Surprisingly, the director whose eponymous advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi dreamt it up was at first unsure about whether to use it. This may partly have been because the iconic image was actually photographic sleight-of-hand , conjuring up the never-ending dole queue from a cast of 20 Young Conservatives. The lapse from full employment had begun under the previous Tory government, with Edward Heath presiding over the headline rise to one million jobless in Although the rate had risen after Labour was forced into budget deficit reduction measures in , it was falling again after February Critics of Conservative policy had long argued that by pursuing price stability or, at least, lower inflation they would necessarily send the unemployment rate up.
Aggregate demand would be reduced by public spending cuts and increases in interest rates, which would make it harder for industry to invest and by strengthening the Pound to export. Thatcher sidestepped this attack by embracing Monetarism , the economic approach that US libertarian Milton Friedman had managed to advance as an alternative to post-war Keynesianism.
According to Friedman, inflation could be reduced just by curbing the growth in the money supply. This did not have to cause any increase in interest rates, because the assurance of lower inflation would simultaneously reduce the demand for money. With no rise in interest rates, there would be no over-valuation of the Pound.
So neither investment nor exports would have to fall. For good measure, the Conservatives promised to rein-in Trade Union powers , promising that lower wage claims would also bring inflation down and job opportunities up. Her first Chancellor, Sir Geoffrey Howe, duly sought to constrain the growth of the money supply through a fiscal deficit reduction.
Notoriously, Howe carried on attempting to reduce the deficit even when the economy fell into recession. His restrictive budget drew an angry letter from economists , warning that this would only deepen the downturn.
Although Howe and his successor Nigel, now Lord Lawson are benignly judged, those dissenters proved largely right. Unemployment rose from just over 1 million in to more than 3 million by , despite numerous changes to statistical measurement which kept the headline figure down. The UK has had a structural current-account deficit, relying on inflows of capital to stay afloat, ever since.
Join us as we count down to the General Election with a step back in time But what does this all mean? In the lead up to the General Election, Alan Shipman discusses how the economic problems of were swept under the carpet, but they are not off the agenda. Politics, philosophy and economics PPE are central to understanding how modern societies are organised and governed. By studying them together you'll gain a combination of skills that's in high demand across the private, public and non-profit sectors.
Whilst PPE has been described as 'the degree that runs Britain', this combination is better viewed as the study of how countries are run, what motivates and constrains their rulers and residents, and how social order and prosperity are best understood and promoted. All three disciplines are presented in up-to-date form, covering alternative as well as 'mainstream' approaches and firmly rooted in the real world. OU course. Then, duty done, I had tried to push my way back into the chamber.
So many members were standing shoulder to shoulder around the Speaker's chair, that climbing up to the gallery was my only hope of seeing the result declared. Installed on the front row with my head against the railing, I enjoyed a panoramic view of the final act of a drama - part tragedy, part farce - in which I had played a supporting role.
Labour was a minority government. To survive the vote, the party had to make friends and recruit allies. It was a task to which, for the previous week, half a dozen of us had devoted all our energies. I had been made responsible for two of "the odds and sods" - the not altogether affectionate name that the government chief whip had given the members who either had no party or could be detached from their party allegiance.
And, since the "odds and sods" were our only hope, I had felt like young Raleigh going over the top in Journey's End. The government had lived precariously for more than two years - cobbling together majorities night by night by recruiting whatever allies were available.
By the carefully chosen day on which Margaret Thatcher had put the no confidence motion on the House of Commons order paper it was too late to hope that salvation would come from the support of the smaller parties. The Liberals had formally ended the "pact" which had sustained Labour since Plaid Cymru was safe and solid in its support.
But the Scottish National party had declared political independence from the government. On the evening that their decision was announced, Donald Stewart, their genial leader, had argued with me on radio about the wisdom of trying to bring the government down.
Being a man of honour, he paid up within 24 hours of polling day. But he had to send my winnings through the post.
Like every other SNP candidate, he had been defeated. So the hope of survival rested on Labour mobilising every one of its own members and persuading a couple of Irishmen - orange or green, it did not matter - briefly to join its ranks in the No lobby. Only one Labour MP's attendance remained in doubt until the last moment. The rest, there was no doubt, would follow the stern instruction to arrive at the House of Commons an hour before the debate began and register their presence with the whips' office.
Sir Alfred - a year-old retired family doctor - was mortally ill. Indeed, some months earlier he had suggested that, because he was so unwell, it would be sensible for him to "apply for the Chiltern Hundreds" and retire from parliament. But the party managers doubted if Labour could successfully defend a majority of 8, Usually his absence was of no consequence as he was "paired" with an absent Tory.
