UK Labour Party Political Broadcast - Feb 1974

[NYWAORCANZ]

is the labour party communist?

are all the Labour Party leaders all Fabiens?

[LibertarianUK]

she went on to join the fib dems. Btw you would be lucky if you can find bread for 50p from the manafacture masses, than you wold be from the bakers which is now either nearly a pound or higher per loaf.

[nationalistactivist]

labour25



[lostthe80s]

First about statistics... The RPI in the middle 1970's peaked at 26.9% in Aug 1975. As for saying inflation rocketed under Thatcher, I politely suggest you look again at the figures, from July 1982 onwards the Conservative government had inflation coming down to a steady 4-5% until around 1990 and then again even better from 1992 onwards. Shirley Williams was an incredibly stupid woman responsible for ill thought out policies which have done untold damage to education and social fabric.

[MightySouthpaw]

9p for a loaf of bread.

[TheZanipolo]

what a frikkin joke - TrashLabour are the high priesets of hyperinflation....27% in the 70s

[Feisty1967]

A lot of that price increase was due to the decimilisation of our currency in Feb 1971. This fuelled inflation and increased our prices. For example, if a packet of crisps cost 1p in old money, you got 240 packets of crisps for your Pound. In decimal money, if a packet of crisps cost 1p, you only get 100 packets to your Pound. So what happened to the other 140 packets?!

[FabFM]

@Feisty1967 Not true. The prices in the film are adjusted and converted from the old to the new currency to give an accurate comparrison. Labour were totally correct when they said world prices had rocketed between 1970 and 1974.

[FabFM]

@getmadgetmad1 Nonsence. We saw record inflation under Thatcher, inflation more than doubled under her leadership!

[radomu1]

great politician, very respectable

[yohaneuano4]

She was hypocrite, because she was never a socialist.

[UKSazzy67]

Yes, but she's not taking into account decimilisation in 1971, after this time the pound was worth less than it was worth in 1970, so it's not all Edward Heath's fault. Decimilisation fuelled inlation.

[Enerjee]

@UKSazzy67 - that's very true. Decimalisation caused a massive increase in inflation as retailers conned the public into thinking that prices were converted accurately. Suddenly, on 15th February in 1971, a shilling (12d) became 5 New Pence, however, retailers took advantage of the confusion by saying that a shilling was 12 Old Pence (which it was) and changing the price to 12 New Pence, more than doubling the price.

No wonder British people don't want a repeat by joining the Euro.

[ThePAULOPABLO]

I don't think the same broadcast would have helped them much in 1979.

[Daniel22081983]

God this is the most boring thing ever. By the time it finished I realised I'd drifted off!

[dukeboys123]

Inflation was lower in 1979 than in 1974 as was government borrowing, though the right wing media will not publicise this.

[alphabetaxenonzzzcat]

You're right she was an absolute hypercrite. Seen here complaining about inflation then doing nothing to restrain it. I think she didn't agree with the "In Place of Strife" paper as well, then she does nothing about trade union militancy. I love the fact that she left the Labour party and left Healey and co to fight it out sorting out the militancy in it!

[racingrubberbiker]

Hypocrites. healey and her were done for by the unions, with their refusal to tow the line on pay restraint. The were swept away, when the really hard economic decisions were made. She is still a fave. on the leftist Newsnight, - God- knows- why

[mikeybrumbrum]

i hate it when messages are censored, i really do. I wish you could just delete the bad ones, and report their owners, rtather than not censoring them to your favour. It reminds me of the tories !

[HGTB08]

"white loaves" ... erghhhh ... give me wholemeal anyday how times have changed

[thatcheritescot]

labour did more to raise inflation than anyone else

[jollyboble]

UK gets what it votes for. so u voted for more silly labour ideas; bankruptcy here we come.

[Ukbattlefront2604]

Wow politics really haven't changed, "rise in world food prices". Similar to today?

[ninthwave]

"We will do everything we can to keep the cost of living down". What happened under Healey? Inflation at 26.7%! The highest inflation in living memory!

[alewisuk]

Errr.... it was 27% under Healey but only because someone had to take over from the utter incompetence of Barbour/Heath. Tell us what inflation was early 1970 and Oct 1974? It says it all. Healey then after a couple of years battling got inflation back under control by 1976 before it rocketed again under Thatcher from 1980 onwards. Those are the facts, backed up the official statistics, which can only be checked online.

[Luxsky]

Absolutely, it was Labour who led the fight against inflation, after the disastrous Heath government, with its unsustainable dash for growth and three day working week.

[Nickthetoast]

The three shilling loaf is here...aghh! Funny, no UK politician today would ever be seen dead with NZ cheese- think of all the food miles.

Anyway, where are the Bacardi Breezers and WKD blue- how much have they gone up?

[robertwilki]

Tbh, Williams wasn't that persuasive, though Denis Healey's eyebrows would have secured my vote.

[Svetlanka83]

The thing is Shirley Williams ran away from her enemies and allies in the Labour Party when her ministerial salary stopped. She just wasnt a born fighter. The SDP was a complete flop

[lelvish1]

Long live the the Liberal Democrats! Shirley Williams was right to leave the Labour party, both they and the Tories were so extreme in the 80's and look at what they've bioth done to the country and the world! Go Liberalism!

[fadetogrey2007]

How can ppl say S. Williams is worthy?The woman in charge of education when Labour presided over destruction of the Brit edu system by abolishing grammar schools but giving them right to turn private!Take SW's own daughter's school then,G&L in W6,turned private,shutting out future middle and low income girls in the area(there was always St Pauls for the rich).Now G&L so dear that Abramovich's daughters go there.What folly to lose good schools from the State system!!

[Svetlanka83]

I think youll find that the fact remains that Margaret Thatcher goes down as the secretary of State who closed more grammar schools than any other, while the number of comprehensives rose more rapidly under her than at any time before or since. What a remarkable achievement she was only education secretary for less than four years!

[marksheehan7]

Labour won the election in 1974 and had ruined the country by 1979, but having said that Tory Heath was a traitor who sold the country out to the common market on a lie.Glad I was not around 1974 because there a good chance I would not have voted.

[dealingwith2]

The labor party were working for the working classes they were good for the country and maggie thatch should of never been elected.

[maviscrow]

This is a much better broadcast than later ones. It actually concentrates on policies and problems than on personalities, and admits that government isn't the be all and end all. You are right, kb, about Shirley Williams; I always thought that way about Paddy Ashdown too and if SW had stayed in Labour they might have got into power a bit sooner. I'm a Tory but I respect these old people more than I ever did Blair.

[heynow50000]

Well, now we know where Mrs T got the idea

[kbfeff]

Shirley (now Baroness) Williams is an amazing politician still -- I always thought she would make a brilliant PM. This clearly isn't her most exciting TV moment, but a good piece of history nonetheless. Thanks for posting.

[t4change]

No problem... Take care...

James

[CookieCrumblz]

@kbfeff SHE must DEFECT to the Labour Party, if she knew what will happen to her political life and what side of the House of Lords she would be sitting on, she would scream!