...History arbitrary Harold Wilson. Born in 1916, Harold Wilson led an influential life in politics. After joining parliament in 1945, Harold was appointed the parliamentary secretary to the ministry of works; he quickly advanced to more pivotal roles within the labour party. In 1947 Wilson acquired a position in the cabinet as president of the board of trade; from here he circulated within the cabinet for a number of years as shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and later, shadow foreign secretary from 61 to 62 before becoming party leader in 1963. In October of 1964 he was elected Prime minister of the United Kingdom, in which he attempted to reduce the constraints on society and increase opportunity, which led to many reforms within the education system for the better. His first term lasted from 1964 – 70 where he lost to the conservatives, but from 1974 onwards he took the role of prime minster under a minority government until 1976, when he resigned. He later died in 1995, aged 79. James Callaghan. James “sunny Jim” Callaghan had a coveted career in politics and rich history within the Labour party. While serving in all four offices of state (Prime minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, home secretary, and foreign secretary) between 1964 and 76, he experienced a tumultuous economic climate eventually leading to his proposed resignation after the forced devaluation of the pound sterling. Towards the end of his prime ministerial reign he became much less popular within the...
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...аспектов, став одним из ведущих стран в мире. In 1951 the Labour Party lost its majority in Parliament, and the Conservative Party regained control. The Conservatives led the nation toward renewed prosperity. В 1951 Лейбористская партия потеряла свое большинство в парламенте, и Консервативная партия восстановила контроль. Консерваторы во главе нации к новой процветания. In 1953, Queen Elizabeth II inherited the throne from her father George VI. В 1953 году королева Елизавета II унаследовал трон от Георга VI. From 1951 to 1964 Britain was ruled by the Conservatives. From 1951 to 1955 Winston Churchill was Prime Minister. In 1955 Conservatives win the general election, with Sir Anthony Eden as prime minister This Conservative victory strengthened the Conservatives' parliamentary position He was followed by Harold Macmillan who was prime minister till 1963. С 1951 по 1964 Великобритания правили консерваторы. С 1951 по 1955 Уинстон Черчилль был премьер-министром. В 1955 году Консерваторы выиграли всеобщие выборы, с сэром Энтони Иден, как премьер-министра. Эта консервативная победа укрепила парламентскую позицию консерваторов. 9 January 1957 The Suez Crisis was sparked when Britain and France, allied with Israel, invaded Egypt over its decision to nationalise the Suez Canal - a vital waterway connecting the Mediterranean with the Red Sea. Under American pressure, the canal...
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...Roy Jenkins The son of a Welsh coal miner, Roy Jenkins later became a union official and Labour MP. He also served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in Harold Wilson's First Government. As Home Secretary from 1965–1967, he sought to build what he described as "a civilised society", with measures such as the effective abolition in Britain of capital punishment and theatre censorship, the decriminalisation of homosexuality, relaxing of divorce law, suspension of birching and the legalisation of abortion. As Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1967–1970, he pursued a tight fiscal policy. On 8 July 1970, he was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, but resigned in 1972 because he supported entry to the Common Market, while the party opposed it. He was elected to the House of Commons in a 1948 by-election as the Member of Parliament for Southwark Central. His constituency was abolished in boundary changes for the 1950 general election, when he stood instead in the new Birmingham Stechford constituency. He won the seat and represented the constituency until 1977. Once Jenkins took office as Home Sectary – the youngest Home Secretary since Churchill – he immediately set about reforming the operation and organisation of the Home Office. From 1967 to 1970 Jenkins served as Chancellor of the Exchequer, replacing James Callaghan following the devaluation crisis of November 1967. He quickly gained a reputation...
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...had involvement in a number of scandals * They also faced social and economic problems * The labour party had its own strengths * The failure of Home as prime minister * Brief intro discussing the above and what is going to be argued for and against Conservative Scandals: * The conservative scandals included: The Profumo affair (briefly say what it was) and issues were raised to national security * Vassal Affair: (briefly say what it was) This led to mistrust and the government was seen as out of control of its departments * Philby Case: (briefly say what it was) The conservative government were held responsible for this international affair with the Soviets. * Argyll Divorce Case: (briefly say what it was) rumors including government ministers and the Duke of Argyll’s wife. * Link back to the question suggesting how these were more or less important than the other factors. Reasons which are possibly more important for the conservative defeat (other reasons) * Strengths of the Labour party- Harold Wilson was succeeding, Labour focused on what was needed to solve the problems the conservatives had brought, this was done by policies and satisfying the public and its opinion. * The failures of Douglas-Home- He wasn’t voted in as Prime minister and he was simply outperformed by Wilson when it came to Parliament, likely due to his inexperience, and he did not lead the conservatives anywhere near well enough to stay in power during the next election...
