From 1886, the Conservatives were constantly in power.

The Liberals, however were divided, because

of Ireland and Imperialism.

Political Changes in the 19th Century

There was the growth of a powerful middle class, which had profited from commerce and industry, as
did an industrial working class. Class (although a fluid term, but as it was believed by people at the
time) was thus defined: upper class, traiditonal landed aristocracy; middle class, those working in
trade or professions; people who worked for wages in insudstry or on the land. The majority of these
people had the vote, so had an electoral importance.

Benjamin Disraeli, leader of the Conservatives in the 1860s and 1870s, modernised the party’s
policiies to appeal to professional people and workers (rather than just the landed aristocracy), by
making social reforms to stay in power.

By 1900, the conservatives had been in power under Lord Salsiury (the last peer Prime Minister) for
all but three of the previous fourteen years. Under him, conservatism becayse ‘an organised rearguard
action’ to prevent growing democracy from being too disruptive. However, Salisbury accepted
Disraeli’s belief that they could win over the working classes to Cosnervatism. Thus, Salisbury
greatly emphaissed party re-organisation and emphasised recruitment of supporters in constitutuencies
– the future shape of the Conservatives. Thuys, Conservatives had victories in the elections of 1886,
1895 and 1900.

Divided Liberals – Ireland

Background
 Ireland was united under U.K. rule up to 19th century.
 Many Irish people were dissatisfied with U.K. rule and wished for Home Rule
(independence), somewhat following the model of Canada, where Ireland would be self-
governing in terms of domestic matters, but other external issues would still be managed by
Westminster.
 Home Rule was generally popular in the modern-day Irish Republic, but not in modern North
Ireland.
 It was popular among some in the U.K., who regarded Ireland as a burden on the British Isles.
However, the Conservatives opposed it, as did some in the Liberal Party strongly opposed it.

The Liberals and Home Rule

 Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone decided in 1886 that he agreed with Home Rule,
which aligned with liberal ideas of national self-determination.
 This was unpopular among some Liberals, who formed a breakaway group, the Liberal
Unionists.
 This referred not only to the union of Ireland, but also the British Empire - they feared self -
determination for Ireland would lead other colonies in the Empire to want independence.
 The leader of this group was Joseph Chamberlain (the father of the future Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain).
 The Liberal Unionists had joined with the Conservative Party by 1900. The Conservative
Party changed its name to the Conservative and Unionist Party (which it still has today).

Divided Liberals – Imperialism and the Boer War

Imperialism
 In the last 30 years, Britain had rapidly increased the size of its empire, largely because of its
participationin the European scramble of Africa (between the 1870s and 1914, the major
colonial powers took over large areas of the African continent).
 The Conservatives were largely associated with this new imperialism. Althoguh some liber-
imperialists supported it, the Liberal Party strongly opposed it.
  By the end of the century, there was great dispute as to whether Britain should continue to
pursue expansionist policies, or whether the traditional view held by figures such as William
Gladstone (who saw imperialism as immoral and a threat to international peace) should
prevail.
The Boer War
 In 1884, Britain had agreed to a division which gave it Cape Province and Natal and granted
the Boers the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. However, although Britain formally
recognised the Boer right of self-government int eh Transvaal, it claimed that it had authority
over the region.
 Joseph Chamberlain, the colonial secretary, believed that British supremacy in southern
Africa was essential to maintain Britain’s imperial strength. He believed that if Britain did not
have a powerful empire, it could not be a powerful nation. So, he plotted with the British high
commissioner in the cape to make such unreasonable demands on the Boers that they would
have no choice but to fight.
 Salisbury’s Conservatives government began the Boer War (1899-1902) in South Africa,
because Britain wanted newly discovered gold and diamonds there.
 Most of South Africa was run by Boers - descendants of the original Dutch settlers.
 The Liberals opposed the war, due to its materialistic cause and because it was white people
fighting against white people.
 Some Liberals questioned the validity of the British Empire and imperialism, so the
Conservatives began to accuse the Liberals of being “pro-Boer”.
 It did also lead to division in the Liberals – Joseph Chamberlain was perhaps the most fervent
supporters of the war. The Boer War was nicknamed “Joe’s War”, and he was Colonial
Secretary. Joseph was blamed for splitting the Liberal Party, and also split the Conservative
Party in 1903.

