Contemporary Britain

A Survey With Texts

John Oakland

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2002
• Print ISBN: 9780415150378
• eBook ISBN: 9781134748334
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

Contemporary Britain is the latest book from the bestselling author of British Civilization and American Civilization. It is a wide-ranging collection of sources concerning every important aspect of life in Britain today, from national identity to moral panics and offers an accurate snapshot of life in Britain at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Topics covered include:

* Britain's role in world affairs
* British national identity
* constitutional reform within Britain
* social institutions including the NHS
* political parties
* Morality and religion.

Lively and accessible Contemporary Britain is the essential companion for anyone studying current British civilization.

Chapter 1
Contemporary Britain: the context

Decline

1 Britain in Decline,
Andrew Gamble

The Establishment

2 ‘Large bottoms rule, okay?’,
Robert Harris

3 John Patten

4 Paddy Ashdown

Centralization and democracy

5 ‘Party of freedom has shackled us all to the state’,
Simon Jenkins

6 ‘“Cool Britannia” looks more like Fool Britannia’, Philip Bowring

7 The Essential Anatomy of Britain:
Democracy in Crisis, Anthony Sampson

Models of British society

8 Understanding Post-War British Society,
James ObelkevichPeter Catterall

Exercises

Further reading

Notes

The texts in this chapter were written in the 1990s and place British society in the context of recent history. They are grouped under headings that indicate significant debates, developments and attitudes in British life over the late twentieth century (Decline, The Establishment, Centralization and democracy, and Models of British society).

Public opinion polls sometimes portray Britain as a society full of alleged weaknesses and worrying concerns. Politicians and commentators also often seem interested in presenting the country as a ‘problem’ (or a series of ‘problems’) and suggesting their own ‘remedies’, usually under the guise of ‘modernization’. But Britain is a generally equable society and most of its people seem to operate on established personal and social norms, conscious of both tradition and change. It is not a static country (in spite of the ‘conservative’ and ‘quaint’ images often attributed to it) and is subject to periods of transition, which inevitably involve a tension between past and present.

However, since at least the 1960s, many critics have focused on ‘the state of Britain’ and have portrayed a country in decline on moral, social, political and economic grounds. In their view, the society continues to be unsure about itself and its identity, both nationally and internationally.

Some observers have maintained that Britain needs fundamental structural reforms and attitudinal change in virtually every area of national life in order to remedy decline and embrace ‘modernization’. Other commentators have argued that evolutionary or gradualist change on pragmatic lines is required, which, as they see it, would be characteristic of British historical development. Nevertheless, on both sides, questions are asked about Britain’s future direction, its institutions, its place in Europe and the world and its status as a United Kingdom.

The debates have often focused on macro or large-scale issues such as the weaknesses of the economic system, political and constitutional inadequacies, imperial decline, the alleged non-competitive nature of British society and the performance (or lack of it) of national institutions. Some texts in this chapter illustrate the economic arguments for decline and some stress cultural, institutional and democratic weaknesses. But others describe the vitality and variety of entrepreneurial activity and individual behaviour in British life, which are often expressed outside strict organizational or institutional restraints.

In terms of ordinary Britons’ reactions to their society, certain issues, such as health, education and crime, continue to be of great concern and there is frequently a gap between what politicians propose and what the mass of the people find important or acceptable. In January 2000, the public opinion poll organization MORI¹ reported those issues that the British public considered to be most important for them:

Healthcare	(71 per cent)
Education	(55)
Law and order	(49)
Unemployment	(36)
Pensions	(31)
Taxation	(30)
Managing the economy	(28)
Public transport	(26)
Europe	(24)
Environment	(21)
Housing	(18)
Defence	(13)
Animal welfare	(9)
Northern Ireland	(8)
Constitution/devolution	(7)
Trade unions	(4)

Respondents regarded the responses of political parties to the first five items as significant in helping them to decide which party they might support at the next general election (possibly in May 2001). These issues emphasize the everyday importance of public services, jobs and financial security for many people. But the public did not rank so highly those areas that the Labour government and commentators also considered to be central to British life, such as the trade unions, defence, Northern Ireland and the constitution/devolution.

devolution

Devolution is the transfer of some political powers from the central government in Westminster to Assemblies in Wales (1999) and Northern Ireland (2000) and a Parliament in Scotland (1999). It also includes the election of a mayor and Assembly (2000) to run London.

The MORI poll was echoed in some respects (but differed in others) by a February 2000 Mintel opinion poll² dealing with British lifestyles. Matters like owning one’s own house (64 per cent), having a car (53), life insurance (40) and a personal pension (40) were important parts of individuals’ lives, as were consumer and leisure activities. These emphases suggest a return to material preoccupations and spending rather than an emphasis on saving after the difficult economic climate of the early 1990s. But other concerns, such as the National Health Service (37), keeping in close touch with one’s family (35) and state education (14), were also important.