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...Are British Prime ministers as powerful as is sometimes claimed? [40] It is often argued that in this day and age, Prime ministers are almost untouchable within the British political system, due to the shear number of powers that the Prime minister holds, and the prerogatives that he utilises. However, due to a handful of checks and balances on the government, and the Prime minister not being separated from the political system, which means he or she is liable to these checks and limitations, the Prime minister may therefore not be perceived as all that powerful. As previously mentioned, the Prime minister enjoys a collection of powers within the UK political system. Firstly, the prime minister has this huge amount of power due to the fact that they are both part of the executive branch of government and the legislature, due to the fusion of powers within the British political system. This means that they are able to create law and then use their representation in the legislature to force through this law. For example, when Tony Blair won a landslide victory in 1997, winning 179 seats. As a result of this, he was not beaten in the commons until 2005, when they rejected his proposition on terror laws. Tony Blair can also be used as another example of how Prime ministers are as powerful as is sometimes claimed. Prime ministers have many prerogative powers that are granted to them by the Queen as head of state. For example, in 2003, when Tony Blair utilised these prerogatives...
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...Harold Wilson, who was the Prime Minister during 1964-70, had promised Britain one of his most effective campaign speeches. He had promised that Britain would catch up with “the white heat” of technological change. Wilson had successfully linked the Labour Party to modernisation in contrast to what were described as the “wasted years” of the Conservative government. The Labour government seemed to be more in touch with the social and cultural trends of the 1960s. Modernisation of the British economy was one of the key priorities for the Labour government. By 1964, it was widely accepted that Britain was lagging behind other countries such as West Germany and Japan. Britain’s economy seemed to be trapped in the cycle of “stop-go”, with bursts of prosperity always leading to inflation, runs on the pound snd regular crises over the balance of payments. Reorganising the economy to break out of this cycle was the key aim of Wilson’s government in 1964. Moreover, Labour inherited a deficit of about £800million. The two classic economic solutions to this kind of problem were deflation and devaluation. But Wilson and his Chancellor of Exchequer, James Callaghan, refused to do neither. Instead, Wilson was convinced that these problems could be fixed by careful management and planning. A new department, the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) was set up, led by George Brown and a National Plan had been drawn up. He had set growth targets and devised a national system of “economic planning...
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...government was more successful than the 1974-1979 labour government because they were in power for longer, and they won with a much larger majority of seats in the elections. However both of the governments have successes and failures that aren’t clearly visible just from the majorities and time spent in office. The Labour Government of 1964-1970 was run by Harold Wilson. Harold Wilson was voted in on the promise of Central Planning and his speech ‘The white heat of technology. Wilson’s government was seen as fresh and young, and Wilson made the public believe he was just another old politician like the rest and that he was more like the working class public. His main objective was to get the country moving economically which was a big decider for a lot of people when it came to who they would vote for. Central Planning is when the government overcome market failure by deciding what the country produces, how the country produces these items and who the items are exported to, and if done right he said this would get the country ‘moving’. Wilson managed to win a second election in 1966 The Labour Government of 1974-1979 was run by Wilson again from 1974-1976, and then by James Callaghan from 1976-1979. Edward Heath, the leader of the Conservative party, was considered a failure by many voters as the...