 There was a general election in 1900 - nicknamed the Khaki Election (at the time, British
soldiers in the Boer War had shifted from traditional red to khaki jackets, due to better
camouflage and not being targeted by Boers). In this election, Joseph argued that voting
against the Conservatives would constitute voting for the Boers - an idea which gained
traction among the public due to the elevated atmosphere of jingoism. Lord Robert Cecil
Salisbury won the election with a comfortable majority, but, as an older man, he passed
power in 1902 to his nephew, Balfour.

The Downfall of the Conservatives: The Working-Class Electorate

Arthur Balfour’s rule marked a decline in Conservative dominance, but there was also the external
factor of the public simply wishing for change after almost 20 years of Conservative rule.
Furthermore, the Conservatives had done absolutely nothing to address the pervasiveness of poverty
in Britain. Conservatives introduce reforms to keep themselves in power, and to pre-empt the Liberals
who would do this. The Second Reform Act ensures that urban working-class people can vote - not
the rural working class, because they were thought to be too spread out to mobilise. At the time,
however, coal miners were the largest occupation in the UK, so the government gave all the rural
working class the vote in the Third Reform Act of 1885. At the beginning of the 20th century, the
largest group in the electorate was the working class.

By 1900, 60% of adult males had the vote, and there was the question of whether to extend this
further, to allow full male suffrage or female suffrage (more controversially – for which party would
women actualy vote?).

The Downfall of the Conservatives: Poverty

By the early twentieth century, Britain’s population had become far more concentrated and large in
towns and conurbations – due to industrialism. In the 40 years after 1871, the population in towns and
cities almost doubled, increasing demand for water and other basic goods – which were often unable
to be provided. This led to overcrowding, poor sanitation, and widespread disease, malnutrition.
Although local and central governments had introduced welfare and relief schemes in the Victorian
era, but they were largely insufficient. Also, although wage rates had increased, workers often lacked
the surplus pay to increase their living conditions. The only other scheme for dealing with poverty
was the Poor Law, amended in 1834 to set up workhouses for the “able-bodied poor” which provided
them with a roof, bed food. – where conditions were so horrible that only the neediest went. However
conditions were unsanitary, awful and you had to work in exchange - often very arduous and
demeaning work. The idea was that the workhouse experience was so demeaning that the poor would
try to work harder to avoid entering them. By the beginning of the 1900s, though the workhouses
were full. What often happened was that, if you were too elderly to work, they might give you a very
small sum of money and tell you to leave. It thus seemed like the Conservatives were doing nothing to
deal with this problem. However, the conservatives recognised the problem but were unsure how to
deal with it. They did not want to tax the rich (themselves) or the precarious middle class.

The Downfall of the Conservatives: Reports of 1880-1914

Charles Booth compiled a report on the people of London. He concluded that 30% of the people in
London were in serious poverty, and that 45% of those in serious poverty were elderly. This was a
huge shock to Britain. Booth also proved that you could be a worker and, due to external factors or
illness, be unemployed or poor. This was a huge shock to Victorian liberal values – they wanted to
believe that anyone could achieve success by working hard for themselves.

Seebohm Rowntree tried to replicate this report in York. His results were the same as Booth’s - he
believed around 28% of York were in serious poverty. Similarly, he found that many of them were
elderly, and that you could lose your job due to external factors. Furthermore, he found that even
people who worked full time could be poor, “close to starvation level” because of low wages.
Eventually, minimum wage will be introduced just before the First World War for miners, but other
minimum wages, in the 1920s and 1930s.

John Galt was a missionary living in London, who used the camera to take pictures of poor people.
Although many missionaries worked in Africa, Asia, or the Americas, a group of missionaries decided
that much work was needed at home. An example of this was the Salvation Army, founded by
William Booth in the 1880s, who wrote a book named In Darkest England where he argued that the
poor lived in theological darkness because of poverty and starvation.

