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118-586: Movement towards a national schools union had begun in the late 1960s, inspired by the university student unions. Students at Manchester's Myles Platting Secondary Modern School went on strike in March 1968 in protest at the use of the tawse for corporal punishment and afterwards formed the Manchester Union of Secondary Students. This was quickly followed by the founding of the Swansea Union of Progressive Students,

236-628: A Conservative Party member of the House of Lords asked why the LSE was promoting "subversion" activities. The meeting went ahead at the Conway Hall Ethical Society where attendees were shown films, attended lectures and received instruction on the manufacture of silk screen posters . A Communist Party official giving a lecture was booed by the SAU members who were a mix of Maoists and anarchists. Following

354-576: A Member of Parliament from 1950 to 2001. Outside politics, Heath was a yachtsman , a musician, and an author. Born in Broadstairs, Kent , Heath was the son of a chambermaid and carpenter. He attended Chatham House Grammar School in Ramsgate, Kent, and became a leader within student politics while studying at Balliol College at the University of Oxford . During World War II , Heath served as an officer in

472-587: A general election for 28 February 1974, using the election slogan "Who governs Britain?". The result of the election was inconclusive with no party gaining an overall majority in the House of Commons; the Conservatives had the most votes but Labour had slightly more seats. Heath began negotiations with Jeremy Thorpe , leader of the Liberal Party , but when these failed, he resigned as prime minister on 4 March 1974, and

590-510: A second successive election in October 1974, Heath's leadership was challenged by Margaret Thatcher and, on 4 February, she narrowly outpolled him in the first round . Heath chose to resign the leadership rather than contest the second round, returning to the backbenches, where he would remain until 2001. In 1975, he played a major role in the referendum on British membership of the EEC, campaigning for

708-531: A Christmas carol concert at Broadstairs and arrived home 10 minutes after the bomb exploded. No one was injured in the attack, but a landscape painted by Winston Churchill – given to Heath as a present – was damaged. In January 2003, Heath gave evidence to the Saville Inquiry and stated that he had never sanctioned unlawful lethal force in Northern Ireland. Heath tried to bolster his government by calling

826-681: A close relationship with Mao's successor Deng Xiaoping . Heath realised that to become closer to Europe he needed to be further from the United States, so he downplayed the Special Relationship that had long knitted the two nations together. The two nations differed on such major crises as Britain's EC membership, the Nixon economic "shocks" of 1971 , the Bangladesh Liberation War , détente with Soviet Union, Kissinger's Year of Europe and

944-512: A dispute. The Social Needs (Grants) Act 9NI) 1970 "made provision for the authorisation of the payment of grants towards expenditure incurred due to special social need in urban areas." In January 1973, the Criminal Justice Act 1972 came into effect in England and Wales. It extended the court's power "to order an offender to pay compensation for personal injury, loss, or damage." In June 1973

1062-574: A donation to the SAU. In 1972 there was media speculation that the SAU was funded by the Soviet Union and controlled by a hidden network of adult activists. Heath became concerned and authorised an MI5 investigation into the organisation. This failed to find any evidence of manipulation. The SAU organised a school strike on 9 May 1972. More than 1,000 pupils refused to attend school; assembled at Speakers' Corner and marched on County Hall – some sources claim up to 10,000 pupils were involved in

1180-640: A lifelong friend and political rival and Roy Jenkins , and as such was invited to support the Master of Balliol Alexander Lindsay , who stood as an anti-appeasement 'Independent Progressive' candidate against the official Conservative candidate, Quintin Hogg , in the 1938 Oxford by-election . Heath, who had himself applied to be the Conservative candidate for the by-election, accused the government in an October Union Debate of "turning all four cheeks" to Adolf Hitler , and

1298-416: A manner that was "utterly irresponsible in a social climate which grows ever more violent". The SAU dissolved in 1974 after the leading members grew up and left school and were not replaced. Despite its dissolution many of the original SAU and NUSS demands were eventually met, especially around corporal punishment. The Inner London Education Authority banned corporal punishment from 1974. National abolition

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1416-587: A member—after winning the October 1959 election . In 1960 Macmillan appointed Heath Lord Privy Seal with responsibility for the negotiations to secure the UK's first attempt to join the European Communities (or Common Market , as it was then more widely known). After extensive negotiations, involving detailed agreements about the UK's agricultural trade with Commonwealth countries such as New Zealand , British entry

1534-505: A new lower rate of attendance allowance was introduced for those aged 16 to 64, while lower rates "for the aged under 15 and those over 65 were introduced on 1 October and 3 December respectively." Another change allowed for small claims of less than £75 to be dealt with in a less formal manner within the County Court system. Rules of evidence and requirements of legal representation were relaxed to make it viable to claim such small sums under

1652-483: A new rate of Child Allowance, a reduction in the qualifying period for pensions from 10 years to 5 years, the abolition of the qualifying period for Death Gratuities (DG), the introduction of double incapacity build up for service between 5 years and 9 years 364 days (or to age 65 if less), the introduction of 3 months initial widows pension, the introduction of widows limited pension (for 3, 4.5 or 6 months) for those widows who do not have title to continuing widows pensions,

1770-433: A number of provisions for miners and their dependents including the addition of cost of living increments, a basic scheme benefit, an increase from £3 to £6 a week to the benefit "which can be kept if a redundant mineworker finds a new job and enters new employment, because if he did he would probably incur income tax, perhaps National Insurance contributions, travelling expenses and other expenses which might well have exceeded

