A History of Britain by Black Jeremey;

Author:Black, Jeremey; [Black, Jeremey;]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780253029720
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 2017-01-15T07:00:00+00:00

6

THE POLITICS OF CRISIS, 1961–79

THE 1950S WERE a decade of prosperity after the postwar gloom, and, as a result, a period of reasonable optimism as far as the bulk of the population was concerned. One index was a relatively high birth rate that, in combination with the response to peace and demobilization in 1945, produced the postwar baby boomers. The 1960s and 1970s was far more mixed. For the young, these years, and especially 1968, might be one of optimism focused on personal liberation and a sense of social progress, and the period was subsequently to be celebrated in these terms. This was especially the case when cultural icons died, as with the pop singer David Bowie in 2016.

Much of the population at the time, however, was confronted, and notably in the 1970s, with the consequences of economic decline and serious political failure. These were brought dramatically home with the power cuts experienced during the miners’ strikes and those of the power workers. A public that got used (as I did) to periods of no heating, to shopping and living by candlelight, to bathing in the dark, and to going to bed early was not a public readily persuaded that things were getting better. The increased use of electricity, as opposed to coal fires, made power cuts more serious than in the past for individuals could store coal but not electricity. There was a literal metaphorical gloom.

The period had not begun like this. With an echo of the situation in 1945, there was a sense in the early 1960s of a need for new beginnings but also of a belief that such a beginning was possible and that Britain could, and would, benefit. As discussed in chapter 10, the Conservatives sought to pursue this by means of joining the European Economic Community (EEC). Doing so was presented as a key means to modernization, an argument that at the time linked leaders with most party members.1 The bolt from empire under Macmillan made Britain’s attempt to stand apart from the EEC prove less credible, as did the extent to which neither the United States nor the Commonwealth were ready to pursue relations with Britain that would be as close as the British government wanted.

The application to join the EEC, however, failed. The French veto of January 1963 made Macmillan appear irrelevant as well as unsuccessful. In practice, the other five members of the EEC supported British entry, but the French attitude proved crucial.

Moreover, as with John Major in 1992 (see chapter 8), the Conservatives proved unable to maintain their record for effective economic management. Macmillan came to show an interest in government economic direction. He called for a “new approach,” including more planning and better labor relations, which was designed to put him ahead of the curve of change and thus both relevant and crucial. A Cabinet committee on modernization was established in 1962. A supporter of “one nation” Conservatism, Macmillan adopted views on social welfare accordingly, notably that of universal benefits.

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