The Downfall of the Conservatives: National Efficiency

The government created a great recruitment drive to encourage people to fight in the Boer War (there
was no conscription). In 1902, it was officially reported by the army high command that two-thirds of
people keen to sign up to join the war were rejected due to being physically unfit. This became a more
serious issue on the eve of the First World War. Britain thus decided that it needed to improve health,
housing, etc to improve its workforce and compete internationally. This was called “national
efficiency”, which had a military and an economic aspect. This argument, not Booth’s argument of
compassion, was the main driver for the government to introduce greater welfare.

National efficiency was also linked closely to eugenics, promoted by intellectuals such as George
Bernard Shaw, which held that educated, wealthy parents ought to reproduce more – ‘selective
breeding’. Charles Masterman, an influential Liberal writer, represented many national efficiency
campaigners in Britain, described the long hours and terrible working conditions of those who had
moved from the countryside to the city. He warned that the ‘future progress of the Anglo-Saxon race’
depended on this population.

In 1904 and 1905, the government commissioned two reports to deal with the problem. However, this
takes many years to come to fruition, and by the time the results were out, the Conservatives were out
of power. One of these, however – a specially appointed Interdepartmental Committee on Physical
Deterioriation in 1904 – delivered a formal report to Parliament. It recommended:
  Appointing full-time medical officers of health and health visitors in urban areas
 Local authorities lay down standards of food and drink purity
 Regularly examining school children medically
 Studying and addressing urban overcrowding
 Introducing laws against smoke pollution
 Teaching basic hygiene in schools
 Local authorities provide meals for school children.

Not all these proposals were implemented, but they helped to define and clarify the problems.

Lord Baden Powell tried to respond to this problem by forming a youth movement – the Boy Scouts,
which aimed to ‘keep Britain up against outside enemies’ and ‘stand shoulder to shoulder to do it’. By
1914, this movement had spread nationwide and by 1920, worldwide.

There was great agreement in Britain that these problems had to be solved, but there were deep
disputes between parties and factions as to how to fix the problem.

The Downfall of the Conservatives: Economy

Between 1870 and 1914, Britain’s trade and industry were shrinking relative to other countries,
especially the US and Germany. This was especially evident in staple industries (enterprises on which
Britain’s industrial strength was traditionally based, e.g. textiles, coal mining, iron and steel
production, shipbuilding etc.). Britain’s industrial growth rate of 2.3% was only half of the USA’s. By
the turn of the century, Germany and the US had surpassed Britain in volume of iron and steel
production. By 1910, British industrial exports made up 10% of world trade, compared to 20% for
German and 40% for American. The population of Germany was far stronger and healthier, because
Otto van Bismarck in the 1880s had introduced pensions, unemployment benefits, etc.

The agricultural industry was also declining: by 1911, only 11% of the workforce were agricultural
workers (compared with 22% in 1821 and 18% in 1861), largely because of serious agricultural
recession in the 1870s, where cheap foreign corn came to Britain from newly developed farmland in
North America, Argentina, and Australia. British farmers were also hit by a series of harvest failures.
Only the largest farmers made reasonable profits,and many smaller farmers left the land or had
terrible standards of living. Thus, rural proverty was worse than ubran poverty. Despite the
establishment of a Board of Agriculture in 1889, the situation didn’t really improve in the next 40
years, it would not be until the war in 1914 which increased demand for domestic food because of
reduced imports.

Modern revisionist historians have said that Britain’s economy was actually not in as dire state as was
believed back then – British industry was more cost effective and was growing healthily (although
total output was greater in Germany and the US). Instead, it was mostly the impact of the First World
War which damaged the UK’s economy. However, it is certainly true that the people at the time
thought Britain was in a dire state.

Although staple industries were declining, there were ‘new industries’ – in areassuch as transport and
communication, health provision, education, hotels and catering, and financial services. By 1910, this
accounted for 44% of the workforce, but this did not make up for the lossesin staple industries. This,
however, in future would be increasingly important in Britain’s economy, and helped keep Britain
solvent in critical times.