1888-402: A person must continue to live in the same house in which he was living when he was made redundant, and that this house must continue to be owned by the board, is removed." Also, "the relevant tax year on which pre-redundancy earnings are based will now be the previous tax year for everybody, instead of being two years ago for those made redundant during April." Also, as noted by one MP, "Following

2006-653: A political force, while the decimalisation of British coinage , begun under the previous Labour government, was completed eight months after Heath came to power. The Central Policy Review Staff was established by Heath in February 1971, while the Local Government Act 1972 changed the boundaries of the counties of England and Wales and created Metropolitan Counties around the major cities (e.g. Merseyside around Liverpool): this caused significant public anger. Heath did not divide England into regions, choosing instead to await

2124-400: A private funeral under its powers to meet exceptional needs." The Redundant Mineworkers and Concessionary Coal (Payments Schemes) Order 1973 provided for three new types of benefits, including "lump sums based on length of service for men redundant between age 35 and 55, and for men over 55 who due to lack of service in the industry do not qualify for basic benefit; a new benefit equivalent to

2242-574: A team under Alison Munro tasked with drawing up a scheme for British airports using some of the many Second World War RAF bases, and was specifically charged with planning the home counties. Years later she attributed his evident enthusiasm for Maplin Airport to this work. Then much to the surprise of civil service colleagues, he sought adoption as the prospective parliamentary candidate for Bexley and resigned in November 1947. After working as news editor of

2360-400: A week resulting in a whole week's disqualification as at present." Also, "a man made redundant within the terms of the scheme and reemployed in the coal industry for more than a year and then made redundant a second time can choose on which of the two pre-redundancy earnings he wishes his benefit to be calculated." In addition, "the requirement that in order to continue getting the rent allowance

2478-419: A £10 Christmas bonus was introduced. Annual upratings for all pensioners was also introduced. From October 1973 onwards a higher ' long – term rate ' of supplementary benefit "was paid to those who had received supplementary benefit for a continuous period." That same year, a basic short-term rates were introduced for everyone else; the short-term sick and unemployed in the main. From 1972 onwards, "while there

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2596-605: Is no statutory commitment to this effect, the same cash increases have been made in the leading supplementary benefit scale rates as in their national insurance counterparts." In 1973, a statutory commitment to uprate national insurance benefits in line with prices was introduced in 1973. The Industrial Relations Act of 1971 gave employees "the right, depending on a minimum qualifying period, to appeal to an industrial tribunal, where compensation for unfair dismissal could be awarded based on length of service," and in 1972 preservation of accrued pension benefits after 5 or more years' service

2714-519: Is worked." The Pensions (Increase) Act of 1971 provided for regular increases in public service pensions by statutory instrument. The Act was later amended in 1972 and 1974 "to lower the minimum qualifying age for pensions increase from 60 to 55 and to provide for all pensions paid to widows of scheme members to be increased." The Superannuation Act of 1972 provided for new arrangements for premature retirement on grounds of limited efficiency, granted civil servants rights to their pensions and established

2832-562: The Church Times from February 1948 to September 1949, Heath worked as a management trainee at the merchant bankers Brown, Shipley & Co. until his election as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bexley in the February 1950 general election . In the election he defeated an old contemporary from the Oxford Union, Ashley Bramall , by a margin of 133 votes. Heath made his maiden speech in

2950-641: The European Union . However, his premiership also coincided with the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, with his approval of internment without trial and subsequent suspension of the Stormont Parliament seeing the imposition of direct British rule . Unofficial talks with Provisional Irish Republican Army delegates were unsuccessful, as was the Sunningdale Agreement of 1973, which led

3068-562: The National Front , requiring a large police presence, and was covered by ITV's World in Action current affairs programme. The FSC conference decided that the organisation should proceed on a non-political basis. However a splinter group disagreed and decided to form the SAU. The SAU started after the conference with 20 regional branches and modelled itself on the French student organisations of

3186-562: The Royal Artillery . He worked briefly in the Civil Service , but resigned in order to stand for Parliament, and was elected for Bexley at the 1950 election . He was promoted to become Chief Whip by Anthony Eden in 1955, and in 1959 was appointed to the Cabinet by Harold Macmillan as Minister of Labour . He later held the role of Lord Privy Seal and in 1963, was made President of

3304-536: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland , William Whitelaw, to hold unofficial talks in London with an IRA delegation by Seán Mac Stíofáin . In the aftermath of these unsuccessful talks, Heath pushed for a peaceful settlement with Northern Irish political parties exclusively committed to nonviolence . The 1973 Sunningdale Agreement , which proposed a power-sharing deal, was strongly repudiated by many Unionists, including

3422-612: The Social Security Act 1973 was passed which introduced benefit indexation in the United Kingdom for the first time by index-linking benefits to prices to maintain their real value. An amendment to the Social Security Act of 1973 required the secretary of state to publicize benefits for the disabled. The National Insurance Act of 1971 introduced a special addition with no means test for all pensioners over 80, while in 1972

3540-492: The Spanish Civil War . On one occasion a car in which he was travelling came under machine-gun fire, while on another a bomb hit his hotel whilst he was observing an air raid from outside. In the summer of 1939, accompanied by his Jewish friend Madron Seligman , he travelled to Danzig and Poland . They made the return journey by hitchhiking and rail across Germany through mobilising troops, returning to Britain just before

