Main incidents.
*Winter of Discontent 1978-1979.
This was a series of official and otherwise strikes that left memorable scenes such as piles of uncollected rubbish in London, and included such industries as: Gravediggers, Rubbish collectors and Firemen.
This is important as it gave Thatcher the upper hand not only because the public retained confidence in the Conservative party’s ability to manage the economy, (Conservatives 46% Labour 29%) but also because the Labour party could no longer rely on their better relationship with the unions. This lack of control over the unions also meant they ...
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Main incidents.
*Winter of Discontent 1978-1979.
This was a series of official and otherwise strikes that left memorable scenes such as piles of uncollected rubbish in London, and included such industries as: Gravediggers, Rubbish collectors and Firemen.
This is important as it gave Thatcher the upper hand not only because the public retained confidence in the Conservative party’s ability to manage the economy, (Conservatives 46% Labour 29%) but also because the Labour party could no longer rely on their better relationship with the unions. This lack of control over the unions also meant they no longer could negotiate wages or consequently control the economy.
*Black Wednesday 16th September 1992.
Having pledged not to devalue the pound (this had been the cause of the Labour defeats in 1949 and 1967) a rise in interest rates in Germany, the partner economy of the ERM, forced the British to do the same, however it caused a major sale of British sterling and although the government spent nearly 20 million and raised interest rates to 15% attempting to save it, they were in the end forced to both devalue the pound and leave the ERM.
This was effectively a blatant lie to the public and as the Labour party was forced to carry the burden of the Winter of Discontent the Conservatives were forced out in 1997 because Black Wednesday, even though unemployment fell to 1.6 million, the balance of deficits fell from 11 to 2 billion. Economic growth rose to 4% and inflation returned from 1.6 to 3.5%