The Downfall of the Conservatives: Trade Unions

For much of the nineteenth century, the trade union movement had been dominanted by ‘old’ unions.
However, in the last quarter of the century, there was a rapid growth in mass-membership unions of
unskilled or semi-skilled workers. These new workers wanted to use collective strength co campaign
for better wages and conditions. By 1890,they had won some major victories – e.g. gas workers went
on strike successfully for an 8-hour day, and the darkers’ tanner (sixpence a day basic pay rate) had
been reluctangly granted by port authorities. The employers had tried to counter this by forming
federations. This raised the question as to whether the Parliament or government should intervene in
woreker-employer relations.

Clash with British trade union. At the start of industrialisation, workers had poor pay, conditions,
weren’t allowed to go on strike, etc. They were exploited. Slowly, trade unionists (especially of
unskilled workers) realised that if they united against their employers, they had power. Generally, it is
a bad idea to “withhold labour” in times of unemployment, as it was now. In 1900, ther were 1300
trade unions, with 2 million members.

In June 1900, a Welsh trade union, in the Taff Vale company, organised a strike for rail workers, with
the full backing of the Associated Society of Railway Servants (ASRS). The company tried to break
the strike by briningin non-union labour and taking the ASRS to court for illegal picketing. The tactics
worked and the strikers reluctantly returned to work with nothing gained. Then, bhe owners of the
railway decided to sue the workers for damages and loss of profits.

The local court ruled in favour of the company, but after appeal by the ASRS, a higher court reversed
this decision in November 1900. The company, however, took the issue to the House of Lords, which
overruled the appeal court and in favour of the company. This happened in July 1901, which meant
the case received a lot of public interest. They ordered the trade union had to pay £42,000 in damages,
which effectively destroyed unions’ right to strike and picket. Only an act of Parliament could have
altered this, but Balfour declared in 1902 that his government had no desire to reverse the decision,
which reinforced the idea that the Conservatives were unsympathetic to the working class.

The Downfall of the Conservatives: The Boer War

1899-1902 – British troops in the Boer War against farmers in South Africa. Most assumed a swift
British victory, but this didn’t happen. It took 3 years, £20 billion, and 60,000 dead Boers and 20,000
dead British soldiers. People were considering war against Germany, and questioned how well Britain
could fight against a proper army after their poor performance against the Boers. Balfour’s
government introduced a series of military reforms, but his government was out of power before the
benefits of these policies reflected on his government. Britain also fought this war completely by
itself, and had no nations supporting it (unusual for the 19th century) – because most other European
nations did not support their behaviour. This was firstly because Britain was fighting against white
people, but also because of the brazenly materialistic cause.

The Boers used guerrilla tactics and were supported with excellent equipment by the Germans. Britain
therefore became far more brutal, e.g. burning down farms and farm houses, killing their animals and
destroying storehouses of wheat, burning fields. The Britons began to round up all women and
children and placed them in camps – what Lord Kitchener called concentration camps (not
extermination camps, just where people were concentrated in a small area). Naturally, however,
keeping people in crowded, unsanitary and hot conditions led to widespread illness. 160,000 women
and children were put in these camps, and 26,000 died. 80% who died were under the age of 16. This
criticised hugely by the Liberal Party, the British Press (there was no censorship in the Boer War,
unlike in WW1), and other European nations. Henry Campbell-Bannerman, the leader of the Liberal
Party, declared that Britain was using “methods of barbarism” in South Africa. Lloyd George also said
that “we have now taken to killing babies”. Obviously, they were also receiving criticism for the poor
health of the general populace, which meant many enlistees could not fight (see Poverty).

The Downfall of the Conservatives: The Chinese Slavery Affair

In 1904, the “Chinese slavery affair” occurred. After the winning of the Boer War (a Pyrrhic victory),
Britain needed to mine diamonds from South Africa. They convinced 50,000 Chinese people to
volunteer to mine gold for Britain in South Africa. They would be given housing, food, and clothes,
etc. for a set period and paid more than they were getting in China, and, at the end of seven years, they
would get a financial bonus and also transportation back to China. However, they were working in
terrible, dangerous conditions for what was considered meagre in comparison to British pay. They
lived in military-style barracks. The British press even argued that, without the presence of women in
the barracks, the workers would engage in “nameless practices” (gay subtext). Thus, the Liberals
declared this the “Chinese slavery affair”. Balfour tried to defend himself by saying that they were
volunteers, and would earn more than they would in China.

