(4) How far did the Conservatives follow
Labour policy from 1951-5?
Description
A level British History (Conservatives, Churchill, Eden 1951-57) Mind Map on (4) How far did the Conservatives follow
Labour policy from 1951-5?, created by Marcus Danvers on 18/12/2013.
(4) How far did the Conservatives follow
Labour policy from 1951-5?
Housing
The minister for Housing Macmillan achived
318,750 houses in the years 1952-3, beating there
and Labours target of 300,000 homes a year.
This was achivied because of the lowering of standers, allowing
slighly smaller council houses to be built. Some of the restrictions
on privet house building and the use of land were relaxed, but still
80% of houses built were local authorities
There were differences in the housing policy compared
with Labour, the standards were dropped but the
numbers of house promised were the same
Health
Macleod left the NHS much
the same as he found it, this
was a period of consolidation.
Spending on the health
service did fall from 3.75%
of GDP to 3.24% in 1953-4
There was growing evidence in the 50's
that smoking causted lung cancer but the
Conservative government did nothing
because the tobbaco company pay huge
amoute in tax (the more smokers, the more
profits than more income tax would be
collected) so no actio was taken.
Conserative approach
to health was similar to
Labours policies
The new deal pressure limited the
Conserative from "recuting of the
jewel of Labours wealfare crown"
Education
The new Eduction Minister Florence Horsbrough wanted the
butler act fully implemented but education found it self at the back
of the quew for money, under Labour it was behind Housing,
Health and Defence. The Conservative followed this approach
School building in the post war baby boom came to a halt and
pupil-teacher rations in primary schools declined in the 1953-4.
University students fell from
85,000 in 1950 to 82,000 in 1954
Not until a strong-mined minister,
David Eccles in October 1954 did
matter improve because he remade
the case for education as a national
investment not a tax payer burden
Economy
The conservatives government faced grave balance of payments sitution. The
Korean war had raised commodity prices and exports to the us has temporarily fallen.
The result was another dollar gap and a run on Britain's reserves to pay for imports.
the hude defence commitments abroad also drrained money form the UK, "blood is
draining from the system and the prospect of collapse greater than in 1931"
Dollar Gap means: A shortage of
dollars earned from exports which
were necessary to pay for imports
The bank rate was raised and travel allowances was cut the £50. Steel
denationalisted, Rationing ended and Churchill wanted to continue the
development of a Nuclear Weapon. Butler Cut income tax and purchase tax
in 1953 due to the healthier state of the reserves (this was because of a
surge in exports to the USA as the country enteres a boom , despite the cuts
There were differences in how the Labour
and Conservatives ran the economy
Gatskill favoured high direct
taxation and government control
Butler favoured economic
control through interest rates
But they did agree on trying to
maintain full employment whilst
achieving economic growth
Workers and strikes
The conservative failed to take on rising trade
union power. There membership had swollen
in numbers to record levels of membership
Due to the high rates of employment, high demand from
customers starved of goods, and relatively high corporate profits
meant that there was an insatiable demand for skilled labour.
It was easy for forms to pass
on higher costs caused by
generous wage settlements.
Butler at the treasury confessed that he had no wages policy.
"Walter's friend with trade union leaders"
There was an astonishing number of industrial works were employed
by the state - some 1.7 million in the transport, the mines and power
industry alone. Monckton bought them off
They know what they were doing, as Macmillan, when chancellor said
the railway strike of June 1955 had done "much harm" to the economy
By 1958 as prime minister, he steeled himself to hold out
against just the kind of transport strike Churchill would
have settled with a phone call. due to the rise of Inflation