Present-Day Britain
The economic policy of Great Britain in the 1990s was characterized by the strategy of economic regulation, which promoted the victory of the Conservatives in the general election in 1992. The cabinet headed by John Major continued the economic and social policies traditional for this party. This led to a fall of the Conservatives.
In 1997, Britain’s opposition Labour party routed the ruling Conservative party in the national election, and its leader Tony Blair replaced Major as head of the government. He became Britain’s youngest Prime Minister since 1812, ending 18 years of Tory rule since 1979. Blair repeated his success in the general election of 2002.
As Prime Minister Tony Blair presided over an optimistic first term in which Devolution brought self-governing powers to both Scotland and Wales, reversing control from London. The late 1990s and into the millennium saw an increased celebration of British culture in its myriad of aspects from the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations of 2002 to huge programmes of urban renewal of the long neglected industrial cities of the north, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Glasgow, making them the great cities of culture they are today.
On 27 June 2007, the new Prime Minister Gordon Brown replaced Blair. Brown is the first prime minister from a Scottish constituency since 1964. He is also one of only five prime ministers who attended a university other than Oxford or Cambridge. Brown has proposed moving some traditional prime ministerial powers to the realm of Parliament, such as the power to declare war and approve appointments to senior positions. He has also proposed moving some powers from Parliament to citizens, including the right to form "citizens' juries", easily petition Parliament for new laws, and rally outside Westminster.
In the local elections on 1 May 200, Labour suffered their worst results in 40 years. Gordon Brown was quoted in the press as having said that the results were "a painful defeat for Labour".
As for the domestic policies, the Labour government admitted that the recession had been deeper than predicted, but claimed that the government's action to pump money into the economy had made a "real difference" to families and businesses. Later the year of 2009, a number of measures to help economic recovery were announced, including a public sector pay freeze, a levy on bank bonuses and a package of measures to help the unemployed.
On the last general elections to the House of Commons held in May 2010 none of the parties achieved the 326 seats needed for an overall majority. The Conservative Party, led by David Cameron, won the largest number of votes and seats but still fell twenty seats short. This resulted in a hung parliament where no party was able to command a majority in the House of Commons. This was only the second general election since World War II to return a hung parliament, the first being the February 1974 election.
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Coalition talks began immediately between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats and lasted for five days. To facilitate this Gordon Brown announced that he would resign as Labour Party leader. Realizing that a deal with the Conservatives was in reach, the next day on Tuesday 11 May, Brown announced his resignation as Prime Minister, marking the end of 13 years of Labour government. This was accepted by Queen Elizabeth II, who then invited David Cameron to form a government in her name and become Prime Minister. A coalition government of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats was formed.
QUESTIONS FOR CONTROL:
1. When did the Liberals propose to reduce the length of a Parliament from seven to five years?
2. When did the UK enter the World War I?
3. What can you tell about Great Depression?
4. Describe the situation when the king George V died?
5. What were the effects of World War I on the UK?
6. What do you know about participation of the UK in the World War II?
7. Tell about relations of the UK and its colonies in the 20th century.
8. When did Elizabeth II become the queen of the country and why?
9. Tell about entering of the UK to EEC?
10. What were the political changes in the country in the second half of the 20th century?
11. What can you tell about British Prime Ministers: M.Thatcher, T.Blayer, G.Brown, D.Cameron?
12. Why was the coalition government formed in 2010?
13. What was the economic position of the UK at the end of the 20th century?
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