Course of British Politics - Essay Example

Did Thatcherism lead to a new post-war settlement that fundamentally changed the of British politics Introduction: Thatcherism could be considered as a political outlook or political thought associated with Margaret Thatcher and the British Government during her term as British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990. Thatcher was an ideological leader and emphasized on a free market economy associated with liberalism, privatisation of publicly owned industries, low taxes, nationalism and the need for a strong central government. With Thatcher's opposition to trade unions, Britain faced severe confrontation with the Unions in the early 1980s following the recession after which however, Britain's finance sector did revive. This essay analysed the impact of Thatcherism on British politics and economic reforms during the post war era. Impact of Thatcherism Thatcherism has been rooted in the individualist views of 19th and 20th century British political parties. However from a contemporary viewpoint, Thatcherism has been famously associated with opposition to join the European Union, which according to some was aimed at eroding Britain's sovereignty. In a famous Bruges Speech, 1988 Thatcher stated, '"We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them re-imposed at a European level, with a European super state exercising a new dominance from Brussels." (Bruges Speech from BBC, 2000). This would clearly indicate the perceived threats of joining the European Union completely which in turn led to Britain emphasizing on its own border controls and heightened sovereignty. Post war effects of Thatcherism have been clearly perceived within British politics and some elements of Thatcherism such as controlling public expenditure and promoting personal achievements have also been incorporated in the policy approach of New Labour government from 1997. However unlike Thatcherism, the Blair government has put greater emphasis on social justice and has focused on promoting social inclusion of the excluded groups and classes. It is important to understand the impact of Thatcherism that seems to have changed the course of British politics in the post war period leading to increased privatisation of certain sectors as British gas, British telecom and British steel along with curbing powers of the trade unions and local government, promoting individual achievements and private enterprises and also strengthening powers of the central government (BBC, 2006). The focus was to bring in higher consumerism and increase levels of private investments. Public expenditure was cut down and monitored and the local governments faced severe restrictions with rate capping and poll tax in 1989. With loss of support from unions and controversies over poll tax, Thatcher had to leave although this was followed by a period of economic recession and high unemployment and also divisions in society. As Thatcherism encouraged privatisation with gas, steel and telecommunications services, private ownership was also given to providers of health care services. This increased privatisation however led to widening of the rich poor gap and increased divisions in society. Clarke (1999) examined Thatcherism and considered the strengths and weaknesses of the political outlook highlighting the unique financial strategy and monetarist economic policy of the Conservative government. Clarke points out that even if Thatcher's economic policies were uncertain in theory and practice; they were ideologically applicable in terms of methods and objectives. Clarke highlighted the personal dimension of Thatcherism arguing that the rise and fall of Thatcherism could be reduced to definite personal attributes of Thatcher in terms of leadership and control. This however may not be completely true as Thatcher's policies on privatisation and controlling of local governments and trade unions could have been the main reason for the unpopularity of Thatcherism during the late 1980s. In this regard, Heath et al (2001) examined the extent to which Thatcher's economic policies were accepted by the British electorate. Heath et al suggested that the electorate accepted the reforms of privatisation and trade union legislation and that Thatcher actually had considerable public support for her changes. Yet following the economic recession of the 1980s, Thatcher's policies started failing as the public wanted the government to focus on the increasing unemployment and less on other issues such as lessening public expenditure in local governments. However according to Heath et al , the Thatcherite economic reform and implementation show that wining an election may not be completely guided by a party's focus on the needs of the electorate and the electorate may have completely different opinions from the government. The emphases of Thatcherism that seemed to have changed the course of British politics were not just about changing the balance of power from public enterprises to private funding nor only about bringing in considerable modernisation of the public sectors through privatisation, but were also about controlling local governments through a nationalist agenda and hegemony with power rooted in the central government (Allmendinger, 1997). Johnston and Pattie (1990) have suggested various regional and class differences in British voters' acceptance of Thatcherism by using results from surveys taken from voters in different regions within UK. Conclusion: The importance of Thatcherism in the post war era could be analysed on the basis of its economic policies and its impact on British voters. The studies discussed here suggest that although there was an initial support for Thatcher's policies, Thatcher's extreme measures on trade unions and public enterprise and local governments could have led to its unpopularity. Acceptance of Thatcherism seem to have varied widely depending on social class of British voters with some supporting divisions of rich and poor and others going against such changes. Thatcher's extreme scepticism on Britain's closeness with the European Union has led to a change in Britain's political relationship with the European Union which to this day remains unresolved. Bibliography Allmendinger P. (1997) Thatcherism and Simplified Planning Zones: An Implementation Perspective Planning Practice and Research, Volume 12,Number 2, pp. 147-160(14) Black Jeremy (2004) Review: Thatcher and Thatcherism English Historical Review, Volume 119,Number 484, pp. 1471-1472(2) Clarke P. (1999) The Rise and Fall of Thatcherism Historical Research, Volume 72,Number 179, pp. 301-322(22) Heath, Anthony F.;Jowell, Roger M.;Curtice, John K. (2001) The Electoral Success of Thatcherism The Rise of New Labour, pp. 31-58(28) Hill A. (2003) Acid house and Thatcherism: Contesting spaces in late 1980s Britain Space and Polity, Volume 7,Number 3, pp. 219-232(14) Johnston, R. J.;Pattie, C. J. (1990) The Regional Impact of Thatcherism: Attitudes and Votes in Great Britain in the 1980s Regional Studies: The Journal of the Regional Studies Association, Volume 24,Number 6, pp. 479-493(15) Stevens C. (2002) Thatcherism, Majorism and the Collapse of Tory Statecraft Contemporary British History, Volume 16,Number 1, pp. 119-150(32) Thatcherism 1979 - 1990 From BBC.co.uk, accessed 2006-03-30 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/timelines/britain/post_thatcher.shtml Thatcher's Bruges speech, 1988 (2000) From BBC.co.uk, accessed 2006-03-30 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_politics/653550.stm Read More