Editing James Callaghan (section)

===Policies===
[[File:Persconferentie na afloop Overleg van de 9 , Den Haag Callaghan (oa met Enge, Bestanddeelnr 928-9157 (crop).jpg|thumb|Callaghan visiting [[The Hague]] in 1976]]
Callaghan's time as prime minister saw broad continuation of the policies which Labour had adopted since it had been elected in 1974 under Wilson. Callaghan continued the policies of the "[[Social Contract (Britain)|social contract]]" which sought to control inflation through a voluntary [[wage restraint]] agreement with the trade unions. Although the public spending cuts after 1976 made it more difficult for the government to deliver the increased benefits which had been promised as part of the package. Another policy continuation was the [[National Enterprise Board]] (NEB) which formed the centrepiece of the government's [[industrial policy]]. In practice, the NEB's main activity became one of rescuing failing companies.<ref name="Thorpe70s"/>

Despite its lack of Parliamentary majority, Callaghan's government was able to carry out a number of reforms in many areas (see [[Labour government, 1974–1979#Major contributions]]), among these was the [[Race Relations Act 1976]], which established the [[Commission for Racial Equality]] to promote racial equality.

In 1977 Callaghan's government [[nationalised]] the shipbuilding industry, creating [[British Shipbuilders]], and the aircraft industry, creating [[British Aerospace]].<ref name="Thorpe70s"/>

During his first year in office, Callaghan started what has since become known as 'The Great Debate', when he spoke at [[Ruskin College]], [[Oxford]], about the 'legitimate concerns' of the public about the quality of education in the nation's [[maintained school]]s. This discussion led to greater involvement of the government, through its ministries, in the curriculum and administration of state education, leading to the eventual introduction of the [[National curriculum]] some ten years later.<ref>{{cite news |last=Eason |first=Gary |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4386373.stm |title=Callaghan's Great Education Debate |work=BBC News |date=27 March 2005 |access-date=30 April 2010 |archive-date=15 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115082155/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4386373.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Early in his premiership he caused controversy with the appointment of [[Peter Jay (diplomat)|Peter Jay]], his then son-in-law as the [[British Ambassador to the United States]].