the liberal party Flashcards
define ‘new liberalism’
movement within liberal party dedicated to social reform
traditional character of ‘new liberalism’
gladstonian (gladstone)
gladstone slogan for ‘new liberalism’
‘peace, retrenchment & reform’
lloyd georges liberal ally
winston churchill
who was liberal prime minister 1905-08
campbell-bannerman
who replaced campbell bannerman as prime minister in 1908
herbert asquith
who was chancellor of exchequer appointed as
lloyd george
what evidence were the reforms based on
royal commission on poverty (1905-09) - body that collected data & presented it to parliament
terms of the old age pensions act 1908
- granted 5s. a week to 70+ with incomes of less than £31.10s a year & hadn’t previously received help from poor law
- pension was non-contributory = funded entirely from government revenues.
how did lloyd george plan to fund the old age pensions act 1908
increase taxes of propertied classes - ‘peoples budget’ 1909
terms of the ‘peoples budget’ 199
- standard rate of income tax increased from 9d. to 1s. 3d. in pound on incomes up to £3000 a year
- ‘super tax’ of 6d. in pound on incomes over £5000 a year
- death duties to be paid on estates valued over £5000
- 20% levy on unearned increase in land values
- increased taxation on sale of alcohol, tobacco & motorcars
which terms from the peoples budget aroused most opposition from propertied classes?
death duties & tax increases on land values
how did the conservatives attack the peoples budget
by taxing the landowners so heavily, lloyd george was deliberately waging class war
what was the majority of the money raised from the peoples budget allocated for instead of pensions?
building new warships for the navy
what was still the dominating economic issue
- free trade v. protection argument
- to maintain themselves (liberals) as free-trade party, they had to pay for welfare programme without resorting to tarriffs
how long was the budget delayed
10 week debate in commons
terms of the national insurance act 1911
- covered workers aged 16-60 who earned less than £160 a year against sickness & unemployment
- didn’t apply to all industries –> only building, engineering & shipbuilding
- sickness benefits of 10s. for men & 7s. 6d. for women, paid for 26 weeks
- maternity grant of 3s.
- scheme funded by compulsory weekly contributions from employer (4d.), from employee (3d.) & from state (2d.)
- contributions paid by buying adhesive stamps affixed to a card
how many workers did the national insurance act cover
3 million
resistance of national insurance act 1911
- many working class –> already paid privately into schemes run by insurance companies, friendly societies & trade unions
- press attacked weekly contributions as theft from workers’ pay packets
- labour wanted it to be funded entirely from taxation of wealthy –> lloyd george pacified them by promising to introduce payment for mps (honoured in 1911)
describe the trade disputes act 1906
reversed taff vale decision by protecting unions funds fro claims for damages arising from strikes
describe the 1906 education act & limitations
- empowered local education authorities (LEAs) to provide school meals for ‘needy’ children
–> not compulsory & only 1/3 of LEAs providing meals by 1911
describe the 1907 education act
introduced compulsory medical examinations - examined at least 3x during school years
reform 1907-12
set of measures improved prison conditions, created probation service & ended imprisonment for debt
describe the 1908 children’s act
- created special provisions for young offenders by setting up juvenile courts & remand homes
- helped establish principle that needs of children to be separately treated & may help national efficiency
1909 trade boards act & criticism
terms:
- laid down minimum wages in ‘sweated’ industries
criticism:
- initially opposed by unions as feared the enforcement of minimum wage would lead to job cuts by employers
- also seen as undermining right of unions to negotiate differentials
1909 labour exchange act
- provided easily accessible centres where employers could advertise jobs & workers could be advised on what positions available
- aim = take away uncertainty & hit-and-miss nature of job market
1909 development commission created
to organise funding of state welfare
liberals achievements
- social-reform programme seen as key stage in path to welfare state
- reforms had established it was responsibility of government to provide for people who couldn’t provide for themselves
what wasn’t so good about the liberals reforms
- little change actually occurred by 1914 in conditions of underprivileged
cost of living & unemployment in 1914 compared to 1906
cost of living - 1914 = 14% higher than 1906
unemployment - risen sharply
