The liberal Crisis - INTRO Flashcards
Who was the leader of the liberal party in 1906?
Henry Campbell Bannerman
How many seats were won by the liberal party in the 1906 election?
400 seats
What were the key policies of the Labour Party?
Workers rights + Protection
Social Reform
Trade Unionism
Who was the labour party’s main electoral support?
Urban areas / cities
Trade Unionists
The Working Class
What did the Labour Party struggle with?
Funding - prevented them competing in constituencies
What were the key policies of the Liberal Party?
Free trade
Some for social reform
Tackle poverty
Libertarianism
Who was the Liberal party’s main electoral support from?
Non-conformists
Liberal Gentry
Liberal Middle Class
New industrialists (people who had succeeded from the industrial revolution)
What did the Liberal party achieve during their time in power?
Radical Social Legislation - the parliament bill, social reform acts, the peoples budget, irish home rule
Tackled the issue of Poverty under David Lloyd George
Bannerman United different Factions of the Liberal party (making the party strong)
They won in a landslide election in 1906
What were the conservative party’s main policies?
Right Wing
Imperialism - The British Empire
Unionists - with Ireland
(some) Protectionists
Who was the main electoral support for the conservative party?
Anglicans
Upperclass
Business Owners
Landowners
(some) Working Class
What events (arguably) contributed to the defeat of the Conservative Party in the 1906 election?
Chinese Slavery Scandal
Party was divided over the issue of economic free trade policy (weak)
Revalation over the Boer war
Neglecting the issue of Poverty
What was regarded as a Liberal party failure?
Didn’t push hard enough through World War One.
What does jingoism mean?
Patriotism, through media specifically. This is what managed to keep the conservatives in power until 1906, as there was a strong spirit of patriotism in Britain as an effect of the prosperity of the empire.
What was the economic policy of free trade and why was It a problem for the Conservative Party?
Free trade was regarded as a very successful policy amongst the working class in Britain, as it meant imports and exports were free. However, the ideology of Tarrif reform began to emerge, and Joseph Chamberlain, a Liberal unionist in the conservative Cabinet, questioned Arthur Balfour on the free trade economic policy. Balfour, a weak leader, was unable to aid this situation and the Conservative Party became divided, as some became protectionist(in favour of tariffs) and some remained in favour of free trade. This weakened the Conservative Party as it divided it internally.
What is protectionism?
The economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods and import quotas
What is a Tariff and what is an import quota?
import quota - An import quota is a type of trade restriction that sets a physical limit on the quantity of a good that can be imported into a country
Tariff - a kind of tax set on goods that are imported or exported
Liberal acronym for government policy:
P
H
E
W
Public health
Housing
Education
Welfare
acronym for societal issues under liberals:
U
C
O
W
W
S
Unemployment
Children
Old age
Working conditions
Women
Sickness
What were the examples of Liberal public health policy:
-Medical inspections under the Education Act
-National Insurance (sickness) Act.
What were the pros and cons of the liberal housing policy
What were the pros and cons of the liberal Education policy
What were the pros and cons of the liberal Welfare policy (1911 National insurance unemployment act)
1911 National insurance unemployment act
Pros: covered 2.25 million workers and provided 7 shillings a week benefit for up to 15 weeks. this guaranteed regular sum enabled families of the unemployed to avoid destitution whilst the breadwinner found another job.
Cons -
only applied to certain trades; the insured trades. these were trades known for cyclical unemployment, like building or shipbuilding. Most workers were not covered by the scheme and had to rely on trade unions or their own savings or private insurance. only became fully functional in 1912.
What were the pros and cons of the liberal Public Health policy - medical inspections under the Education Act.
Large amounts of reports of children of poor backgrounds showing up to school hungry, dirty and ill. The Health and welfare of children was seen as a national disgrace, so to combat this, they set up school medical services and made check-ups compulsory. 3/4s of LEAs (local education authorities) provided medical inspections and 2/3s of children receives some form of free medical treatment through this.
PROS:
Allowed more children to receive necessary medical care that they otherwise wouldn’t of accessed, improving the welfare of Britain’s youth.
CONS:
Only a cursory check.
Treatment wasn’t guaranteed and not every child was able to receive treatment, as the council was not obligated to treat revealed conditions.
Poorer children were not always able to afford to treat serious conditions that were revealed, impacting many families.
What were the pros and cons of the liberal Public Health policy - National insurance (sickness) act.
Pros - Covered 13 million workers. Paid out a weekly sickness benefit of 10 shillings a week for 13 weeks then 5 shillings a week for further 13 weeks. There was a maternity grant for women workers, a disability benefit and free medical treatment with an approved doctor. Free treatment of TB.
Cons -
only covered workers earning less than £160 pa, everyone else had to look after themselves. Only covered workers 16-60, and since OAPs only began at 70 there was a 10 year gap.
The act also only covered the contributor - usually the father - and not his family. Any hospital treatment has to be paid for (bar TB). Only became effective in 1913. Only 13 million of the 45 million population were included in the national insurance scheme.
