Labour Government Post-War 1945-51

Question 1

Name the Labour Manifesto during the 1945 election campaign?

Answer 1

‘Let Us Face the Future’

Question 2

Give four weaknesses of the Conservatives during the 1945 election campaign?

Answer 2

1. ‘Gestapo Speech’
2. lack of agents in constituencies
3. Shadow of Chamberlain - blamed for failures in 30’s
4. Uninspiring, moderate and uncontroversial manifesto that was vague on post-war economic controls

Question 3

Give four strengths of the Labour party that allowed them to win the 1945 election?

Answer 3

1. The wartime coalition enabled many Labour politicians to prove themselves on a national stage
2. Labour’s propaganda played on the bad memories of the 1930’s
3. the war made state intervention and planning appear a good idea - key Labour policies. Expansion of TUC
4. The Beveridge Report increased popularity for a Welfare state in Britain

Question 4

State two key qualities of Attlee as Prime Minister

Answer 4

• Had valuable experience

- Effective chairman at meetings and was efficient at dealing with paperwork

Question 5

What is austerity?

Answer 5

A policy where rationing was intensified post-war and living standards were held down so that production could go into exports to earn the much-needed dollars.

Question 6

What two items that had not been rationed during the war were rationed up to 1948?

Answer 6

Bread and potatoes

Question 7

How did the Labour government avoid inflation and unemployment?

Answer 7

Taxation, interest rates and the budget to stimulate the economy

Question 8

What was the overall debt of Britain post-war?

Answer 8

£4198 million

Question 9

What percent drop was there in EXPORT of manufactured goods?

Answer 9

60% drop

Question 10

What measures were taken in order to cope with the financial crisis?

And what alternative conditions came with this?

Answer 10

John Maynard Keynes negotiated loans from the USA and Canada totalling more than $5000 million

However Britain had to make the pound fully convertible to dollars within a year and end its policy of giving preference to trade with countries in the British Empire.

Question 11

Who was Hugh Dalton?

Answer 11

The Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1945 however was forced to resign in 1947

Question 12

What was the fuel crisis of winter 1946-7?

Answer 12

Freezing temperatures and deep snow meant transport by railways, roads and canals came to a standstill. Coal supplies were cut by Stafford Cripps (Labour Politician)

Question 13

When was the Korean War and what was its impact on Britain?

Answer 13

1950 and it created another balance of payments crisis - major rearmament programme which required more imports so import prices for raw materials rose

Question 14

How was industry successful under Attlee?

Answer 14

Staple industries and newer industries were pushed into full production by the ‘Export or Die’ slogan and half of all new factories built between 1945-51 were sited in formerly ‘depressed areas’

Question 15

How was agriculture successful under Attlee?

Answer 15

Productivity improved as more home-grown food was being produced and imports were kept low to allow for expansion

Question 16

Between 1946 and 1951, what percentage of the country was taken into public ownership?

Answer 16

20% of economic enterprises

Question 17

What year was the coal industry nationalised?

Answer 17

1946

Question 18

What year was iron and steel nationalised?

Answer 18

1949

Question 19

What year was public transport (railways, docks, inland waterways) nationalised?

Answer 19

1947

Question 20

Give three impacts of nationalisation?

Answer 20

1. The supply of electricity and gas was expanded to more remote parts of the country
2. Coal output significantly increased from 1946 to 1951
3. State control ensured that safety and working conditions met minimum standards.

Question 21

What major factor aided the economic situation in 1948?

Answer 21

The Marshall Plan - aid from USA during Korean War

Question 22

What was the Beveridge Report?

Answer 22

This was a report written by William Beveridge (a Liberal) who wrote of ‘slaying the Five Giants’ - Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness

Question 23

What were the Five Giants in the Beveridge Report?

Answer 23

Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness

Question 24

What is Attlee’s Labour Government remembered as?

Answer 24

‘New Jerusalem’

Question 25

What was the Butler Education Act in 1944?

Answer 25

Key social reform that increased the school leaving age from 14 to 15 and free, compulsory secondary education was established

Question 26

What was the main slogan of Labour’s Welfare State?

