The Campaign Guide 1983 Foreword
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THE CAMPAIGN GUIDE 1983 FOREWORD This edition of the Campaign Guide runs along well established lines. Like good Conservatives, we do not change things for the sake of changing them. However, there is one departure from tradition—a departure which is perhaps symbolic. This time we have reprinted in the Campaign Guide the full text of the Manifesto on which the last General Election was fought. Margaret Thatcher's Government was returned to power in 1979 with a clear and well developed set of policies. Her Government has stuck to those policies and implemented them. The 1979 Manifesto is reprinted in this volume as an aid to the user, and with no fear that it will be compared critically with the Government's record as set out in the rest of the book. It has become customary for Directors of the Reseach Department to record their gratitude to Tony Greenland for his work as editor of the Campaign Guide. I do this with no less feeling than my predecessors. Having first worked alongside Tony some thirty-two years ago, I am in a good position to recognise his consistency of purpose and his utter dependability. I should also like to thank all my other colleagues in the Research Department who have worked so hard in the production of the book, and to acknowledge the assistance of a number of the Department's “Old Boys”—some of them now Special Advisers—who have helped with particular chapters. I hope that this Campaign Guide, together with the Research Department's other publications, will be found useful by those who will be fighting the forthcoming General Election at the sharp end, whether in the constituencies or on the media. April 1983 PETER CROPPER CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION 5 1. THE ECONOMY 8 2. TAXATION 32 3. INDUSTRY 51 4. SMALL BUSINESSES 67 5. EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING 75 6. INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AND TRADE UNION REFORM 97 7. TRADE AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS 115 8. ENERGY 136 9. ECONOMIC STATISTICS 157 10. AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY 171 11. TRANSPORT 182 12. EDUCATION 199 13. HEALTH AND WELFARE 219 CONTENTS 14. SOCIAL SECURITY 231 15. HOUSING 244 16. LOCAL GOVERNMENT 260 17. ENVIRONMENT 278 18. WOMEN'S AFFAIRS 292 19. HOME OFFICE MATTERS 301 20. PARLIAMENT AND CONSTITUTION 322 21. SCOTLAND 332 22. WALES 354 23. NORTHERN IRELAND 365 24. DEFENCE 377 25. EUROPEAN COMMUNITY 392 26. EXTERNAL AFFAIRS 413 27. LABOUR PARTY 443 28. THE ‘ALLIANCE’ PARTIES: SDP AND LIBERALS 478 29. OTHER POLITICAL ORGANISATIONS 496 APPENDICES I. The Conservative Manifesto 1979 502 II. General Election Statistics 519 III. By-Elections since May 1979 524 INTRODUCTION Policies and Programmes, 1974–9 The Conservative Party fought the 1979 General Election on a well developed set of policies and a clear programme. This Campaign Guide is largely an account of how those policies and that programme have been put into practice. The gradual evolution of the Party's programme during the period 1974 to 1979 was marked by several documentary statements. The Right Approach, which was published in October 1976, reviewed the facts of Britain's economic failure and of the country's loss of confidence. The Right Approach to the Economy, which was published a year later, in October 1977, concentrated particularly on the role of inflation as ‘the great destroyer—of jobs, living standards and a stable order’, and on the evils of high personal taxation and the dangers of irresponsible pay bargaining. The Manifesto Commitment The Conservative Manifesto 1979 pulled the strands together in these terms: ‘Our country's relative decline is not inevitable. We in the Conservative Party think we can reverse it, not because we think we have all the answers but because we think we have the one answer that matters most. We want to work with the grain of human nature, helping people to help themselves—and others. This is the way to restore that self-reliance and self-confidence which are the basis of personal responsibility and national success.’ The Manifesto set out the five main tasks of the next Conservative Government: 1. ‘To restore the health of our economic and social life by controlling inflation and striking a fair balance between the rights and duties of the trade union movement.’ 2. ‘To restore incentives so that hard work pays, success is rewarded and genuine new jobs are created in an expanding economy.’ 3. ‘To uphold Parliament and the rule of law.’ 4. ‘To support family life, by helping people to become home-owners, raising the standards of their children's education, and concentrating welfare services on the effective support of the old, the sick, the disabled and those who are in real need.’ 5. ‘To strengthen Britain's defences and work with our allies to protect our interests in an increasingly threatened world.’ Once back in office, and supported by a comfortable working majority in the House of Commons, the Conservative leadership set to work to implement the programme. The Prime Minister made clear that she did not expect the task to be completed within the span of one Parliament. So the radical restructuring of public affairs, which is portrayed in this Guide, is, of course, incomplete. In the forthcoming General Election the Conservative Party will be seeking a mandate to continue a job well started. The Record, 1979–83 The record of four years' work, set out in the following pages, is a record of major achievement. It can be considered under nine headings: 1. Stabilisation of the Economy. During the 1960s and 1970s, recurrent crises, inflation and loss of markets came to be known as the ‘British disease’. Conservatives recognised that until the economy could be restored to an even keel, no government would be able to reinforce the country's industrial and social structure, or maintain the country's standing in international affairs. By strict monetary and fiscal control, the Government has stabilised the economy. Inflation is down well into single figures and government expenditure has been brought under control. 2. Defence. The most important duty of any government is to provide secure defences against external attack. The Conservatives have substantially increased the resources committed to that task. The successful conduct of the Falklands conflict showed that Britain could still be expected to defend her interests. 3. International Leadership. By her determination in economic affairs, and as a reliable member of NATO, of the European Community, and of the British Commonwealth, Britain today enjoys a focal and influential position in world affairs. The Conservative Party has built on that achievement; and unlike Labour it has resisted every temptation to turn the country's back on the rest of the world and look inwards. 4. Maintenance of Law and Order. The Conservative Government has honoured its commitment to strengthen the police, to spend more on the war against crime, and it has improved compensation for the victims of crime. 5. Rolling Back the Frontiers of the State. Government controls have been removed from prices, wages, dividends, hire purchase and foreign exchange. In four years the Conservatives have made impressive progress in reducing the monopoly powers of the nationalised industries and returning them, where appropriate, to the private sector. We have legislated to give parents more say in their children's education, and to give council tenants the right to buy their own homes. We have encouraged private medicine, which reduces the strain on the National Health Service, and provided special tax reliefs to help charities and other voluntary organisations. 6. Reduction of the Tax Burden. The Government has cut the basic rate of Income Tax from 33 per cent to 30 per cent, and raised tax allowances by more than the increase in prices. It has also reduced the absurdly high top rates of Income Tax. The partial switch from taxes on earning to taxes on spending has been carried out. The Government would have liked to reduce Income Tax further, but that aim had to take lower priority than maintaining social security payments to the unemployed and reducing government borrowing. 7. Encouragement of Enterprise. The Conservative Government has encouraged and assisted new industries—particularly in the field of micro-technology. The climate for small businesses and new businesses has been greatly improved by over a hundred measures specifically designed to help them. Capital taxes have been reduced and many of their more damaging features removed. 8. Preservation of the Welfare State. Only a healthy economy can provide adequate social services. Conservatives believe that a free market economy and proper care for those in need go together. The present Government has improved the value of supplementary benefits (the ‘safety net’), raised Child Benefit to its highest ever real value, increased pensions faster than prices, and boosted the National Health Service. 9. Trade Union Reform. Conservatives believe that a strong, democratic trade union movement has a vital part to play in society, but that safeguards are necessary to prevent the abuse of union powers and to protect individual union members. Two important Employment Acts—those of 1980 and 1982—have been placed on the statute book, and a wide-ranging consultative Green Paper has been published. This Guide This Campaign Guide shows, in some detail, how the Conservative Party's 1979 programme has been worked out in practice. It is a reference book, not a policy document. For those who are looking for more detail about Conservative plans for the mid-eighties, we commend the General Election Manifesto. For those in search of topical arguments we draw attention to the Research Department's fortnightly publication ‘Politics Today’, and to our loose-leaf book of ‘Speakers' Notes’, prepared for the General Election.