3658-519: The Ted Heath 's promises to end the era of strikes, and particularly after his 18 June general election victory , the SAU received an influx of working class members. The SAU distributed copies of the controversial Little Red Schoolbook , a handbook for schoolchildren written by Danish teachers that was censored in the UK under the Obscene Publications Act . One SAU activist also wrote for

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3776-739: The Ulster Unionist Party , which withdrew its MPs at Westminster from the Conservative whip. The proposal was finally brought down by the Unionist Ulster Workers' Council strike in 1974, by which time Heath was no longer in office. Heath was targeted by the IRA for introducing internment without trial in Northern Ireland. In December 1974, an IRA active service unit threw a bomb onto the first-floor balcony of his home in Wilton Street, Belgravia where it exploded. Heath had been conducting

3894-510: The decimalisation of British coinage in 1971, and in 1972 he led the reformation of local government , significantly reducing the number of local authorities and creating several new metropolitan counties, much of which remains to this day. A strong supporter of British membership of the European Economic Community (EEC), Heath's " finest hour " came in 1973, when he led the United Kingdom into membership of what would later become

4012-477: The general election of 1964 , the defeated Home changed the party leadership rules to allow for a ballot by MPs and then, in July 1965, he resigned. Heath—who was Shadow Chancellor at the time, and had recently won favourable publicity for leading the fight against Labour's Finance Bill —unexpectedly won the party's leadership contest , gaining 150 votes to Reginald Maudling 's 133 and Enoch Powell 's 15. Heath became

4130-501: The general election of 1970 with 330 seats to Labour's 287. The new cabinet included the future prime minister Margaret Thatcher (Education and Science), William Whitelaw (Leader of the House of Commons) and the former prime minister Alec Douglas-Home (Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs). During Heath's first year in office, higher charges were introduced for benefits of the welfare state such as school meals, spectacles, dentistry, and prescriptions. Entitlement to State Sickness Benefit

4248-556: The massive U.S. bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong in December 1972. According to John McEvoy and Mark Curtis of Declassified UK , his government quickly recognised the military regime of Augusto Pinochet in Chile and maintained good relations with it, despite the illegal nature of the Pinochet regime's coup d'état . In October 1973 he placed a British arms embargo on all combatants in

4366-551: The 1960s (which had led the unrest of May 1968 ). It described itself as a political organisation with a " Marxist-Leninist -Liberal broad front", though historians consider it to have been extreme Maoist in nature. Indeed, writers Martin Hoyles , Alison Assiter and Avedon Carol described the SAU as highly militant Maoists, especially in comparison to the National Union of School Students (NUSS, founded in 1972). The SAU viewed

4484-399: The 1960s to just 400 by 2011. Selective state schools were gradually closed from the 1960s in favour of comprehensive schools but received a reprieve from compulsory conversion in the 1980s and as of 2016 164 survive in England. Tawse The tawse , sometimes formerly spelled taws (the plural of Scots taw , a thong of a whip), is an implement used for corporal punishment . It

4602-833: The Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur War , which mostly affected the Israelis by preventing them obtaining spares for their Centurion tanks. Heath refused to allow US intelligence gathering from British bases in Cyprus , resulting in a temporary halt in the US signals intelligence tap. He favoured links with the People's Republic of China , visiting Mao Zedong in Beijing in 1974 and 1975 and remaining an honoured guest in China on frequent visits thereafter and forming

4720-523: The BBC as "the first working-class meritocrat" to become Conservative leader in "the party's modern history" and "a One Nation Tory in the Disraeli tradition who rejected the laissez-faire capitalism that Thatcher would enthusiastically endorse." Heath was born at 54 Albion Road, Broadstairs, Kent, on 9 July 1916, the son of William George Heath (1888–1976), a carpenter who built airframes for Vickers during

4838-598: The Board of Trade by Alec Douglas-Home . After the Conservatives were defeated at the 1964 election , Heath was elected as Leader of the Conservative Party in 1965, becoming Leader of the Opposition . Although he led the Conservatives to a landslide defeat at the 1966 election , he remained in the leadership, and at the 1970 election led his party to an unexpected victory. During his time as prime minister, Heath oversaw

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4956-859: The Bristol Sixth Form Alliance and the Cardiff Union of Secondary Schools. Tricia Jaffe, who later became a founding member of the Schools Action Union (SAU), formed the Free Schools Campaign (FSC) in October 1968, being inspired by a visit to Paris. The FSC held a conference in January 1969 that brought together various like-minded organisations including the Secondary School Students Union and regional groups from Leicester and Scotland. The conference drew protests from

5074-517: The Conservatives won the 1951 general election , rising rapidly to Joint Deputy Chief Whip, Deputy Chief Whip and, in December 1955, Government Chief Whip under Anthony Eden . Journalist Geoffrey Wheatcroft has observed that "Of all government jobs, this requires firmness and fairness allied to tact and patience and Heath's ascent seems baffling in hindsight". Due to the convention that whips did not speak in Parliament, Heath managed to keep out of

5192-471: The Conservatives' youngest leader and retained office following the party's defeat in the general election of 1966 . In April 1968 Enoch Powell made his controversial " Rivers of Blood " speech, which criticised immigration to the United Kingdom . Soon afterwards Heath telephoned Margaret Thatcher to inform her that he was going to sack Powell from the Shadow cabinet ; she recalled that she "really thought that it