Canada, Australia, and New Zealand were, at the time, dominions (internally self-governing, but
affairs of foreign policy or the military were under London). (these were sometimes called “the white
dominions”). These countries protested Britain’s treatment of South Africa. They didn’t want the same
to occur to them, a) because of jobs b) because they did not want non-white people to work for them.
They wanted white British people, and, at the time, many poor British people would move to the
colonies. British trade unions were also upset about South Africa, because they would prefer for
British workers to work there (albeit not in those conditions and those wages). They were also worried
that Britain would import cheap labour from China and India, etc. to the UK. There were even
headlines in the British press, saying “No one had fought in the Boer War to make South Africa a
yellow man’s country”. The criticism was so great that Britain reversed its policy, paid the Chinese
workers, and sent them back.

Conservative Legislation: Balfour’s Education Act 1902

Balfour was largely responsible for the drafting of this, which:
- Raised the school leaving age to twelve
- Granted subsidies to church schools from local rates (taxes on households to pay for local
government services)
- Abolished locally elected school boards and passed authority of schools to county or borough
councils.
However, Balfour was fiercely criticised by religious rivals over the nature of schools to be provided.

Conservative Legislation: The 1905 Aliens Act

he Aliens Act 1905 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
[2]
The Act introduced immigration controls and registration for the first time, and gave the Home
Secretary overall responsibility for matters concerning immigration and nationality. [2] Those who
"appeared unable to support themselves" or "likely to become a charge upon the rates" were declared
"undesirable". The Act also allowed to turn away potential immigrants on medical grounds. Asylum-
seekers fleeing from religious or political persecution were supposedly exempted from the act but,
nevertheless, their claims were often ignored.[3]
While the Act was ostensibly designed to prevent paupers or criminals from entering the country and
set up a mechanism to deport those who slipped through, one of its main objectives was to
control Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe.[4] Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe
significantly increased after 1880[5] which served as some basis for the creation of the Aliens Act
1905. Although it remained in force, the 1905 Act was effectively subsumed by the Aliens Restriction
Act 1914, which introduced far more restrictive provisions. It was eventually repealed by the Aliens
Restriction (Amendment) Act 1919.
Some of the border control mechanisms established with the Aliens Act remained throughout the 20th
century and into 21st century.[6]
Future Prime Minister Winston Churchill opposed the bill. He stated that the bill would "appeal to
insular prejudice against foreigners, to racial prejudice against Jews, and to labour prejudice against
competition" and expressed himself in favour of "the old tolerant and generous practice of free entry
and asylum to which this country has so long adhered and from which it has so greatly gained". [9] On
31 May 1904, he crossed the floor, defecting from the Conservatives to sit as a member of the Liberal
Party in the House of Commons.[10]
Britain was more or less racially homogenous (except for Irish, Scottish, English, etc.), and although
there had been previous legislation with regard to Hugenots and Irish after the famine, Britain was
regarded as a place where people could migrate for new freedom and a fresh start (like modern-day
America). However, after persecution and marginalisation of Jews in the Russian Empire (where
around 5 million Jews lived), about half left (mostly for the US), but around 150,000 arrived in the
UK, mostly England. This reached its peak in the late 1890s, with "tens of thousands of Jews ...
mostly poor, semi-skilled and unskilled" settling in the East End of London.

By the turn of the century, amedia and public backlash had begun. The British Brothers' League was
formed, and antisemitism broke out into violence in South Wales in 1902 and 1903 where Jews were
assaulted. Aside from antisemitic sentiments, the act was also driven by the economic and social
unrest in the East End of London where most immigrants settled and were willing to work for less.
Work was difficult to come by and families required all members to contribute. There was also basic
xenophobia, e.g. fears of diseases, etc.

The 1905 Aliens Act was therefore essentially the first act which restricted immigration to a great
extent. Immigrants could be denied based on health reasons, or if they seemed unable to provide for
themselves. The only exception was for refugees – but this was often not enforced in practice. Most
people wanted this act to be more harsh, especially since it was a Conservative government.

