[Barbara Jordan Scrapbook, July 1973 - April 1975] Page: 19 of 297
This book is part of the collection entitled: The Barbara C. Jordan Archives and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Texas Southern University.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Economic Crisis
Political Chaos
THOMAS C. WARD is a senior in Adams
House and an Associate Editor of the Harvard
Political Review. Ward spent much of his
summer in Great Britain preparing a thesis in
History. While in London, he met and inter-
viewed several Members of the Last Parlia-
ment.THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN
(1974)
By Thomas C. Ward
GREAT Britain awaits the future with foreboding. In the words of its
two-time Prime Minister and Labour Party leader, Harold Wilson, the
United Kingdom now confronts its "greatest economic crisis since the
war." Britons are plagued at one and the same time by the nation's worst
inflation in twenty-five years and by a rapidly worsening recession. The
projections of the international Organization of Economic Cooperation
and Development in Paris suggest that even as prices continue an ap-
parently inexorable advance, at a possible annual rate of twenty to twenty-
five per cent, several hundred thousand more British workers will lose
their jobs this winter. Recent studies indicate a striking decline in capital
investment and a startling collapse of business confidence. A large
number of the nation's giant industrial corporations are seriously
threatened. Some British economists already have announced the arrival
of a harrowing "Great Depression."
The ailing English economy has infected Britain's politics. Public
opinion is feverish and irritable; the parliamentary leadership is frenzied
and seemingly at a loss for any cure. The failure of the nation's political
leaders to anticipate and address the United Kingdom's mounting
economic miseries has frightened many Britons. There is little popular
confidence in Britain's ability to escape or mitigate imminent economic
disaster, and there is a growing resort by an angry citizenry to a desper-
ate militancy. Trade union action groups, private vigilante armies, and
extremist rioters express a common hopelessness and a common out-
rage at the inability of the nation's politicians to meet the demands of the
nation's crisis.
The persistent bickering and partisan invective which have charac-
terized Parliament in recent months have only added to the crisis atmos-
phere. A long summer of rancour and frustration wasted away in bitter
inaction. If Britain's present troubles may in part be attributed to the
mediocre qualities of her current political leadership, Conservative as well
as Labour, the most important single factor in the nation's continuing
economic slide must be the two major political parties' regimen of conflict
and controversy. The House of Commons exploded repeatedly this
summer in bursts of acrimony and dispute. One British commentator
considered the M.P.s' conduct "probably incomprehensible to a colony of
imperfectly house-trained Missing Links."
Nevertheless, both Labour and Conservative parties still seem
largely determined to promise Great Britain only more months of fruitless
confrontation and political confusion. They persist in an antique pattern of
petty scheming and pursue partisan stratagems which, far from address-
ing the nation's ills, aggravate them. At a time when cooperation-or at
least sympathy-is required in order to rescue Britain's beleaguered
economy, the political antagonism between United Kingdom's two main
parties is at a high pitch. In their partisan frenzy, Labourite and Tory haveWARD, continued
,1)
HPR 27
sown the seeds of jealousy and mistrust far and wide. The politics of their
two-party confrontation has compounded economic crisis with political
chaos.
THIS October's General Election in Great Britain marked the end of
Harold Wilson's seven-month old experiment in a minority Labour party
government. Few Britons mourn its passing. Few, however, imagine that
its successor will be more successful in the months ahead. Both Labour
apd the Conservatives treated the interval between the elections of last
winter and this autumn as a period of almost suspended government and
continual electioneering. Popular disenchantment with the partisan war-
fare which prompted Britain's bitter coal-miners' strike and three-day
work week at the beginning of this year was evidenced last March when
neither major party won a majority in the new Parliament. However, the
fragile Government of Harold Wilson and the Conservative Opposition
under former Prime Minister Edward Heath were seemingly not intimi-
dated by that vote. Both immediately fixed their attention on the prospect
of new ( hopefully decisive ) elections. Wilson's Labour administration
refused to compromise with its opponents for purposes of legislation.f- rfTj 11 I' 1
26 HPR
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This book can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View 25 places within this book that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Book.
[Barbara Jordan Scrapbook, July 1973 - April 1975], book, [1973..1975]; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth616547/m1/19/?q=%221973%22: accessed July 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Southern University.