Word: britain
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...funny thing happened to Margaret Thatcher on the way to No. 10 Downing Street: the economy and political mood of Britain underwent a sea change. Less than a year ago the Tories were running 21% ahead of Labor in the polls, and Conservative Leader Thatcher was the odds-on favorite to become her country's first woman Prime Minister. Now the two parties are in a dead heat, and Prime Minister James Callaghan is more popular than his party while Thatcher lags behind hers...
...expected gush of North Sea oil and his success in holding the line on wages. According to Gallup, the electorate now believes that Labor can do a better job than the Conservatives in controlling inflation. Even such a stalwart establishment organ as the Financial Times praised Callaghan for giving Britain "almost as good a conservative government as we are likely...
Until that point, only the maverick former Tory Enoch Powell and the small, neo-Fascist National Front had dared to stir up the fears of those who object to the presence of 1.9 million "coloreds" in Great Britain (total pop. 54 million). Thatcher's statement touched off an uproar in Parliament. Labor members shouted "Racist!" There was some dismay in the Conservatives' shadow cabinet, whose members had not been consulted about the declaration, but other Tories applauded her stand, gleefully dubbing her "Thatcher, the Vote Snatcher." Callaghan accused her of "opportunism," while one Cabinet member despaired: "I have...
Even before the Tory leader spoke out, another Gallup poll showed that 59% of the British public felt that immigrants were "a very serious social problem in Britain today." To 46%, race relations were getting worse, while 49% wanted the government to offer immigrants financial help to leave the country. Unquestionably Mrs. Thatcher had seized an issue of particular appeal to traditionally Labor blue-collar workers, who see the immigrants as a threat to their jobs, and to a large segment of the British public who resent the intrusion of a different culture...
...Callaghan has plenty to fight back with. Last week the Prime Minister reaped a substantial political bonanza with some favorable economic news. Britain's mine workers agreed to go along with the government's 10% limit on wage increases; the pound, already surging, rose another half a cent; and key Labor economists projected a drop in the inflation rate (13% in November) to 7% by July. One pollster believes that the party may also pick up a large block of new votes in the next election from the traditionally apolitical Asian immigrants. His prediction: "They are going...