Answer 26

‘from cradle to the grave’

Question 27

What benefit did the 1945 Family Allowance Act have?

Answer 27

5 shillings were to be paid to a family for each child after the first one

Question 28

What act did Aneurin Bevan press in government?

Answer 28

The 1948 National Assistance Act which provided basic financial help for anyone who fell through the net of other benefits. It finally ended the Poor Law and forced authorities to provide accommodation for the homeless

Question 29

When did the National Health Service become fully functional?

Answer 29

July 1948

Question 30

Who was Aneurin Bevan?

Answer 30

Labour’s Minister for Health and Housing

Question 31

What was the MAIN opposition to the NHS at the start?

Answer 31

From the doctors whop wanted to continue to work privately and not for the NHS.

Question 32

How was the opposition to the NHS from the doctors overcome by Bevan?

Answer 32

• Consultants could continue to work privately also
• Regional Health Boards were appointed, not elected and were dominated by upper middle class consultants
• Bevan won over the doctors ‘by stuffing their mouths with gold’

Question 33

What was the NHS dentist:patient ratio in 1948?

Answer 33

10,000 dentists : 47 million people

Question 34

Give three major issues of the NHS?

Answer 34

1. Spending almost doubled between 1948 and 1951
2. Hospitals were often ill suited for purpose and there was a shortage of trained staff
3. There was no unified system of NHS administration

Question 35

Give three successes of the NHS?

Answer 35

1. Social groups that had previously struggled to afford regular health care could now do so
2. Infant mortality fell dramatically after 1948
3. The NHS rapidly gained public acceptance and by 1951, it was much admired in western Europe

Question 36

What was the official government estimate for the shortage of houses by 1951?

Answer 36

700,000 houses

Question 37

What was the main focus by Bevan for housing during Labour’s government?

Answer 37

Council house building and ‘Quality over Quantity’

Question 38

Why did Bevan resign in April 1951?

Answer 38

• Bevan fell out with Hugh Gaitskell, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer due to charging for dental treatment and prescriptions under the NHS as he believed it went against Labour values.
• Bevan also criticised the rearmament programme for the Korean War and felt Attlee was too involved in the Cold War policies of the United States

Question 39

Give three reasons the Conservatives won the 1951 election?

Answer 39

1. Revival of the Conservative Party - reorganised their party, new membership drive (4 million added) and more modern/younger politicians were present in the party
2. Accepted many Labour policies including the NHS and pledged to build 100,000 more houses than Labour (300,00 altogether)
3. Increased amount of agents in constituencies

Question 40

Give three weaknesses of the Labour Party in the 1951 election campaign?

Answer 40

1. Many people did not agree with the policy of ‘austerity’ and became tired with rationing and high levels of taxation
2. Many Labour politicians were of ill-health, exhausted and tired (as many had been part of the wartime coalition) - not in prime condition
3. Impact of the Korean War in 1950 and the devaluation of the pound in 1949

Question 41

What was the 1946 National Insurance Act?

Answer 41

Universal Act that applied national insurance to all employees - unemployment, sickness, old age pensions, orphans, maternity grants and death grants/widows and their children

Question 42

How many new homes did Labour build overall? From 1945-1951?

Answer 42

1.5 million new homes and a quarter of a million ‘prefabs’

Question 43

What were Beveridge’s five ‘giants’/evils?

Answer 43

Want, Disease, Squalor, Ignorance, Idleness

Question 44

What was William Beveridge’s scheme for a single weekly flat rate contribution?

Answer 44

The National Insurance Act

Question 45

What is meant by a Welfare State?

Answer 45

Where everyone who needs help would receive it from the government - ‘from cradle to grave’

Question 46

Primary poverty in York reduced by 34% from the level in 1936. True or False?

Answer 46

True - ROWNTREE SURVEY

Question 47

What was the level of unemployment by 1946?

Answer 47

2.5%

Question 48

By what % did exports increase between 1946 to 1950?

Answer 48

80%

Question 49

Give one major disadvantage of the new education system introduced by labour

Answer 49

Children were separated at 11 meaning many talented children did not get the type of education which they needed

Question 50

Before charges were introduced, how many dental patients were treated?

Answer 50

8 million patients