5310-682: The County Court Act 1959 as amended by the Administration of Justice Act (E&W) 1973. Provision was made under the National Insurance (Old Persons' and Widows' Pensions and Attendances Allowances) Act 1970 for pensions to be paid to old people who had been excluded from the pre-1948 pension schemes and were accordingly excluded from the comprehensive scheme that was introduced in 1948. About 100,000 people were affected by this change, half of whom were receiving Supplementary Benefit under

5428-558: The First World War, and was subsequently employed as a builder and Edith Anne Heath ( née Pantony; 1888–1951), a lady's maid. His father was later a successful small businessman after taking over a building and decorating firm. Heath's paternal grandfather had run a small dairy business, and when that failed worked as a porter at Broadstairs Station on the Southern Railway. Edward was four years old when his younger brother, John,

5546-592: The Heath government encouraged a significant increase in welfare spending, and Thatcher blocked Macleod's other posthumous education policy: the abolition of the Open University , which had recently been founded by the preceding Labour government. In addition, despite the end of cheap milk provision however, 700,000 school children remained entitled to free milk. The Legal Advice and Assistance Act 1972 provided for better facilities for advice and assistance at an early stage in

5664-502: The House of Commons on 26 June 1950, in which he appealed to the Labour government to participate in the Schuman Plan . As MP for Bexley, he gave enthusiastic speeches in support of the young candidate for neighbouring Dartford , Margaret Roberts, later Margaret Thatcher. He was appointed as an opposition whip by Winston Churchill in February 1951. He remained in the whips' office after

5782-614: The Local Government Act 1972." Section 27 of the Water Act 1973 empowered water authorities to establish and administer pension schemes and funds. The Social Security Act of 1973 made further provisions "for occupational pensions, established the Occupational Pensions Board and the contributory reserve pension scheme under a Reserve Pension Board for not recognised pensionable employment." Scottish nationalism grew as

5900-655: The MPs of the Ulster Unionist Party to withdraw from the Conservative whip. Heath also tried to reform British trade unionism with the Industrial Relations Act , and hoped to deregulate the economy and make a transfer from direct to indirect taxation . However, a miners' strike at the start of 1974 severely damaged the Government, causing the implementation of the Three-Day Week to conserve energy. Attempting to resolve

6018-522: The Middle East crisis of 1973. Heath served as Prime Minister during an especially violent period of the Troubles in Northern Ireland . Events such as the Falls Curfew , Operation Motorman and Bloody Sunday led to the near-collapse in relations between the Irish Catholic community and British security forces . In 1971, Heath sent MI6 officer Frank Steele to hold talks with the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and find common ground to begin official negotiations. In July 1972, Heath permitted

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6136-419: The NHS, this included years and days used in benefit calculations instead of years and half years, the introduction of practitioner dynamising introduced i.e. 1.4% pensions, best of the last 3 years Total Superannuable Remuneration introduced instead of average of last 3 years, 3 x lump sum introduced for post 24 March 1972 service (married men), the introduction of a half rate widow's pension (was previously 1/3),

6254-620: The Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme, the Civil Service Additional Voluntary Contribution Scheme (CSAVCS), the Civil Service Compensation Scheme (CSCS) and the Civil Service Injury Benefits Scheme (CSIBS). The Local Government (Retirement of Chief Officers) Regulations 1973 provided "for persons identified as chief officers and deputy chief officers of local authorities, and certain other persons affected by local government reorganisation, to elect for early retirement on enhanced pension terms and thereby forgo any right to claim compensation which might otherwise have been exercised under section 259 of

6372-499: The SAU offices by a newspaper, that the Inner London Education Authority sent letters to parents to discourage their children from attending the strike and that some head teachers locked pupils in school on strike days. Around 20 SAU members were given tickets to attend the performance of Alice Cooper 's song School's Out on a July 1972 episode of Top of the Pops . This was condemned by media campaigner Mary Whitehouse for exposing millions of children to "violence and anarchy" in

6490-424: The SAU press officer from 1969 to 1970. The union published two national journals: Rebel and Vanguard . These were fortnightly, priced at 3-pence each and ran until 1970. A number of regional journals were also published: Pupil Power (Liverpool), Slug (Manchester), Red Herring (Hemel Hempstead), Intercourse (Secondary Schools) and the Free Schools Campaign Journal . The Agitprop organisation assisted with

6608-461: The SAU publications (the union's office on North Gower Street was adjacent to those of Agitprop and the Gay News ) and funding for this was also provided by the Gay Liberation Front . The SAU backed a 1970 campaign by the National Council for Civil Liberties against compulsory religious education and corporal punishment in schools. The same year an SAU meeting planned to be held at the London School of Economics (LSE) had to be relocated after

6726-411: The Thatcher government of the 1980s. Thatcher relied instead on confiscating the assets of unions that courts found to have violated anti-strike laws. The trade unions responded with a full-scale counterattack on a government hobbled by inflation and high unemployment. Especially damaging to the government's credibility were the two miners' strikes of 1972 and 1974, the latter of which resulted in much of

6844-450: The benefit of men made redundant after 6th April, 1973." Also, "the maximum amount of benefit that can be kept by those who get a job is increased from £3 to £6" weekly, and "the table of basic benefit appropriate to the various ranges of pre-redundancy earnings set out in Appendix 4 has been recalculated so that the basic benefit, plus the 1971 rate of unemployment benefit for a man and one adult dependant, equals, after tax and on average over