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...Part I: Data Collection Exercises 1) The year-over-year Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on quarterly basis. [CHINA] List of China's quarterly GDP 2005-2014 | (Revison based on the 3rd Economic Census 2013,[1] in millions of CNY) | year | quarter 1 | quarter 2 | quarter 3 | quarter 4 | | GDP | growth (%) | GDP | growth (%) | GDP | growth (%) | GDP | growth (%) | p2014 | 13,292,020 | 7.9 | 14,582,020 | 9 | 15,628,150 | 8.5 | 20,144,080 | 7.7 | 2013 | 12,317,080 | 10.2 | 13,374,040 | 8.6 | 14,407,610 | 11.2 | 18,703,150 | 10.2 | 2012 | 11,179,230 | 11.8 | 12,310,660 | 10.2 | 12,954,210 | 9.1 | 16,968,200 | 10.4 | 2011 | 10,003,770 | 18.8 | 11,171,440 | 18.8 | 11,871,710 | 19 | 15,365,430 | 17.4 | 2010 | 8,422,870 | 19.1 | 9,405,090 | 18.1 | 9,976,240 | 18.1 | 13,086,100 | 18.1 | 2009 | 7,075,010 | 5.7 | 7,962,290 | 6.4 | 8,446,370 | 9.4 | 11,079,250 | 13.4 | 2008 | 6,693,940 | 21.3 | 7,486,280 | 21.1 | 7,720,710 | 19.2 | 9,774,240 | 13.3 | 2007 | 5,517,910 | 21.1 | 6,183,650 | 22.6 | 6,474,540 | 24 | 8,625,840 | 24.2 | 2006 | 4,556,110 | 15.9 | 5,043,460 | 17.3 | 5,223,050 | 16.1 | 6,943,040 | 18.5 | 2005 | 3,931,770 | 16.7 | 4,300,870 | 15.5 | 4,497,790 | 13 | 5,859,150 | 17.3 | Table 1: Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of China from 2005-2014 (Past 10 years) in quarterly basis [Unit in 100 million RMB] Reference: [1] http://www.stats.gov.cn/was5/web/search?page=6&channelid=250710&was_custom_expr=like%28Economic+Census%29%2Fsen&perpage=20&outlinepage=10 ...
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...REVIEW OF JOURNALISTIC TEXT Joe Haines, ‘Labour: 100 years of struggle’ Inside Labour February 2000 Joe Haines is a British journalist and was the press secretary to the former Labour leader and Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Later he joined the Daily Mirror as their political editor, as well as undertaking the post of the newspapers assistant editor.1 The following text was published in February 2000, commemorating the 100 year anniversary of the establishment of the Labour Party. The text highlights numerous key events and dates within the century that portray Labour in a positive light. When the text was published, Tony Blair had been in office for three years. However during this time, Blair’s popularity was decreasing due to looming British military involvement in the Sierra Leone Civil War. This suggests that the text has been written at a time not only to celebrate Labour history but to also portray positively the Labour party and Blair due to the circumstances at this time. This is firstly relevant as Haines argues that... The text was published in a Labour publication and is aimed at those in support of the Labour party, meaning the at the article is extremely pro-Labour. (Example of language used/sentences) Haines political orientation highly influences his style of writing. His socialist preferences and alinement to the Labour party therefore influence his selection of evidence and facts. Haines presents the text in chronological order through...
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...To what extent was there a ‘post war consensus’ in British politics from 1951 to 1964? (900 Words) Whether or not there truly was a ‘post war consensus’ in British politics from 1951 to 1964 is a highly debatable topic of which historians can often appear to be in two minds about; on one hand, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson infamously described the period as ‘Thirteen years wasted’, whereas historian Robert Blake (a supporter of the Conservatives’, regards it as a ‘Golden age of growth’. The likes of Kevin Jeffrey’s even argue that consensus had even started before the war. Overall, the central issue was the idea of a mixed economy. If we were to argue that there was indeed a post war consensus in British politics from 1951 to 1964, it would be easy to turn straight away to the legacy of the feats in Clement Atlee’s government policies from July 1945 to October 1951. Atlee’s policies were for the most part successful, leaving him with a reputation of having led a government which actually attained its goals. Perhaps the most prominent part of Atlee’s legacy was the establishment of The National Health Service and The Welfare State, establishments which arguably meant that, despite the long run of Conservative dominance in the years following Atlee’s departure, both society and politics would remain in the Labour mould; Conservative party members proved far less hostile to the concept of a Welfare State due to its popular success, and they were well aware that to revoke...
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...Politics: Luke flower 1. Democratic Legitimacy means that a government has been given by the voters a Democratic Mandate in an election to govern and therefore legally exercises power in the interests of all the people. At a British General Election, for example, a government is held accountable for its policies and the party, or parties, that wins the most seats may be said to have the democratic consent or legitimacy to govern on behalf of the public. 2. A Referendum can be held on Constitutional issues/changes if any changes alter the relationship between different parts of the state (e.g. devolution), or between citizens and the state such as the devolution referendum in 1979 where most Scots voted “yes” but 40% needed was not reached and it was unfavourable in Wales. Also, when there is a history of conflict and an agreement is to be made. Furthermore, If our representatives are unable to come to a decision about an issue or ff the govt feel that there will be much discontentment amongst the public if a decision is made without their consent, i.e. an issue that the people have strong opinions on, such as the EU referendum that is going to take place by the end of 2017. 3. The principle of Parliamentary Sovereignty in the UK means that referendums cannot be binding although it would be very difficult for governments to ignore the results of official referendums. Several important arguments have been raised in support of the increased use of referendums...
