system would have on Britain.
Heath’s administration was a One Nation hub, resisting the increasing pressure of the New Right. Reverting to his deep set conservative paternalism as unemployment exceeded 1 million in 1971, Barber simultaneously cut taxes and increased public expenditure, causing Powell and other IEA converts to recoil at the resulting inflation. A term undoubtedly enveloped in crises, Heath’s reputation is admittedly less salvageable than most, but compared to the polarising effect of his Conservative successor his pragmatism begins to resemble a worthy endeavour. Yes, he misjudged the mood of the nation, the ‘Dunkirk spirit’ he expected to manifest during the 3 day week never materialised, but his respect for corporatism which contributed to a generous settlement for the miners can be seen as brave considering the pressure mounted on him from his back benches, curbing the productivity losses the industry was suffering from, a move Thatcher would not consider a decade on. On compassion, his decision to allow the mass immigration of Ugandan Asians, though unpopular with his core voters, arguably bolstered Britain’s international reputation, already salient from accession to the EU. Not an instinctive moderniser, Heath was nonetheless earnestly looking to move Britain forward.
It was said that Harold Wilson ‘fiddled whilst Britain burned’. Leading a government full of talent and rivalries by his second term the divisions within Labour were causing the latter to hamper the former. However, what is often construed as the behaviour of a dispirited leader in economic thrall of his union paymasters, Wilson’s speedy cessation of the Miner’s strike did serve to restore social and economic stability to Britain, the imposition of Foot’s Social Contract further stabilising Britain’s industry. Though continued reluctance to curb public spending was considered reckless, there is evidence to suggest this pursuit of Keynesianism was still raising living standards and so provided more than a means to prevent rebellion of the Labour left. Whilst GDP was ailing against comparable European nations, MDP (Measure of Domestic Progress), since described as a more accurate ‘happiness index’, charts 1976 as the ‘golden year’. His emphasis on uniting the party also helped to solidify Britain’s newly established position in the EEC.
Wilson was indisputably a shadow of his former self (by now suffering from Alzheimer’s) and his resignation in 1976 entrenched this reputation. ‘Sunny Jim’ Callaghan sought to restore some energy to the Labour Party. Well catalogued is the Benn vs Healey split which hampered progress in this time; less documented is the steps taken towards monetarism. Here, the argument that Thatcher revolutionised Britain meets its fiercest opposition. Callaghan soon admitted that the ‘cosy world we knew is now gone’. Public spending was cut and by 1978 all economic indicators were improving. All this progress was drowned out by the vivid images of bin bags lining the streets and coffins piled up awaiting burial that was to follow over the Winter of Discontent. Whilst there is distance in the argument that this rash of strikes ultimately indicated the failure of the post-war consensus, it should be remembered that the strikes were initially called in reaction to Callaghan’s refusal to remove a 5% pay rise limit in a bid to further curb inflation.
The 1970s witnessed a dichotomy between the growing ambitions of an electorate and the deterioration of its economy at the hands of its leaders preventing these ambitions from being realised. Foreign reporters appeared to follow this scent of economic and political putrefaction, evident in the New York Times’ editorial entitled ‘Goodbye Britain, it was nice knowing you’. However, considering the steps taken during the seventies to create a more sustainable economy, that Thatcher rode the wave of British frustration into Downing Street appears to be a papering over of the historical cracks. In light of this, the seventies can be viewed not as a cataclysmic time out of which was sparked its antithesis, but a gradual acclimatisation to a new political creed. The decade flirted with the New Right more so than it rejected its advances. More concerned with the social implications, these administrations only fell short of boosting efficiency and innovation where they felt it would work to the detriment of social harmony.
• In order to combat an electricity shortage as a result of miners protests, the Conservative government of 1974 was forced to implement a three day working week, with the use of commercial electricity restricted solely to these days.
• The ‘Winter of Discontent’ refers to the winter of 1978-1979, where under the premiership of James Callaghan, inflation and strike action was rife, some of the most infamous strikes include those of gravediggers in Liverpool and waste collectors in London.