6962-474: The board ; make grants or loans to persons providing courses or other facilities approved by the board, to persons who make studies for the purpose of providing such courses or facilities and to persons who maintain arrangements to provide such courses or facilities which are not for the time being in use ; pay fees to persons providing further education in respect of persons who receive it in association with their training in courses provided or approved by

7080-447: The board; make payments to persons in connection with arrangements under which they or employees of theirs make use of courses or other facilities provided or approved by the board." The Redundant Mineworkers (Payments Scheme) Order 1972 was intended to be make available for 3 years "to any miner who is made redundant after he has reached 55 to help him to adjust to the new situation and to the difficulties which confront him." It included

7198-418: The college's organ scholarship in his first term (he had previously tried for the organ scholarships at St Catharine's College, Cambridge , and Keble College, Oxford ) which enabled him to stay at the university for a fourth year; he eventually graduated with a Second Class Honours BA in Philosophy, politics and economics in 1939. While at university Heath became active in Conservative Party politics. On

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7316-428: The controversy over the Suez Crisis . On the announcement of Eden's resignation, Heath submitted a report on the opinions of the Conservative MPs regarding Eden's possible successors. This report favoured Harold Macmillan and helped to secure Macmillan the premiership in January 1957. Macmillan later appointed Heath Minister of Labour, a Cabinet Minister—as Chief Whip Heath had attended Cabinet, but had not been formally

7434-529: The country's industry working a Three-Day Week in an attempt to conserve energy. The National Union of Mineworkers won its case but the energy shortages and the resulting breakdown of domestic consensus contributed to the eventual downfall of his government. There was a steep rise in unemployment for the first two years of the Heath ministry, but it was then reversed. Labour in 1964 had inherited an unemployment count of around 400,000 but saw unemployment peak at 631,000 in early 1967. At election time in June 1970,

7552-435: The country's unemployment and inflation problems. Heath stated that the Selsdon weekend only reaffirmed policies that had actually been evolving since he became leader of the Conservative Party. The Labour prime minister, Harold Wilson , thought the document a vote-loser and dubbed it the product of Selsdon Man – after the supposedly prehistoric Piltdown Man – to portray it as reactionary. Heath's Conservative Party won

7670-576: The current rate of unemployment benefit to be paid to men when they have exhausted their 156 weeks of basic benefit until they reach age 65; and concessionary coal benefits for men made redundant between age 55 and 60, and certain men redundant over age 60. (Most men redundant over age 60 already receive concessionary coal under existing arrangements.) In addition, "The amount of benefit which a beneficiary may retain if he obtains other employment has also been increased." The Employment and Training Act 1973 included various provisions. For instance, as specified in

7788-425: The declaration of war. Heath spent late 1939 and early 1940 on a debating tour of the United States before being called up. On 22 March 1941, he received an emergency commission as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery . During the war he initially served with heavy anti-aircraft guns around Liverpool (which suffered heavy German bombing raids in May 1941) and by early 1942 was regimental adjutant , with

7906-530: The early 1980s. John J. Dick Leather Goods was a manufacturer in Lochgelly estimated to have made around 70% of tawses when they were used in schools. Original tawses sold for around £6 in 1982 but twenty years later, some collectors were paying hundreds of pounds each for rare items. The tawse was also used for judicial corporal punishment in Scotland as an alternative to the more usual birch . Courts could sentence boys of over 14 but under 16 to up to 36 strokes with an extra-heavy tawse for any offence. This

8024-443: The end of the year he was defeated for the Presidency of the Oxford Union by another Balliol candidate, Alan Wood, on the issue of whether the Chamberlain government should give way to a left-wing Popular Front . On that occasion, Heath supported the government. In his final year Heath was President of Balliol College Junior Common Room , an office held in subsequent years by his near-contemporaries Denis Healey , who would become

8142-423: The eventually successful "remain" vote. Heath would later become an embittered critic of Thatcher during her time as prime minister, speaking and writing against the policies of Thatcherism . Following the 1992 election , he became Father of the House , until his retirement from the Commons in 2001. He died in 2005, aged 89. Heath is one of four British prime ministers never to have married. He has been described by

8260-593: The existing scheme at the present time." The scheme also provided that the general increases in benefits, such as the special hardship allowance and workmen's compensation supplementation would not be offset as at present, and also provided for increases in benefits paid to men on workmen's compensation as a result of becoming total or major incapacity cases, award of special hardship allowance in respect of an accident or disease sustained after redundancies. In addition, "any general increase in unemployment benefit between 6th April, 1972, and 6th April, 1973, will be offset against

8378-593: The ferula, a thin strip of metal covered in rubber, but others such as Fettes College used the cane instead, as did most schools in England outside the north-east. In 1982, two Scottish mothers went to the European Court of Human Rights , who passed a judgment that parents had the right to refuse corporal punishment of a child. This judgement led indirectly to the use of the tawse (and all other forms of corporal punishment) being banned by law in UK state schools. The legislation came into force in 1987, but most Scottish local education authorities had already abolished it by

8496-457: The first 15 days at work before he got his pay. In February 1973, the rules about help in urgent cases were made more stringent. As a result of the squeeze in the education budget, the provision of free school milk was ended for 8- to 11-year-olds (it had already been ended for older children by Harold Wilson); the tabloid press christened Margaret Thatcher, the then Education Secretary as "Margaret Thatcher: Milk Snatcher". Despite these measures,