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...solve the economic problems thrown up by the Great Depression. There was also the threat of Soviet expansion. In this way, there was pressure for the creation of a larger organization to promote economic prosperity by binding national economies together. If their economies were interlinked, a future war would be almost impossible. Britain did not see itself as part of Europe at this stage. The Attlee government looked to its special relationship with the United States and its Empire and Commonwealth. Then there was the need to establish a welfare state. The beginnings of European integration can be traced to the Schuman Plan of 1950. This proposed the European Coal and Steel Community. It was a French plan – Schuman was the French Foreign Minister – to place the French and German ‘industries of war’ under supranational control. The plan came into operation in 1952. The Franco-German axis remains at the core of the process of European integration. In 1957, the Treaty of Rome was signed by the representatives of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy and Germany. This established two new communities: the European Atomic Energy Community and the European Economic Community, or EEC. In 1967, all three European institutions merged their institutions. They were collectively known as the European Community, or EC. In November 1993, with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, the Community was renamed the European Union, or EU. The name European Federal Union was...
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...The referendum has its origins in direct democracy, and can therefore be dated back to the 5th Century BC in the Greek city state of Athens. The concept of a referendum has changed and developed in line with democracy and can now be found in a number of differing forms throughout the developed world. A referendum is broadly defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “a general vote by the electorate on a single political question”; however this definition fails to make distinctions between the many types of referendum which exist, or the modern day importance of referendums. In an initial classification there are three types of referendum as defined by the Britannica Concise Encyclopaedia. Obligatory referendums; which are required by law, optional referendums; which are put on the ballot when a sufficient number of voters sign a petition demanding that a law passed by the legislature be ratified by the people, and voluntary referendums; when legislatures submit to voters to decide an issue or to test public opinion. In the majority of political systems across the world we are witnessing a worrying downward trend in voter turnout. This can be attributed to a number of causes including; partisan dealignment, disenchantment with the political system and indifference to politics. Referendums can be used to help promote political participation by enabling the electorate to become better educated and informed and therefore reduce the feeling of alienation. By providing people with...
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...alternative vote. You can find out how both of these systems work by visiting our interactive whiteboard on elections and voting, and selecting 'Compare the vote' from the main menu. The Liberal Democrats and Conservatives agreed to hold this referendum as part of the coalition agreement – their decision to form a government together. 68% of the voters who took part in the referendum chose to keep using the first past the post system and 32% wanted to change to the alternative vote. As a result, first past the post will continue to be used in UK general elections. Other referendums in the UK Before the alternative vote referendum, only one nationwide referendum had taken place in the UK. This was in 1975 when the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson asked voters ‘Do you think the UK should stay in the European Community (Common Market)?’ (The Common Market has since grown into the European Union.) 67% of voters answered ‘yes’ and the UK is still part of the European Union today. Several referendums have also been held in particular regions of the UK such as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. For example, in 1997, voters in Scotland were asked whether they wanted a Scottish Parliament while voters in Wales were asked whether they wanted a...
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...IFRS coming to India.......Get Ready!!! Hello Friends and a very warm Good Afternoon to all of you…I am Siddharth Jain from Indore and consider it a proud privilege to be given an opportunity to present my views on one of my favorite topics, a topic as hot as Sheela ki Jawani….the topic being IFRS-Opportunities & Challenges. “He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.” These famous words of Harold Wilson, a brilliant economist and a former British Prime Minister, are apt enough to demonstrate the significance of not only adopting a change…but adapting to it. International Financial Reporting Standards, The IFRS would be mandatory for Indian companies from 1st April 2011. All members and Future Members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) need to be fully aware of the changes in the accounting standards to converge with IFRS and its implication on the financial reporting, Treasury Management, Business valuation, Commercial arrangements, Managerial compensation, Mergers and Acquisition…and I can go on & on. Are you Aware..? The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) are increasingly being recognised as Global Reporting Standards. More than 130 countries including European Union, Australia, New Zealand, China and Russia currently require or permit the use of IFRSs in their countries. Nations such as Canada & Japan, have announced their intention to adopt IFRSs...
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