But in those days, there were no pairs for the votes that really mattered. In the little group that the chief whip called together to fight the rearguard action, there was deep disagreement about whether or not a dying man should be brought miles to the House and left in the ambulance in Speaker's Court while he was "nodded through" the division lobby by a whip - a procedure which was only acceptable if an invalid was "in the precincts" of the House of Commons when the division was called.
Broughton himself was prepared, indeed determined, to do what he regarded as his duty - even though he had been warned that he might not survive the journey. So it was necessary to discuss what would happen if he was dead on arrival.
Someone remembered that, by convention, nobody dies in the Palace of Westminster. Once he had arrived safely in Speaker's Court, his vote was secure. Ann Taylor - subsequently Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons, but then only an assistant whip - volunteered to travel from Yorkshire with him.
Asked what she would do if Sir Alfred did not survive the journey, she was, understandably, unable to answer. Fate - and Walter Harrison, the government's deputy chief whip - decreed that she was never required to take the decision. It was Walter Harrison, the unsung hero of a dozen votes in which Jim Callaghan's minority government had scraped home, who had the job of liaising with the Broughton family - not an easy task since the House was besieged by journalists who were more interested in the life expectancy of the government than the health of the local MP.
The Broughtons answered neither the telephone nor the door, and neighbours, anxious to protect them from intrusion, pretended that they had left home. Harrison sent his wife and daughter from nearby Wakefield to push a note through the letterbox asking for the latest medical prognosis. On the morning of the vote, Lady Broughton telephoned to say that her husband was determined to come to the aid of the party, but it would be madness for him to do so.
The time had come to take a decision. Harrison can remember the exact time at which he made up his mind. Not all of us, who scrambled for votes that day, agreed with him. But Harrison still cherishes the letter which he received from Jim Callaghan, the defeated prime minister.
It told him that he "did the right thing" on vote of confidence day. Sir Alfred Broughton died a week later. We had considered the possibility of Broughton's absence since the beginning of the week. Without him Labour needed the support of three Irishmen - just to tie the vote. But a tie would do since the Speaker would declare that the vote was not carried. Two Irishmen ought to have been easy enough to recruit. Gerry Fitt was the leader and effective founder of the Social Democratic and Labour Party - which, as its name implied, was in political sympathy with the government.
Frank Maguire described himself on his nomination papers simply as "Independent", but three years' internment under the Special Powers Act qualified him for the title of "republican". Usually they did. But in February , Fitt and Maguire had a grievance. The Boundary Commission had judged that Northern Ireland was underrepresented in the House of Commons and recommended an increase in its number of constituencies.
Roy Mason, the Northern Ireland Secretary, had endorsed the report - thus, it was claimed, offering the Unionists more seats in the "Imperial Parliament".
No doubt there were deeper and more personal reasons for Fitt and Maguire's alienation. But when a journalist asks an MP why he wants to bring down a government, the answer has to be better than, "I just don't like the secretary of state. So I was recruited to kidnap two Unionists. On the Sunday night before the confidence vote I telephoned the chief whip's office with the intention of leaving a message which offered my - unashamedly republican - assistance in securing Fitt's vote.
Murdo now Sir Murdo Maclean the chief whip's secretary was, to my surprise, at work preparing the following week's schedule of business. Anxious to steer clear of party controversy, he suggested I saw the chief the following day.
When I arrived at his office in 12 Downing Street, the planning was already in progress. Callaghan was a nice man, but his government was shambolic in the views of the public who gave the Tories the majority.
Competence or valence and appealing to voters on the grounds where they are, rather than striking off in a completely different direction, are what won it for Margaret Thatcher in Part of that has to be about winning on valance — showing competence and an ability to deliver on widely-shared objectives, such as a better health service and a strong economy.
Part of it too is about liberalism — showing how it is the right way to solve the problems that most concern voters, such as by cutting crime through rehabilitation and by applying humanity to immigration.
Liberal competence on the issues which matter the most to voters would be the mirror image of what won it for the Conservatives in Basically WE have to show our competence valence for Government to ALL in the uk via our social media, door knocking and leaflets. Your email address will not be published. Sign up to get Lib Dem Newswire privacy policy link below.
All comments and data you submit with them will be handled in line with the privacy and moderation policies. Skip to content ». In any case, building a Liberal core vote remains the correct response! Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Enter Email Confirm Email.
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