Quote Originally Posted by WanChaiMiller View Post
KerrAvon. Not got time for an epic reply - and where I am I cant always get on line. Also on my phone so not easy. But anyway.

Very interesting that you dont see the role the Heath gov played as contributing to our need for an IMF loan. It was the recession started it 73 that brought us to the brink of bankruptcy.

During this recession started under Heath that lasted 14 quarters there was double digit inflation (peaking at 20%), huge trade deficite, national debt rising and the 3 day week. All forgotten in your snapshot of 70s economics.
Events under the time of the Heath government certainly didn’t help the UK economy, but I’m not sure that they can be attributed to that government to any significant degree. The two major events were the 1973/74 oil crisis, which caused a shock to the world economy, rather than specifically to the UK and the industrial action by the NUM that started in 1973 and which led to the imposition of a three day week. That industrial action was a direct consequence of the Heath government seeking to curb inflation by bearing down on wage increases. Unfortunately, Heath didn’t have the will power that Thatcher did and had not prepared the ground for the conflict. The rest is history; Labour took power in 1974 and immediately gave the miners the 35% they were demanding only to repeat the exercise a year later.

How could anyone forget the three day week – the consequences of unfettered union power set in stark relief?

The 1973- 75 recession affected the whole world, but it was only the UK that needed what was the biggest ever bail out from the IMF. That is, in my opinion, attributable to the unwillingness or inability of the Wilson government to curb the actions of its union paymasters and, in consequence, to control wage rises such as to bring inflation under control and to control public spending. We were not known as the sick man of Europe without reason.