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| 1731 | Walpole, Robert |  |
| Taxation is shifted toward commodities |
| 1866 | Gladstone, William Ewart | |
| 10th May City of London Suspends the Bank Charter Act & raises the bank rate to 10%, causes panic & depression |
| 1918 | Lloyd George, David | |
| 10th June The Cabinet forms the National Iron & Steel Indus try Council |
| 1924 | Baldwin, Stanley | |
| 4th Nov Promises "tranquility & prosperity in which to recuperate from the war" |
| 1925 | Churchill, Winston Leonard Spencer | |
| Announces Britain will return to the gold standard at the pre-war level of $4.86 |
| 1930 | MacDonald, James Ramsey | |
| 7th Aug Unemployment reaches 2,000,000 |
| 1931 | MacDonald, James Ramsey | |
| 31st July The May Report announces a budget deficit of œ120 million |
| 22nd Aug The Cabinet splits over the need for economy cuts |
| 24th Aug Resigns to head a National Coalition Government & seek general financial confidence |
| 21st Sep The Bank of England drops the gold standard |
| 1931 | Snowden, Philip | |
| Cuts government expenditure & secures the abandonment of the gold standard |
| 1940 | Anderson, John | |
| Given responsibility for directing economic policy |
| 1946 | Bevin, Ernest | |
| 2nd Dec Agrees to the economic union of USA& British occupation zones in Germany |
| 1946 | Dalton, Edward Hugh John Neale | |
| Dalton nationalizes the Bank of England |
| 1947 | Dalton, Edward Hugh John Neale | |
| 20th Aug Dalton is forced to suspend the convertibility of the pound |
| 1948 | Wilson, James Harold | |
| Exchange controls are removed, a trade surplus changes to a defecit |
| 1949 | Butler, Richard Austen | |
| The Indus trial Charter is repeated in "The Right Road for Britain" |
| 1952 | Butler, Richard Austen | |
| Proposes the "Robot" scheme to float the œ & allow exchange rates "to take the strain" |
| 1956 | Eden, Robert Anthony | |
| Nov Suez Canal The USAwill support Britain if it accepts the UN solution, the pound collapses |
| 1964 | Douglas-Home, Alexander Frederick | |
| July The Resale Price Maintenance is abolished |
| 1964 | Wilson, James Harold | |
| A run on the œ causes Wilson to ask Johnson for an IMF loan, Johnson is non-committal |
| 1965 | Brown, James Harold | |
| 16th Sep The Department of Economic Affairs releases its 1st National Plan |
| 1967 | Callaghan, James | |
| Sterling is strong, trade in surplus & the bank rate down to 6% |
| 1967 | Wilson, James Harold | |
| 18th Nov The pound is devalued from $2.80 to $2.40 |
| 1968 | Wilson, James Harold | |
| 5th Sep The TUC rejects Statutory Incomes Policy & approves voluntary wage restraint |
| 1972 | Heath, Edward Richard George | |
| 20th Jan Unemployment reaches one million |
| 6th Nov Announces a freeze on pay, prices & dividends for 90 days, Selsdon u-turn |
| 1973 | Heath, Edward Richard George | |
| April For the remainder of the year pay rises are to be œ1 & 4% pa, maximum rise of œ250 pa |
| July The MLR is increased from 7.5% to 11.5% in one month |
| Oct Pay increases will be limited to œ2.25 or 7% per week & a maximum increase of œ350 pa |
| Oct Pay increases will be limited to œ2.25 or 7% per week with a maximum of œ350 pa |
| 1974 | Heath, Edward Richard George | |
| Feb The RPI shows that fod prices had risen + 20% over the last year |
| Feb Trade figures show a defict of œ383 million, the largest on record |
| 1974 | Wilson, James Harold | |
| Propos to increase centrally planned investment through the National Enterprise Board |
| The National Economic Board publishes, "The Regeneration of British Indus try" |
| 1975 | Healey, Denis | |
| 1st July On the day of devaluation unions are given 1 week to agree a 10% pay increase limit |
| 23rd July Moves in the 2nd reading of a Bill to control pay increases, passed by 294 to 16 |
| 1975 | Wilson, James Harold | |
| 6th Jan OPEC agrees to a 10% increase in the price of crude oil, triggers huge inflation |
