Anthony Painter

This bit of fun was inspired by Julian Ware-Lane who listed his top ten political moments of the noughties. I’ve a slightly different but similar thing. Here are my top ten events that impacted UK politics in the noughties- domestic and international. What a decade. How can it leave us anything but confused? But like the British always do, we’ll muddle through somehow. And that’s part of our enduring strength.

Here’s my 10:

1. Supreme Court decision on Florida. The election was stolen. The Bushes just had too much institutional power and so Al Gore ‘lost’ despite winning the election. It was dramatic. But why does it matter to the UK? Because it meant that George W Bush was president for most of the decade. And that mattered…. for the worse.

2. 9/11. It almost goes without saying the seismic impact that 9/11 has had on international politics and UK foreign policy but almost domestic UK society and politics. We reacted in an expansive way to the terrorist threat. So civil liberties legislation was shifted towards the authoritarian. It will take a few years yet to unpick just how appropriate and proportionate our responses were.

3. Wanless Review. A dry HM Treasury document it may have been, but the Wanless Review (‘Securing our Health: taking a long-term view’) made Labour’s commitment to the future of the NHS clear. Tony Blair may have stolen Gordon Brown’s ‘f**king Budget’ in 2000 but Labour made good on the promise in 2002. Re-establishing the NHS as a high quality healthcare system is one of Labour’s great achievements in office: one that will endure for decades with the Tories also committed to N-H-S.

4. House of Commons vote on the Iraq War. Hansard simply reports the decision thus:

18 March 2003, cc760-901, Debate on motion: The debate on Iraq was on a substantive motion, where the house is asked to come to a decision. Main motion carried on division 412 to 149. Amendment defeated on division 217 to 396.

Few words. Little emotion. The scars of that decision remain. And will remain for a long time.

5. The Civil Partnership Act 2004. Probably the greatest extension of civil rights in the entire decade, civil partnerships give gay and lesbian couples similar rights to married heterosexual couples. There is still a gnawing distinction but approaching 40,000 couples have benefited from civil partnerships. Other countries have followed suit and genuine equality for all regardless of their sexuality is within closer reach.

6. The election of David Cameron as Conservative party leader. Within a few months of becoming leader in December 2005, David Cameron had established a Conservative lead in the opinion polls- a lead that has remained in place with the exception of Gordon Brown’s honeymoon period for a few months in 2007. He has largely de-toxified his party image and shifted it on significant areas of policy towards the New Labour orthodoxy. He has had a poor credit crunch but still remains in a strong- though not unassailable- position for 2010’s General Election.

7. Nationalisation of Northern Rock, government ownership of Lloyds TSB, and RBS. There is no-one whose understanding of economics and the perils of global finance has not been shaken of the last couple of years. Well, no-one apart from George Osborne. We will not know for many more years what the full impact of all this will be; but it will be huge. At least it has liberated our political minds. Small comfort…..

8. Election of Barack Obama. Well, you didn’t expect me to leave that one out did you? His presidency will impact our own politics in incalculable ways. My hope is that it is through inspiration rather than through the type of consternation his predecessor provoked. Whatever happens, our partnership with our Atlantic cousins feels like a natural fit again. But time will tell.

9. The European Union 20% by 2020 pledge. The EU will cut carbon by 20% on 1990 levels by 2020 and has committed to 20% of its energy from renewable sources by the same date. Watch and learn China and the US. This commitment alone has the potential to change our economy and way of life- especially if it’s increased to 30%. It will have a measurable though insufficient impact on global climate change also.

10. The expenses scandal. Funnily enough, I believe this will have a strongly positive impact on our politics ultimately. It will make it more transparent, more open, and make representatives more responsive to their constituents. If it induces constitutional and political reform- which I believe it will- it may end up having a positive effect. There is thirst for change and the first leader who taps into that will reap significant rewards….as will we.

That’s it for this decade folks…see you for the 2010s review in only ten years’ time. What might that include? Remember, the noughties started off as a benign decade and ended up as anything but. Who knows, the teenies may have a tempestuous beginning but a benign end. I don’t know about you, but I can’t see that for a minute.

Image is cover of The Noughties by Tim Footman. His blog is here.