UK History 1997-2016 PDF

# CM HISTOIRE DU ROYAUME-UNI ## THE UK FROM 1906 TO 2016 ### Part 4: From 1997 to 2016 ## Chapter 1 : Major reforms of the political system ; devolution ### I/ Institutions #### A/ Political parties - From 1997 to 2010, Labour was in power. It had been rebranded as "New Labour" by Tony Blair, a youn...

# CM HISTOIRE DU ROYAUME-UNI ## THE UK FROM 1906 TO 2016 ### Part 4: From 1997 to 2016 ## Chapter 1 : Major reforms of the political system ; devolution ### I/ Institutions #### A/ Political parties - From 1997 to 2010, Labour was in power. It had been rebranded as "New Labour" by Tony Blair, a young and ambitious lawyer. Blair had abandoned some old Labour policies about nationalisation and Trade Unions. - Once in power, Blair would preserve most of the free-market policies that had been introduced in the 80s and 90s. - In 2007, Blair was succeeded by Gordon Brown, an academic that came from Scotland. This was due to an agreement between both politicians: Brown was due to succeed Blair. There was no election. It was an internal agreement. - In 2010, the Conservatives came back to power with David Cameron, who was also like Blair a few years earlier, young and ambitious. - Cameron came from the Elite, the Upper Class. He had attended Eton. He was quite determined to change the image of his party, to turn it into a greener party. - In 2010, the Conservatives didn't gain an overall majority so Cameron decided, and that was very unusual in UK politics, to form a coalition gov with the Liberal Democrats led by Nick Clegg between 2010 and 2015. - Nick Clegg, leader of the Lib-Dem, was the deputy Prime Minister. The Liberal Democrats had ministers in the government so they were influential. - From 2015, as the Conservatives gained an overall majority, they governed on their own. #### B/ Monarchy - In 2013, there was a reform of the old Act of Settlement of 1701. - This reform took many years because it had to be approved of by the 15 countries which had retained the Queen as their Head of State. - So under this reform, the monarch still cannot be a catholic but he/she can marry a catholic. #### C/Parliament - There was a major reform of the House of Lords. - There were many Labour politicians that criticised the House of Lords arguing that it was an ancient institution with many members of the Upper Classes completely irrelevant for Britain in the 21st century. - Any reform of the House of Lords had to be approved by the House of Lords itself. - Eventually, Labour and the Conservatives came to an agreement. - There would be only 92 Hereditary Peers. Automatically, Life Peers would be in a majority. - The number of Life Peers had increased since the late 50s. - This number would continue to increase. Nowadays, there are about 800 members in the House of Lords. - There are still 26 bishops and Archbishops of the Church of England. - The Law Lords left the House of Lords as a Supreme Court created in 2004. - Senior judges acting as a court of final appeal are no longer part of a legislative house, they are part of a separated court. - There were still and there are still controversies about Life Peers, about the way they are appointed. - Party leaders draw up lists. Sometimes, it is an opportunity for them to reward wealthy individuals that have donated cash to their party (kind of lawful corruption). - This is well-known but so far, there hasn’t been any agreement on a reform. - The 26 Bishops of the Church of England are also criticised. - The Church of England is the established church, but Britain is supposed to be a multicultural society, yet there are no representatives of other religious denominations. - The House of Lords remained quite useful in the legislative process. - Lords do not have to be reelected. - They do not have to please their parties so they cast personal votes based on what they think, and they often defend human rights especially in recent years against Conservative governments. - Representatives of the Church of England do make references to their religious beliefs but most of the time, they also defend human rights. - As for the House of Commons, when the Liberal Democrats were in power between 2010 and 2015, they seized the opportunity to try and obtain THE reform that they had been demanding for a long time : the reform of the electoral system. - In 2011, there was a referendum offering the alternative vote (AV). - The problem was that AV was not proportional, it was only an improvement of the old majority system. - So AV didn't satisfy anyone. - Most Conservatives didn't want any reform at all. ### II/ Regional institutions : devolution - As we said earlier, in the 90s, Labour had devised devolution scheme. - As for Northern Ireland, there had been négociations led by successive governments with a growing number of parties and eventually all 4 parties in the 90s. - Many issues had been discussed. When Blair came to power, a piece agreement was signed very quickly in 1998, it is known as "The Good Friday Agreement" (Friday before Easter). - Blair came to power on the 1st of May 1997. - In July, his government published two white papers based on the constitutional convention in Scotland and by the Welsh Labour Party. - Referendums were then held in Scotland and Wales in September 1997, on the 11th in Scotland and on the 18th in Wales. - The Welsh who had voted "no" in 1979, had changed their mind in the 80s and 90s. - 50% of them voted in favour of devolution. - The Scots were even more determined, 3/4 of them voted in favour of devolution. - Labour was then united because devolution appeared as the only means to restore social democracy in Scotland and Wales, whereas in 1979 Labour used to be divided about devolution. - The 2 nationalist parties also campaigned in favour of devolution as a step towards independence. - The Lib Dem were also in favour as a step forward federal state. - Only the Conservatives were quite isolated. - They were so unpopular in Scotland that at the 1997 elections, they lost all their Scottish MPs. - Then, bills were voted in Parliament. - So, in 1998, there were a Scotland Act and a Government of Wales Act. - The first elections were held in 1999. - The Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly were created then. - They were supposed to be more representative of the population than the British Parliament. - There was only 1 house elected under the Additional Electoral Sytem. - A parliament is more powerful than an assembly. - Since 1999, between 1/3 and 1/2 of these new MPs in the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly were women. - Unsurprisingly, Labour came ahead but without any overall majority. - In Wales, Labour has always governed on its own since 1999, except for a few years after 2007 where there was a coalition with Plaid Cymru. - In Scotland, Labour formed a coalition gov with the Lib Dem between 1999 and 2007. - Then, in 2007, the SNP came ahead and formed a gov for the very first time (a minority gov) which proved competent. - So, in 2011, the SNP gained an overall majority which would give the party legitimacy. Since 2007, the SNP has always gained elections in Scotland. - There is a distribution of powers under devolution. - There are devolved matters that are matters run only by the Scottish or Welsh govs: public services, health, education, housing, economic development, agriculture, fisheries, culture (as for Scotland only: justice + police). - Both the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly are free to vote bills within these devolved matters. - There is no political supervision from the British gov or Parliament. - There is only some legal supervision to make sure that no Scottish or Welsh bill has any impact on a reserved matter. - Reserved matters are dealt with by the British gov and Parliament that is why there are still Scottish and Welsh representatives in the British Parliament. - These reserved matters are: foreign policies, defense, migration, most economic and fiscal policies, the constitution. - This means that the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh assembly are not allowed to reform themselves. - At the beginning, the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly were only funded by money from the British budget called the "Block Grant", which didn't have to be negotiated every year as it was based on a formula called the Barnett Formula. - As the years went by, this situation was criticised because SMPs and AMs voted bills that involved higher public spending but they didn’t have to collect revenues to fund this spending. - They had very limited tax-raising powers that they had never used. - And yet, they made decisions that had a real impact in the day-to-day life of the Scots and the Welsh. - For example, tuition fees that students have to pay to attend university were restored by Blair and raised by Cameron up to 9,000 pounds a year. In Scotland, they were reduced and then abolished. The old prescription charges were also abolished in Scotland. - SMPs and AMs argued that they didn’t have enough powers. - They wanted to restore social democracies in other fields as well. - So, the initial Scotland Act and Government of Wales Act were then amended (in 2011 for Wales and in 2016 for Scotland). - In 2016, the Scottish Parliament gained some tax-raising powers. Nowadays, the Scottish Parliament makes decisions over taxes accounting for about 1/2 of its spending. In particular, it is in charge of income tax. - New matters have been devolved including some benefits. - The Welfare State is still reserved but some benefits had been devolved to the Scottish Parliament. - Devolution is regarded as a process when there is strong consistent demand for additional powers. - There are discussions between Scottish parties and then the British Parliament votes Acts accordingly, based on these proposals, both under Labour and the Conservatives. - After 1999, the Conservatives fully accepted devolution. They even recovered some representatives thanks to devolution. - There are devolved matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but there are none in England, meaning that all English matters are still handled by the British gov and Parliament. - There is an unbalance in the House of Commons between MPs from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on one hand and MPs from England on the other hand. - This unbalance is known as "The West Lothian Question" and there is no answer to that West Lothian question. - Britain is not a federal state as there are no specific English institutions. - Turning into a federal state would be difficult as England would be by far the largest nation. - But England could be divided into regions with