| 30th June A "no panic" speech indicates complacency |
| 30th June The œ falls 27.6% against a basket of currencies |
| 11th July Announces the Government's anti-inflationary policy |
| 1976 | Barnet, Joel | |
| 14th Oct Announces in the Commons that the government's inflation policy has been abandoned |
| 1976 | Callaghan, James | |
| 27th Sep The œ falls to $1.68 |
| 29th Sep Britain applies for an International Monetary Fund loan of œ2,300 million |
| 11th Oct The government wins a majority of 13 in support its economic policy |
| 14th Oct Britains trade deficit in September is reported to be œ365 million |
| 1976 | Healey, Denis | |
| 30th Sep Blackpool Defends his measures to support the pound at the annual party conference |
| 11th Oct The government wins a majority of 13 in support its economic policy |
| 1977 | Callaghan, James | |
| 25th Jan The monthly unemployment figures reach the highest since 1948 |
| 1977 | Healey, Denis | |
| 3rd Jan The International Monetary Fund approves a loan of œ2,300 million to Great Britain |
| 1979 | Callaghan, James | |
| 11th Jan Misquoted in the press saying, "Crisis, what crisis?", returning from Guadaloupe |
| 1980 | Thatcher, Margaret Hilda | |
| 18th June The British annual inflation rate stands at 21%, the first fall in two years |
| 4th Aug The Clegg Commission completes its report on pay comparability in the Public Sector |
| 27th Aug The registerred unemployment total exceeds 2 million |
| 1983 | Thatcher, Margaret Hilda | |
| May Inflation reaches a low point of 3.7% |
| 22nd June Points to lowest inflation since 1968 & record productivity |
| July Makes plans to reduce public expenditure by œ1 billion |
| 7th July Introduces plans for Government expenditure cuts to the Cabinet |
| 1989 | Lawson, Nigel | |
| 6th Oct Interest rates rise to 15% |
| 1989 | Thatcher, Margaret Hilda | |
| 26th June Madrid Britain agrees to enter the ERM when the 3 convergence conditions are met |
| 6th Oct Interest rates rise to 15% |
| 1990 | Thatcher, Margaret Hilda | |
| 12th Oct Inflation rises to 10.9% |
| 1997 | Blair, Anthony Charles Lynton | |
| 6th May Chancellor Gordon Brown gives the Bank of England the freedom to set interest rates |
| 6th May The Bank of England is made independent & free to set interest rates |
| 1997 | Brown, George | |
| The Bank of England is granted it's independence in the conduct of monetary policy & responsibility for setting interest rates, a policy devised by Ed Balls |
| 1997 | Brown, Gordon | |
| 6th May Chancellor Gordon Brown gives the Bank of England the freedom to set interest rates |
| 27th Oct Brown rules out entry before 1999 to the EMU saying 5 key economic tests are not met |
| 2001 | Brown, Gordon | |
| Brown sells 60% of the UK's gold reserves at $275 an ounce, later attacked as a "disastrous foray into international asset management" as he had sold at close to a 20-yr low |
| 2003 | Blair, Anthony Charles Lynton | |
| 6th Feb The Bank of England cuts interest rates to 3.75%, lowest for 50 yrs |
| 10th Mar The FTSE-100 slumps to an 8 yr low |
| 9th June Finance minister Brown rules out British adoption of the EU euro, dashing Blair hopes of placing Britain "at the heart of the European Union" |
| 2003 | Brown, Gordon | |
| 10th Mar The FTSE-100 slumps to an 8 yr low |
| 9th June Finance minister Brown rules out British adoption of the EU euro, dashing Blair hopes of placing Britain "at the heart of the European Union" |
| 2005 | Brown, Gordon | |
| Jan Unveils a "Marshall Plan" for Africa, annual aid to double to 55 billion pounds |
| 2006 | Brown, Gordon | |
| An OECD report shows UK economic growth has averaged 2.7% between 1997 & 2006, higher than the Eurozone's 2.1% |
| The UK tax burden increases from 39.3% of GDP in 1997 to 42.4% in 2006, according to the OECD, overtaking Germany |
| UK unemployment is 5.1%, down from 7% in 1997 & lower than the Eurozone's average of 8.1% |
