Effects Of Mrs. Thatcher 's Policies On The Coal Mining Communities Of South Wales

When asked to think of coal mining, what comes to mind? A mountain with a hole cut into the side of it with a set of railroad tracks disappearing into it? Maybe an old mine car or two full of some rocks or coal, with a pickaxe and shovel leaning against it. A few guys with hard hats covered in a black powder coming walking out of the mine pushing a car or two full of coal. The technology has advanced but the process is basically still the same as well as the outcome. Coal is retrieved from underground and taken to factories to be burnt to create electricity or to fuel the steel mills.

In the past, previous governments have always placed great emphasis upon collectivism, yet, Margaret Thatchers government saw the future as being more individual and made an attempt at reducing/abolishing collectivist thinking. The government wanted people to think more individually. Mrs Thatcher viewed that the collectivist way of thinking would get in the way of the

In the article, The Lords and The Mill Girls the author Maury Klein, explains to us the rise and fall of women working in the factory setting. In doing so he makes the argument that democracy is incompatible with capitalism. Over time expectations about democracy can change and many times greed is the driving factor.

But has the Conservative party actually abandoned Thatcherism? Considering the points displayed in this essay, I have come to the conclusion that Cameron’s ‘progressive’ party may not so adverse to Thatcherism at all. The most important issues over specific reforms raised by the current Conservative Government seem to be highly influenced by the ideas of Thatcher. What is essential to point out is that times have evolved since the Thatcher timeframe and the Conservatives have had to evolve along with these times and adapt their attitudes to gain support from the electorate who view the ‘Iron Lady’s’ concepts as out of date. As to any argument, there are two sides to the story; let us remember that Cameron’s Government has only had the chance

The Labour government in 1945-1951 achieved a high degree of activity and success, despite working within ‘the aftermath of war’ which inevitably ‘brings enormous difficulties’. The Labour government devoted their power to reconstructing a better nation, one that would be a ‘better place in which to be born, to grow up, and to live and even die’. On the other hand it is possible to criticise Labour due to their ‘irresponsible’ spending.

If we look at the past, the challenges citizens faced industrial evolution that occurred in England remain challenges today, from the effects of private property on the community to the devaluation of labour. Many of the vices and problems that affected society in the past are almost to parallel to our society. Although attempts to change society for the better ended up in more violence or didn’t occur at all, the past offers good criticism which we can learn from today.

It is important to give a brief explanation as to what is meant by the term Thatcherism in British political discourse. Thatcherism according to Heffernan suggests that there are several contradictory explanations to the meaning of Thatcherism. He contends that Thatcherism could be explained via “a short hand description of what the Thatcher-led Conservative governments did at any one time” or similarly it could be explained as “ a popular political movement, a policy style; a form of leadership; or.an ideological project, a vehicle which advanced a post-social democratic neo-liberal political agenda‘ (Heffernan, 2001). The term Thatcherism is therefore an umbrella term that not only describes the Leader of the ruling

Women even before the formation of the welfare state were given only the role as family caretaker in order to allow for the man to work and create economic stability for the country. Even as the roles of women changed slightly into the industrial era, the ideologies of a women’s role continued to be as a family caretaker. It was only when the women had done a poor job of raising their family that poor laws were implemented in order to benefit the economy. While Mink and Solinger continue this point with an underlying theme of women’s roles within politics and their main duty as a good mother who will put working morals into her children. Forms of welfare have existed since the 1600’s but were then presented as a badge of failure to the mothers who could not longer support a

Until the 1980s Canadian historians had a tendency to concentrate on economic history, including labour history, because Canada had far less military or governmental conflicts than other societies, particularly in the first half of the twentieth century when economic history was overwhelmingly dominant. McBride and Shields describe the growth of the Canadian State’s role in society and economy as a sequence of National Policies. Prime Minster John A. Macdonald had defined Canada’s economic platform for years by creating a structure that was defined as a National Policy system that would protect costs that would encourage the expansion of Canadian manufacturing. MacDonald’s National Policy contained three parts that would help with the building

Britain’s nobility strove to prevent progressive change and opted for tradition. The upper classes of society utilized several mediums to oppress the working class and preserve the closing gap with the emergence of the middle class. For example, industrialization generated a huge demand for factory workers, and women were often desirable for they were perceived less than men and would earn a fraction of their male counterparts. Thus, although this marked a positive change for women to be self-sufficient backlash emerged funded by the upper classes of society to prevent change. Women were idealized as ‘angels of the house’ while being exposed to an arguable dystopian society for the working class. Also, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

The Conservative Party Government Era during 1951-1964 is a period which has been politically criticized throughout the years specifically that of Britain Politics. During this time, the Conservative government was said to have pursued mainly Keynesian economic policies which was centrally focused on reducing inflation, to maintain growth and promote stability but despite the Conservatives attempts to revive the Britain economy through industrialism, increase standard of living and encouragement for consumerism there was the development of a stagnant economy which eventually produced an increase in unemployment, inflation and interest rates for consumer products and loans. The Labour government described the period of 1951-64 as “Thirteen Wasted Years” as they felt that during this period Britain experienced economic chaos and turmoil. This was quite the opposite view for that of the Conservatives, particularly Macmillan who expressed in his speech that the people had “… never had it so good” and encouraged his supporters and opponents to “… Go around the country, go to industrial towns, go to the farms and you will see a state of prosperity such as we have never had before… ” This research paper will make reference to Andrew Boxer Thirteen Wasted Years and Dominic Sandbrook Never Had It So Good to

During her term of office she reshaped almost every aspect of British politics, reviving the economy, reforming outdated institutions, and reinvigorating the nation's foreign policy. She challenged and did much to overturn the psychology of decline, which had become rooted in Britain since the Second World War, pursuing national recovery with striking energy and determination. In the process, Margaret

When Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister the first thing she wanted to do was limit union power. She felt that union power applied to nationalized industrial monopolies resulted in poor service at exorbitant cost to the taxpayers. She pointed to inefficient work practices, over employment and restrictive employment

The new Conservative Government differed significantly from the Conservative Governments that had been in power throughout the ‘Butskellism’ era. Butskellism is an acronym derived from the cross party consensus on state welfare and housing that had dominated since the 1950s (Alcock, May & Wright, 2012). The Conservatives New Right ideology was one that advocated privatisation, managerialism and competitive markets. The ideology supported the sale and privatisation of National commodities such as British Steel, British Telecom, and other utilities such as water, gas, and electric (Bochel, 2012). Housing did not escape the Conservative Governments goal of complete privatisation; according to Legislation.gov.uk (2015), in August 1980, chapter 51 of the Housing Act 1980 incorporated the right to buy scheme. As supported by Baldock et al (2012), the right to buy refers to a housing policy that supported the compulsory sale of council

Coal is a hard, black colored rock-like substance. It is made up of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and varying amount of sulphur. Coal was form as decomposition took place in the absence of oxygen and much of the hydrogen content of the matter was eroded away, leaving a material rich in carbon. The material was compressed over the years by sand and dirt, leaving the form of a carbon known as coal. The different types of coals are Anthracite, bituminous, lignite, peat, coke, and charcoal. Coal is mined out of the ground and used to produce energy. However, they are many deaths, injuries, and sickness involved in mining coal.