their own institutions. - Should Britain turn into a federal state, the House of Lords might be reformed accordingly, the House of Lords could become the representatives of the nation like in other federal states like the USA. - Under Tony Blair, London gained additional powers over transport, the police, fire services with an assembly and a mayor. - Until then, there was no mayor. - Then, the process was extended both under New Labour and Conservative governments to other large cities such as Manchester. ## Chapter 2 : Free-market economic policies - New Labour didn’t repeal the free-market policies that had been introduced in the previous decades, in particular the privatisation. - Blair had abandoned the old Labour committment to nationalise. So all privatised companies remained under private ownership. - There were a few exceptions in response to circumstances: Network Rail. - The company in charge of rail tracks went bankrupt, but it was supported by the government. - During the 2008 financial crisis, 2 large British banks, that had benefited from the deregulation of financial services introduced by Thatcher and that had become two of the largest banks in the world, involved many risky investments. - They were about to go bankrupt. - These two banks were the Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS (Halifax Bank of Scotland). - So the government took majority states in these two banks but that was exceptional. - There were no reforms in favour of Trade Unions, except two things. Under New Labour, the recognition of Trade Unions in local work places was made easier. - The closed shop and secondary picketing were still abolished. - There were few strikes in Britain but according to the Conservatives led by Cameron there were still too many strikes. So the ballot was reformed. - Nowadays, turn-out must be at least 50% and the proportion of employees voting in favour of the strike must be at least 40%. - In addition, new types of work contracts were introduced in the 21st century, in particular the Zero Hour Contract, which is a work contract, so the individual can't claim any unemployment benefit. - But, it is a contract that doesn't guarantee no work hours, when there is no work there is no pay. - The employee must be available all the time. - Such contracts were extended under the Conservatives after 2010 in all sorts of fields, both for unskilled and skilled jobs. - For example, some university lecturers. - About 2 million individuals are under such contract. - Working no longer protects from poverty because of the Zero Hour Contract, but also because many people are forced to work part-time. About 8 million individuals work part-time. Many individuals are self-employed but they mostly work for 1 company. - About 5 million individuals are self-employed. - Tony Blair restored the minimum wage that had been abolished under the Conservatives. - But, the minimum wage has remained too low. - It is below what would be regarded as a living wage, a wage that enables individuals at least to feed themselves and their families and to have some accomodation. - The unemployment rate in Britain remained low in the 21st century: about 4-5%, with a peak of 8% after the financial crisis. - But some of the people who have a job remain poor. - Dismissing employees became easier under Cameron. - Those who claimed that they have been unfairly dismissed had to bring their case before employment tribunal and to pay a fee, which is far too high for those on low wages. - Those who are jobless apply for unemployment benefits: the job seeker allowance. - But claiming this allowance has also become more difficult, both under New Labour and the Conservatives. - Individuals have to report to their local job centers every fortnight. - Such appointments are compulsory and missing any of them has major consequences: the job seeker allowance is removed for a few days then a few weeks then a few months. ## Chapter 3: Shifting social policies - New rights were granted to individuals both under New Labour and the Conservatives, especially for homosexuals. - Under New Labour, the rights to adopt children and to be in civil partnership were granted. - Section 28 that prevented teachers from mentioning homosexuality as a normal family relationship was abolished under New Labour. - Then, under the Conservatives, same sex-marriages were allowed. - All sorts of discrimination that are not only on account of individuals’ ethnicity but also because of his/her sexuality or disability were and are still handled by a commission called "The Equality and Human Rights Commission" and set up in 2010. - In addition, every public authority has to devise a plan to prevent discrimination. - Discrimination that cannot be put down to any individual working for the authority but discrimination that can be put down in the system as a whole. - Indeed, there was a case in the early 90s: the murder of a young black man by white people. - These white people were not arrested. - The inquiry had been neglected. - No single policeman could be blamed but the police as a whole. - There was a proper inquiry when Blair came to power, leading to an Act in 2001 to prevent this type of discrimination due to a system and not to a single individual. - Under Blair, as soon as he came to power, a Human Rights Act was passed in 1998. - It incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights drafted in 1951 by the Council of Europe: a convention that protected individuals basic rights against torture, the right to private life, to family life, to property. - It was signed by Britain then but when an individual wanted to benefit from it, he/she had to bring the case before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, so it was difficult. - The Human Rights Act was an improvement because all public authorities in Britain, in particular all courts, would have to enforce the rulings made by the European Court of Human Rights. - After 2010, there were many Conservative politicians that intended to abolish the Human Rights Act but they failed. - There were also other types of social reforms that were not improvements compared to post-war policies. - The reforms of public services first enacted in the 80s and 90s were pursued with the aim of making health and education more efficient, in particular thanks to private money and private companies. - So, the NHS remained free for patients except for eye and dental treatments. - But, there was a growing involvement of private companies. - There were still State Schools for most pupils but there was a growing diversity within the State System. - Some State Schools were allowed to be more selective. - For example, city academies were created under Blair. - Cameron went further with what he called "Free Schools". - They would be still funded by the State but not created by the gov or local authorities but by individuals, and these individuals would be then financially supported by the government (State-funded schools). - Tony Blair introduced tuition fees, then about 3,000 pounds per year, which meant that public spending in favour of universities could be reduced. - Some funds would be financed by the users themselves. - Cameron went much further. - There was a 3/4 increase under Cameron, up to 9,000 pounds per year. - There were grants for students with low background but many of them were deterred. - Fees would not have to be paid immediately but after completing their studies, once the individual has a job. - This still meant that students would have debts even before working. - Under Labour, there was a surge in public spendings for schools and hospitals. - Under Cameron, there were substantial cuts. - Every government department had to cut spending by 25%, except health. - These cuts were partly due to the financial crisis but they were also due to the Conservatives' ideology (saving money). - This aim / ideological committment had major consequences, as far as the Welfare State was concerned. - There was an unprecedented reform of the Welfare State. - Cameron went much further that Thatcher. - Under Thatcher, support was based only on needs. - There were individuals that had many needs (disability, health problems, single mothers). - These individuals until 2010 could apply for many benefits at the same time. - So, Cameron and his ministers thought that this was unacceptable. - There was a very simple idea: no one should get more money thanks to benefits than she/he would earn by working on the minimum wage. - No one should become completely dependent on State support whatever their needs. - The main reform was a merger between 6 benefits called the "Universal Credit". - This Universal Credit is limited. - Overnight, many people lost a substantial proportion of their revenues. - To make matters worse, the government has decided to make it more difficult for individuals to apply. - They have to apply online, they are subjected to assessments. - The worst kind of assessment is on afflicted and disabled individuals including the ones with a regular disability. - To save money, the government contracted out these assessments to private companies. - Disabled individuals are assessed by other individuals that are not doctors, they are ordinary employees. - Their aim is to save money. - So many of them conclude that the disabled individual is actually fit for work. - This would happen on a very large scale. - Being fit for work means you can't apply for what is called the Personal Independence Payment. - You have to apply for a job in order to get the job seeker allowance, but to get it you have to report twice a month to your job center. - But if you are really disabled, you can't seek for a job. - As for housing benefits, governments reckon that there were too many individuals still living in a Council accommodation that had become too big for the family. - So the government decided that, in such cases, the housing benefit would be cut. - This was called the Bedroom Tax (not a tax but a cut). - The government also decided that benefits linked to the number of children would be limited to two children. - So, the immediate consequence was that many individuals relying on benefits fell into poverty. - They had to rely on food banks that developed and expanded across the whole country after 2010. - Things got much worse with the pandemic and the energy crisis. - This is why there were many strikes in a few months recently. - The Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly were only seen as means to achieve aims, that is to restore social democracy. - In Scotland, public services are still run by public authorities. - Private involvement is very limited. - Some services are free, in particular tuition fees that