The Downfall of the Conservatives: Tariff Reform

Tariffs are taxes on imported goods. Britain last had tariffs in the 1840s, on agricultural goods (e.g.
corn). However, Britain adopted a free-trade stance (due to British famine), and, since their free trade
stance coincided with their industrial expansion, many correlated free trade with prosperity and
growth. The Liberals were especial proponents of free trade.

However, Conservative landowners were unhappy. By the end of the 19th century, Britain felt itself
falling behind economically, as well as competition (e.g. Germany, US, Belgium, Japan, etc.).
Germany, for example, had very advanced social welfare system, the US had an advanced education
system, and both countries had tariffs. In the past, the US was forced to be economically dependent on
UK when it was a colony. When the US became an independent nation, Alexander Hamilton placed
tariffs on overseas goods and encourage Americans to produce goods themselves, or to use the tax
money from imports to stimulate the American economy and create American jobs. Germany did
something similar.

Joseph Chamberlain therefore proposed tariffs when he was Conservative colonial secretary.
Alongside the benefits experienced by other countries, he wanted to use the tariff tax money to
ameliorate poverty. This would avoid taxing the middle class and wealthy, who were conservative
voters.

Balfour’s Resignation
At the time, the frequency of elections was entirely called by the Prime Minister, within the seven-
year period of the previous election. The last election had been in 1900, so Balfour had until 1907.
However, Balfour just resigned in December 1905, declaring that he no longer wanted to govern.

However, because, unlike the US, there was no constitution, so if the government was dissolved like
that, the King would be responsible for forming the government (obviously not governing directly, but
asked the leader of the party with the next highest number of seats to form a government). Thus, the
King asked the Liberals under Campbell-Bannerman to form a government. At the time, Balfour’s
rationale was that because the Conservatives were in disarray, but the Liberals were worse. They were
divided over Ireland, imperialism, were inexperienced from a long time in government. He thought
the Liberals would fail catastrophically, and so in the next general election, the Conservatives would
win.
However, the Liberals united under free trade and formed a successful government. In January 1906,
Campbell-Bannerman called a general election.

The Lib-Lab Pact of 1903

In 1900, the Labour party was formed. It was mainly formed by trade unions, who were the labourers
– hence the labour party. It was supposed to be the party for the working man. In Britain, when you
vote in an election, you are voting for a local MP. A country is divided up into electoral constituencies
and each one will have on MP. Theoretically, each constituency in the country was supposed to
represent the same number of people. However, people move around a lot, so every 20 years the
electoral constituencies would be re-drawn.

The conservatives and liberals began to feel slightly worried about the Labour party because they
were afraid that they might capitalise on the working class discontent with the ruling parties.
However, this was not a huge concern since the labour party was only a fledgling one. In 1903, the
Liberals were afraid that traditionally Liberal voters would start voting Labour, benefiting the
Conservatives because the vote was split per constituency (bad in an FPP system) .

So, in the Lib-Lab pact of 1903, in 30 constituencies the Liberal Party said to the Labour party that
they would not run a candidate. This was in heavily industrial and poor areas. In exchange, in other
constituencies the Labour would not run at all, ensuring a Liberal-Conservative campaign. This
agreement lasted until 1917. (this was partly because the Labour party had only minimal resources).
Out of the 30 Labour-Conservative-only constituencies, the Labours party won 26 of them.

The Election of 1906

Liberals campaigned on tariff reform, trade unions, [nothing on Ireland], highlighting how they were
united when the Conservatives were not. Modern electioneering techniques, e.g. posters about tariff
reform, Chinese slavery, etc. Liberals won 400 seats, and the Conservatives won 157. However, via
percentage alone, 49% of voters voted Liberal, while 43% voted Conservative. In 1906, the
conservatives suffered their worst election result since 1832, when the Great Electoral Reform Act
was passed. Balfour, for example, lost the seat he’d held for 20 years in Manchester. To deal with this,
an MP in a Conservative safe seat would resign, and Balfour would run in the by-election.