8614-409: The former of which pumped £2.5 billion into the economy in increased pensions and benefits and tax reductions. By early 1974, as a result of this Keynesian economic strategy, unemployment had fallen to under 550,000. The economic boom did not last, and the Heath government implemented various cuts that led to the abandonment of policy goals such as a planned expansion of nursery education. Much of

8732-421: The government's attention, as well as the media and public opinion, focused on deteriorating labour relations, as the government sought to weaken the economic power of the trade unions, which had grown steadily since 1945. The Industrial Relations Act 1971 set up a special court under the judge Lord Donaldson . Its imprisonment of striking dockworkers was a public relations disaster and became an object lesson for

8850-406: The head". Home Secretary Reginald Maudling called the strike "the ultimate in absurd demonstration". A second school strike took place on 17 May where 1,000 pupils, some as young as 11, assembled at Trafalgar Square and once again marched on County Hall. This time, however violence took place along the march and some 24 pupils were arrested, one 14-year-old girl was injured. Margaret Thatcher

8968-468: The infamous 1971 Schoolkids Oz magazine edition. By 1972 the SAU was under the leadership of Stephen Finch (a pupil at Rutherford Comprehensive School, Marylebone) and Simon Steyne (a 16 year old sixth former at Forest Hill Comprehensive School in south-east London), with Liza Dresner as national spokesperson. The actor Colin Welland met Dresner on the set of David Frost 's chat show and subsequently made

9086-405: The introduction of a Limited Child Allowance, the introduction of automatic payment of benefits at age 70, the introduction of Added Years purchase, "Pensions Increase Supplement may apply" from January 1973 to October 1975, the extension of service to take account of untaken annual leave introduced for ancillary staff, and "Part time service may be superannuable provided half or more of the w/t basic

9204-485: The introduction of the first redundant mineworkers payments scheme in 1968, which provided benefits for men aged 55 or over on redundancy who otherwise satisfied the requirements of the scheme, there was pressure to enhance the terms available to enable such men to receive concessionary coal as though they had reached normal retirement age. The Government responded to this pressure in the Coal Industry Act 1973, amending

9322-583: The key political issue of the day, foreign policy, he opposed the Conservative-dominated government of the day ever more openly. His first Paper Speech (i.e. a major speech listed on the Order Paper along with the visiting guest speakers) at the Oxford Union , in 1936, was in opposition to the appeasement of Germany by returning her colonies, confiscated during the First World War. In June 1937 Heath

9440-459: The other hand below, which made it difficult to move the hand away during the infliction of the strokes. It also ensured that the full force of each stroke was taken by the hand being strapped. The punishment was usually inflicted by the class teacher in front of the entire class, to act as a deterrent to others; sometimes by a designated teacher, such as the Deputy Headmaster, to whom the pupil

9558-475: The party leadership on Macmillan's retirement in October 1963. Under prime minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home he was President of the Board of Trade and Secretary of State for Industry, Trade and Regional Development, and oversaw the abolition of retail price maintenance , as well as the move of the August Bank Holiday to extend the holiday season and reduce congestion. After the Conservative Party lost

9676-627: The power to make schemes benefiting redundant mineworkers in the 1967 Act." Also in 1973, the first concessionary coal payments scheme was introduced by order, which provided for reimbursement to the National Coal Board "of the full cost of concessionary coal to men aged 55 to 59 who qualified for benefits under the redundant mineworkers payments scheme from 14 December 1969, and half the cost of providing concessionary coal to such men age 60 to 65." A number of new superannuation provisions were introduced for various categories of workers. For those in

9794-518: The powers of local authorities, so that the commission will not be inhibited by the fact that local authorities have certain powers concerning the disposal of bodies." Subsequently, the Commission "revised its policy on payments towards funeral expenses . Claimants are no longer advised to ask the Local Authority to make funeral arrangements, and the Commission will consider paying towards the costs of

9912-582: The rent addition for non-householders and removed the present age qualification. The Students' Dependents' Allowances Regulations 1973 enabled the Secretary of State "to pay allowances to students attending first degree university etc. courses and courses for the training of teachers." A social security amendment of 1973 provided for allowing the Supplementary Benefits Commission "to make payments to cover funeral expenses without having regard to

10030-644: The report of the Crowther Commission on the constitution; the 10 Government Office Regions were eventually set up by the Major government in 1994. Chancellor of the Exchequer Iain Macleod died and was replaced on 20 July 1970 by Anthony Barber . Heath's planned economic policy changes (including a significant shift from direct to indirect taxation) remained largely unimplemented: the Selsdon policy document

10148-465: The right to education was given to all children with Down's syndrome for the first time. The school leaving age was raised to 16, while Family Income Supplement was introduced to boost the incomes of low-income earners. Families who received this benefit were exempted from NHS charges while the children in such families were eligible for free school meals . Non-contributory pensions were also introduced for all persons aged eighty and above, while

10266-431: The scheme was changed "so that in the event of a second redundancy—if a miner is made redundant a second time—his earnings are computed on the wages paid in the year immediately before the second redundancy as opposed to his previous level of earnings." Also, "these last three concessions will apply to men who are in the existing scheme, not only to miners who might be made redundant in future, but to all those who are part of

10384-554: The schools of the time as "instruments of capitalist oppression" and set out a series of aims to reform the education sector: A list of demands was sent to Edward Short , the Secretary of State for Education in March 1969. On 2 March 1969 the SAU held a demonstration attended by 700 people at the Department for Education and County Hall, London (headquarters of the London Educational Authority). By summer that year