were abolished for students studying at universities. - Prescription charges were abolished. - As rising poverty affect children, the government in Scotland extended free school meals to all pupils. - As for Labour legislation, the Scottish Parliament powers are very very limited. - But the fees that individuals have to pay in England to bring cases before employment tribunals had been abolished in Scotland. - The Scottish Parliament doesn't have any power on the minimum wage in private companies, but the minimum wage paid for by public authorities in Scotland is higher that the minimum wage in England. - There is more support for jobless individuals seeking a job. - As for the Welfare State, the Scottish Parliament only deals with a few benefits, some benefits are still reserved. - But the benefits that are handled in Scotland are higher than their equivalent in England. - There is still financial support for families with more than 2 children. - Assessments imposed on disabled individuals are currently being reformed. ## Chapter 4: The rise of euroscepticism - When Blair came to power, he was very enthusiastic about the European Union, there was a real contrast with the Conservatives. - He signed the social chapter of the Maastricht Treaty. - This was very important because thanks to this chapter, employees in Britain were better protected. - Individuals on part-time work would have the same protections as individuals on full-time work. - Also, every labour contract would have to be based on a written document. - Until then, many labour contracts were based on oral agreement. - The big issue for Blair was the Euro. - In the Maastricht Treaty, there was a provision to give a response later. - Labour was divided and the Conservatives in opposition were against the Euro. - They were still threatened by UKIP. - In the 21st century, UKIP didn’t have any MPs but UKIP would have a growing number of MPs in the European Parliament thanks to the reform for the election to the European Parliament. - The first-past-the-post was replaced by proportional representation with a good effect on small parties that were fairly represented. - The press was also influential. - The popular press was against joining the Euro. - Blair was embarassed so he decided there would be an assessment of the consequences of joining the Euro on the UK economy. - There would be 5 tests and the results would be published in 2003. - Only 1 of these 5 tests was met. - So Britain would not join the Euro. - Many businessmen were disapppointed because they were still suffering from floating exchange rate with their major economic partners. - In 2004, there was an enlargement of the EU. - The EU integrated 10 new member states including 8 from Central Europe, much poorer than the European average. - Many of their nationals immigrated to the UK. - Some of them were skilled or highly skilled but they were ready to accept any job (agriculture, restaurants, hotels...). - For the first few years, these immigrants were welcomed. - The UK economy was booming so this workforce was needed. - But the 2008 crisis was a turning point : unemployment increased. - Some politicians, especially those who belong to UKIP, blamed EU migrants for the difficulties experienced by many people in Britain. - UKIP had just lost its main issue: the Euro. - UKIP needed something else that could justify the withdrawing from the EU (leaving). - So immigration would provide sufficient justification. - As part of the single market, Britain had to comply with the free movement of people. - So the only solution to stop it was to leave the EU. - It was the justification that would gain ground in UK politics, especially within the Conservative party. - There was the 2010 general elections won by the Conservatives. - Cameron formed a coalition gov with the Lib Dem, that is to say the party that is the most committed to European integration. - But, at the same time and for the very first time, 1/4 of Conservative MPs were not merely eurosceptical, they wanted Britain to leave the EU. - That was new. - There was no reform of the electoral system, the British voted against AV and they retained the past system (majority system). - 2/3 des MPs écossais et gallois sont élus au scrutin majoritaire, le tiers restant est élu au scrutin proportionnel (listes). - Cela évite qu'un seul partie ait la majorité absolue mais c'est aussi pour permettre une plus grande diversité des élus et une meilleure représentation des femmes. - 1997: Blair a permis l'élection de 100 MPs femmes dans la Chambre des Communes, en maintenant le First-The-Past-Post. Il a obligé les parties à sélectionner des femmes. - Acts of the Scottish Parliament : mêmes termes employés que pour le parlement britannique - Northern Ireland: power-sharing - MLA: members of the legislative assembly qui sont élus intégralement à la représentation proportionnelle - Parties protestant et catholique en tête : obligation - Jusqu'en 2007, les parties modérés = UUP et SDP - A partir de et depuis 2007, les deux parties qui arrivent en tête = Sinn Féin et DUP - Question centrale = les armes - Confiance restaurée à partir de 2007 - L'idée a été de ne pas confier à l'assemblée nord-irlandaise tous les pouvoirs d'un coup. - 2011: compétence par rapport aux forces de police - 2 umbrella organisations : remainers // leavers - Remainers: certains