The British public still depends upon and expects state spending on what it considers to be essential social or public services, in spite of recent emphases by both Conservative and Labour governments upon more personal responsibility and taking control of one’s own life. Polls in 1999 and 2000 suggested that Britons feel that the Labour government has not delivered on its 1997 election promises in these areas. But the above personal lifestyle items indicate that people are also able to operate on individual levels of choice (see text 8) and see the need to prepare for their future requirements, especially at a time when public services are under strain.

As background to the texts, the recent history of Britain can be divided into three periods: one, the continuous rule by Conservative governments from 1979– 97 (under the Prime Ministerships of Margaret Thatcher 1979–90 and John Major 1990–97); two, a very severe economic recession (1988–92), which adversely affected the British people and the Conservative government; and, three, the victory of the Labour Party (under the leadership of Tony Blair) over the unpopular Conservatives in the general election of May 1997.

The early Conservative period was characterized by what became known as Thatcherism. Although opinions differ about the nature and success of Thatcherism (see text 5), the term was associated with policies such as free-market economics, the attempt to cut taxation and public spending and the encouragement of so-called Victorian values. There was an emphasis on entrepreneurial activity, personal responsibility, meritocracy and the creation of an enterprise culture (as opposed to a dependency culture in which people depended on the state to provide their needs). John Major largely continued Thatcherite economic programmes and vainly tried to introduce a ‘back-to-basics’value system. The present Labour government, while still following broadly Conservative economic policies, has since 1997 attempted to ‘modernize’ Britain and present a creative, dynamic image of the country to the world. This exercise has been widely criticized on grounds of definition and implementation (see Chapter 2).

Thatcherism

The government policies associated with the Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1979–90).

Victorian values

A vague term, but usually centred on allegedly traditional values generated by the individual and the family structure: thrift, temperance, good housekeeping, patriotism, duty, hard work, self-reliance, practical Christianity and family values.

back to basics

An attempt to bring about a return to traditional values in education, social work and attitudes to crime; to reinforce traditional values of decency and civic community.

Decline

The relative reduction of Britain’s former world role, which arguably continues to influence the national mentality to varying degrees, has to be considered in a historical context. The first text addresses Britain’s national and international ‘decline’ in the twentieth century. It explains this downturn not only on economic grounds and a related loss of world status, but also in terms of political and attitude weakness. It examines Britain’s position in the world economic system (globalization) rather than solely its performance as a self-contained nation. It is often argued that globalization and a necessary interdependence inevitably affect every national economy and nation states allegedly must come to terms with this fact of life, although there are nationalist and other reactions to such influences (see text 2 in Chapter 3). The Conservative government had to confront Britain’s reduced condition, both domestically and internationally, in 1979.

1
Britain in Decline

Andrew Gamble

(London: Macmillan, 4th edition, 1994) abridged

Britain has now been in decline for a hundred years… Two processes stand out— the absolute decline in the power and status of the British imperial state, and the relative decline of the British economy with its long-standing failure to match the rates of expansion of its rivals.

The starting point of Britain’s decline was the position of unrivalled dominance it had achieved during the nineteenth century. By 1900 Britain controlled over one-fifth of the world’s land surface and ruled one-quarter of the world’s population. Its land forces remained small but its navy was still maintained at a level where it would be superior to the two next most powerful navies combined. The foundations of this empire had been the commercial and strategic policies pursued by the British state for 250 years. Its consolidation and further extension in the nineteenth century had been the result of the industrial and technological lead Britain established by being the first major economy to industrialize. The height of Britain’s industrial domination of the world was reached in the middle decades of the nineteenth century. At that time one-third of the world’s output of manufactured goods came from Britain. Britain produced half the world’s coal and iron, half the world’s cotton goods, almost half its steel. From this position Britain conducted one-quarter of the world’s trade and built up a massive commercial and financial predominance. Even in 1900 Britain still accounted for one-third of the world’s exports of manufactures, and the registered tonnage of British shipping was more than the tonnage of the rest of the world combined. London was the unchallenged commercial and financial centre of the new capitalist world economy. The international monetary system was centred upon the gold standard and the pound sterling…

By the last decade of the twentieth century a very different picture presented itself. The British Empire had disappe...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1: Contemporary Britain: the context
• Chapter 2: Images of Britain
• Chapter 3: National identities
• Chapter 4: Political ideologies
• Chapter 5: Constitutional reform
• Chapter 6: Britain and the world
• Chapter 7: Central social institutions
• Chapter 8: Social behaviour and ‘moral panics’