10502-498: The situation, Heath called an election for February 1974, attempting to obtain a mandate to face down the miners' wage demands, but this instead resulted in a hung parliament , with the Conservatives losing their majority. Despite gaining fewer votes, the Labour Party won four more seats, and Heath resigned as Prime Minister on 4 March after talks with the Liberal Party to form a coalition government were unsuccessful. After losing

10620-705: The social security scheme. The Act also made improvements to the Widow's Pension scheme by introducing a scale that started at 30 shillings a week for women widowed at the age of 40 and rose to the full rate of £5 at the age of 50. Considerable support was provided for nursery school building, and a long-term capital investment programme in school building was launched. A Family Fund was set up to assist families with children who had congenital conditions, while new benefits were introduced benefiting hundreds of thousands of disabled persons whose disabilities had been caused neither by war nor by industrial injury. An Attendance Allowance

10738-595: The substantive rank of captain . Heath participated as an adjutant in the Normandy landings , where he met Maurice Schumann , French Foreign Minister under Pompidou . As a temporary major commanding a battery of his own, he provided artillery support during the Allied campaigns in France and Germany in 1944–45, for which he received a mention in despatches on 8 November 1945. Heath later remarked that "[it's] one thing to be in

10856-616: The substantive rank of lieutenant-colonel on 1 May 1947. Heath joined the Honourable Artillery Company as a lieutenant-colonel on 1 September 1951, in which he remained active throughout the 1950s, rising to commanding officer of the Second Battalion; a portrait of him in full dress uniform still hangs in the HAC's Long Room. In April 1971, as prime minister, he wore his lieutenant-colonel's insignia to inspect troops. Before

10974-606: The text of the Act, "The Secretary of State may— pay to any person appointed in pursuance of the preceding paragraph such subsistence and travelling allowances and such compensation for loss of remunerative time as the Secretary of State may determine with the approval of the Minister for the Civil Service." In addition, "An industrial training board may— pay maintenance and travelling allowances to persons attending courses provided or approved by

11092-512: The three years, 90 per cent. of previous take-home pay." Other provisions included service in the coal industry "before nationalisation can now count towards the 10 qualifying years" and that women "who are not paying the full National Insurance stamp will be able to get some benefit despite not being eligible for unemployment benefit." In addition, "days of absence from home which disqualify a person from unemployment benefit, and also from 72 scheme benefit, will be counted as days rather than one day in

11210-496: The unemployment numbers were still high at 582,000. Heath and the Conservatives were pledged to "full employment" but within a year it became clear that they were losing that battle, as the official unemployment count crept towards 1,000,000 and some newspapers suggested that it was even higher. In January 1972 it was officially confirmed that unemployment had risen above 1,000,000 – a level not seen for more than 30 years. Various other reports around this time suggested that unemployment

11328-470: The union had 23 regional branches and had held three conferences in Birmingham and London. The SAU lent its support to the 20 November 1969 teachers strike. In its first year the organisation was funded largely by the subscriptions of middle-class older pupils at grammar schools. The organisation had some members from primary schools but the majority were older secondary school pupils. Bob Labi served as

11446-667: The war, Heath had won a scholarship to Gray's Inn and had begun making preparations for a career at the Bar, but after the war he was placed in joint top position in the civil service examinations . He then became a civil servant in the Ministry of Civil Aviation (he was disappointed not to be posted to the Treasury, but declined an offer to join the Foreign Office, fearing that foreign postings might prevent him from entering politics). Heath joined

11564-582: The war, and you see the enemy on the other side and so you bombard them, and then later on when you pass over their ground, you see dead bodies lying around". In September 1945 he commanded a firing squad that executed a Polish soldier convicted of rape and murder. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire , Military Division (MBE) on 24 January 1946. He was demobilised in August 1946 and promoted to

11682-430: The wider strike. Finch was unable to attend, being held in police custody after being arrested the week before. Scores of police officers were allocated to police the strike route. The protests was primarily against corporal punishment and school uniforms though Steyne also spoke of his support for the abolition of head teachers, which he likened to dictators. Some SAU documents stated that it would "smash dictatorship on

11800-411: The £3 which he would have been able to draw if he had continued to draw that from the redundant mineworkers payment scheme." The rent allowance which is payable to a redundant mineworker was made transferable to a new house if he were to move his home, the rules regarding the offsetting of State and other coal industry benefits against the total of the mineworkers' redundancy payment benefit were eased, and

11918-454: Was Secretary of State for Education at the time and in June refused a proposal to issue official advice to local authorities on how to deal with the SAU. Many SAU members that left school to take part in these protests were punished by being expelled, excluded or with corporal punishment. It was later reported that the protests were subject to disruption. It is alleged that documents were stolen from

12036-408: Was administered to the offender's bare buttocks. Judicial corporal punishment was abolished in 1948. Ted Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005), commonly known as Ted Heath , was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath also served for 51 years as

12154-429: Was adopted as a policy by Labour in 1980 and was achieved in state schools in 1986. The SAU has been described as a significant factor in changing attitudes to corporal punishment in the UK and key to setting abolition on the political agenda. Other SAU aims remain unfulfilled: more than 90% of British secondary school pupils must wear a uniform. Single sex state schools still exist but have fallen in number from 2,500 in