conservateurs dont le PM, la plupart des anciens PM, les Lib-Dem, le SNP, Plaid Cymru, deux parties catholiques nord-irlandais, UUP - Leavers: UKIP + - Immigration -> impact sur le RU - 50% du commerce britannique se faisait avec l'UE. - Impact sur la croissance éco - Idée que le RU pourrait retrouver ses anciens partenaires économiques - "Taking back control" - 52% en faveur du Brexit - Pays = profondément divisé - Les Ecossais et les Nord-Irlandais n'ont pas voté pour le Brexit. - Jeunes contre le Brexit. - Teresa May a succédé à Cameron: elle était en faveur du remain - Hard Brexit // Soft Brexit - EFTA - EEA: European Economic Area (Norvège pas dans l'UE mais dans le marché unique) - 2021: UK sort du marché unique - Voting systems, or electoral systems, are the method by which we elect representatives. A voting system determines the rules on how we elect parties and candidates. The House of Commons, Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales, Northern Ireland Assembly and UK local authorities use different voting systems. - First-past-the-post - The House of Commons and local councils in England and Wales use the first-past-the-post system. The UK is divided into constituencies. Local authorities into wards. - At a general or local election, voters put a cross (X) next to their preferred candidate on a ballot paper. Ballot papers are counted. The candidate with the most votes represents the constituency or ward. - Alternative Vote (AV) - Alternative Vote is used to elect: - Chairs of most committees in the House of Commons - The Lord Speaker and by-elections for hereditary peers. - Voters rank candidates in order of preference by marking 1, 2, 3 and so on. A voter can rank as many or as few candidates as they like or vote for one candidate. First preference votes are counted first. If a candidate receives more than 50 per cent of the first preference votes then they are elected. If no candidate reaches 50 per cent, the candidate with the fewest first preference votes is eliminated. Their second preference votes are reallocated to the remaining candidates. If one candidate has more votes than the other remaining candidates put together, that candidate is elected. If not, the process is repeated until one candidate has more votes than the other remaining candidates put together. This candidate wins the election. - Supplementary Vote (SV) - Elections for mayors in England and Wales, and for Police and Crime Commissioners, use the Supplementary Vote system. The SV system is like the AV system. Voters are limited to a first and second preference choice. A voter marks a cross in one column for their first preference candidate. They mark another cross in a second column for their second preference if they wish to do so. If a candidate receives more than 50 per cent of the first preference votes then they are elected. If no candidate reaches the 50 per cent threshold, the two candidates with the highest number of votes remain. This eliminates the other candidates. The second preference of the eliminated candidates are counted. Any made for the two remaining candidates are transferred. The candidate with the most votes at the end of this process is elected. - Single Transferable Vote (STV) - Single Transferable Vote is used for: - Elections for Deputy Speakers in the House of Commons - Northern Ireland Assembly elections - Local elections in Scotland and Northern Ireland - STV was also used in Northern Ireland to elect Members of the European Parliament from 1979 to 2019. Constituencies which elect more than one representative use STV. Voters rank candidates in order of preference by marking 1, 2, 3 and so on. A voter can rank as many or as few candidates as they like or vote for only one candidate. Each candidate needs to reach a quota. This is the minimum number of votes calculated according to the number of seats and votes cast. The first preference votes for each candidate are added up. Candidates who achieve this quota are elected. Surplus votes from candidates who hit the quota go to second preference candidates. Votes from the candidate with the fewest first preference votes who do not achieve the quota are eliminated. Their votes go to the second preference. - Additional Member System (AMS) - The Additional Member System is used by: - The Scottish Parliament - The National Assembly for Wales - The London Assembly - Voters are given two votes on separate ballot papers. One vote is for a constituency member and one vote is for a party list. In Scotland and Wales list members are elected by region. In London there is a single London-wide list. Constituency votes are counted first and the members for each constituency are elected using first-past-the-post. Additional members are then elected by counting the party list votes in each region. The number of members elected from the list is based on the percentage of the votes cast but also takes into account the number of constituency members already elected in the region. This is designed to make the result more proportional to the number of votes cast. - Closed Party List - The Closed Party List system was used in England, Scotland and Wales to elect Members of the European Parliament between 1999 and 2019. Under this system, a voter marks a cross on the ballot paper next to the party's name. Parties get the number of seats in proportion to the votes it