12272-453: Was also changed so that it would only be paid after the first three days of sickness. In 1971 a series of measures was introduced designed to limit the availability of supplementary benefit. In particular, as noted by one study, "tax rebates and strike pay were treated as resources, subject to a £4 disregard." From April 1972 a man returning from work after being on strike had to pay back any supplementary benefit received to tide him over during

12390-483: Was better to let things cool down for the present rather than heighten the crisis". The next day Heath sacked Powell. Several Conservatives on the right protested against Powell's sacking. According to Heath, he never spoke to Powell again. With another general election approaching in 1970 a Conservative policy document emerged from the Selsdon Park Hotel that offered free-market–oriented policies as solutions to

12508-492: Was born; there was no question that Edward was the "favoured brother". Heath was known as "Teddy" as a young man. He was educated at Chatham House Grammar School in Ramsgate , and in 1935 with the aid of a county scholarship he went up to study at Balliol College, Oxford . In later years, Heath's peculiar accent, with its "strangulated" vowel sounds, combined with his non-Standard pronunciation of "l" as "w" and "out" as "eout",

12626-486: Was elected President of the Oxford University Conservative Association as a pro- Spanish Republic candidate, in opposition to the pro- Franco John Stokes (himself later a Conservative MP). In 1937–38 Heath was chairman of the national Federation of University Conservative Associations , and in the same year (his third at university) he was Secretary and then Librarian of the Oxford Union. At

12744-643: Was elected as President of the Oxford Union in November 1938, sponsored by Balliol, after winning the Presidential Debate that "This House has No Confidence in the National Government as presently constituted". He was thus President in Hilary term 1939; the visiting Leo Amery described him in his diaries as "a pleasant youth". As an undergraduate, Heath travelled widely in Europe. His opposition to appeasement

12862-416: Was hardly ever used in conversation by either teachers or pupils, who instead referred to it as either the school strap or the belt , the normal term for an unforked implement, as worn in trousers (see belt ). Scottish state (public) schools used the tawse to punish pupils of either sex on the palm of the outstretched hand. Pupils were usually instructed to hold out one hand, palm uppermost, supported by

12980-512: Was higher still, with The Times newspaper claiming that "nearly 3,000,000" people were jobless by March of that year. Upon entering office in June 1970, Heath immediately set about trying to reverse Wilson's policy of ending Britain's military presence East of Suez . Heath took the United Kingdom into Europe on 1 January 1973, following passage in Parliament of the European Communities Act 1972 in October. He publicly supported

13098-414: Was introduced for those needing care at home, together with Invalidity Benefit for the long-term sick, while a higher Child Allowance was made available where invalidity allowance was paid. Widow's Benefits were introduced for those aged between forty and fifty years of age, improved subsidies for slum clearance were made available, while Rent Allowances were introduced for private tenants. In April 1971,

13216-497: Was introduced. The Legal Advice and Assistance Act 1972 set up a Green Form scheme under which advice of up to two hours, free of charge to the poorest or at reduced rates to those of modest means, became available. The Housing Finance Act 1972 "introduced a national formula for rent increases in the public sector and a mandatory system of local rent and rate rebates that survived subsequent legislation." The Supplementary Benefit (Determination of Requirements) Regulations 1972 increased

13334-412: Was more or less abandoned as unemployment increased considerably by 1972. By January that year, the number of unemployed reached a million, the highest level for more than two decades. Opposed to unemployment on moral grounds, Heath encouraged a famous "U-Turn" in economic policy that precipitated what became known as the " Barber Boom ". This was a two-range process involving the budgets of 1972 and 1973,

13452-505: Was nourished by his witnessing first-hand a Nuremberg rally in 1937, where he met leading Nazis Hermann Göring , Joseph Goebbels , and Heinrich Himmler at an SS cocktail party. He later described Himmler as "the most evil man I have ever met". He was in Germany for two months to learn German but did not keep up any fluency in the language in later life. In 1938 he visited Barcelona , then under attack from Spanish Nationalist forces during

13570-482: Was satirised by Monty Python in the audio sketch " Teach Yourself Heath " (released on a 7" flexi-disc single included with initial copies of their 1972 LP Monty Python's Previous Record ). Heath's biographer John Campbell speculates that his speech, unlike that of his father and younger brother, who both spoke with Kent accents, must have undergone "drastic alteration on encountering Oxford", although retaining elements of Kent speech. A talented musician, Heath won

13688-521: Was sent. This was wielded in primary as well as secondary schools for both trivial and serious offences, and girls got belted as well as boys. Nearly 6 in 10 girls were strapped in school. In Walsall and Gateshead, and in some schools in Manchester and Nottingham , students (mainly male) were tawsed on the seat of the trousers . Some Scottish private (independent) schools also used the tawse, such as Keil School. St Aloysius' College, Glasgow used

13806-492: Was used for educational discipline , primarily in Scotland , but also in schools in a few English cities e.g. Newcastle upon Tyne , Gateshead , Liverpool , Manchester and Walsall . A tawse consists of a strip of leather , with one end split into a number of tails. The thickness of the leather and the number of tails is variable. Many Scottish makers of horse tack made tawses for local schoolmasters. The official name "tawse"

13924-467: Was vetoed by the French President, Charles de Gaulle , at a press conference in January 1963 – much to the disappointment of Heath, who was a firm supporter of European common market membership for the United Kingdom. He oversaw a successful application when serving as prime minister a decade later. After this setback, a major humiliation for Macmillan's foreign policy, Heath was not a contender for

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