The irish nationalists won 83 seats, Labour won 29 (26 because of the Lib-Lab pact). This would last
until 2 general elections in 1910. This was also the general election which was not dominated by
aristocrats.

Campbell Bannerman was Prime Minister

Hebert Asquith the Chancellor of the Exchequer
David Lloyd George in the Cabinet (President of the Board of Trade)

In 1908, Bannerman became ill, resigned, and Asquith became Prime Minister, and Lloyd George
became Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Winston Churchill became the President of the Board of
Trade.

This government will try to do a lot to solve the poverty situation. This government will begin a
system of social security, but this leads to increased taxes, which infuriated Ireland. Also, there were
campaigns for women’s votes, strikes (which led many to be afraid of an impending Communist
revolution).

New Liberalism – liberals justified these extensive reforms (so contrary to the traditionally laissez-
faire liberalist attitude), by saying that helping people was consistent with liberalism, because when
you have no rights or money, you’re not really free. Only by lifting them a certain height would
provide them with some freedom. Such ideas were called new Liberals.
David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill were newcomers to the political fray, so in the beginning,
they marketed themselves as great social reformers. Initially, there are not many reforms in 1906,
1907 and 1908, but when they began losing by-elections, they realised they needed to do something
different.

The first problems addressed by the liberals were those to do with child poverty. Although the
transition from liberalism to new liberalism was slow, but most liberals still believed that adults
should support children. Elementary education was compulsory, but many social reports and
individual teachers pointed out the problems of malnutrition, disease, and low attention spans. Thus,
an Education Act was passed in 1906, which stated that local authorities could provide free school
meals to needy children, to paid for with local taxes. The problem with this, was of course, that local
authorities didn’t need to, and the term “needy children” was very vague. So, by 1914, only half of all
local authorities were doing this, so in 1914, it became compulsory. A lot of parents also refused to
allow their children to receive these school meals, out of social stigma.
In mid-century Britain, free school meals were provided ot all children.

Liberals Reform

1906 Trade Disputes Act

“Provided picketing is peaceful, workers cannot be sued for damages”, in the vein of Taff Vale.
Wanting to counteract the influence of Labour over the British working class.

1907 education act, to do with healthcare, pre-NHS. This introduced a compulsory medical exam
each year. The education boards could provide medical treatment, but very few actually did so.
Building on this legislation in 1912, the government would have clinics in schools for treatment for
very basic things.

The children’s Act (or the Children’s Charter) of 1908 ensured that children tried criminally would
be tried in a juvenile rather than an adult criminal court. Instead of going to adult prisons, children
would be sent to borstals, where, although it was tough, you would be taught some professions. What
was also introduced was the illegality of selling cigarettes to children. You could, however, still sell
alcohol to children if it were a closed container. It also set limits on the number of hours children
could work. It also explicitly stated that parents were legally responsible for children’s proper
upbringing, i.e. parents could be jailed for negligence or abuse.

In 1908, it was mandatory for children to go to primary school, but secondary schools were either
private, or grammar schools set up by charities. However, the government offered money to private
schools to allow ¼ of places to be available for children who could not pay. However, some parents
still refused to send their children to grammar schools, because they wanted them to look after the
other siblings. This was especially the case for girls.

This was quite shocking and substantive departure from laissez-faire liberalism that British society
had previously been used to.

In 1908, the government passed the Old Age Pensions Act. Up until then, there had been no pensions.
The expectation was that you worked until you were too sick, or simply died.
Germany and ten other countries had them. However, at the time, it was challenging to decide who to
give pensions too, since elderly people had not yet contributed their life’s savings to the fund, yet
were eligible for the funds. So, the government determined that those over 70 would be eligible for a
pension (when the average person died at 55), if their income was below £31.50. The average working
class wage was £50. Even this, however, led a political explosion.

However, the Liberals believed that this pensions policy would win the Liberal Party back into
political favour, which Lloyd George claimed would save the Liberals from “electoral rot”. Lloyd
George, who was the Chancellor, received all the credit for this policy. However, he needed to find a
way to find this policy. Simultaneously, Britain was engaged in a naval arms race with Germany,
having recently created the Dreadnought. Lloyd George wanted to find the money to build 8 of these
Dreadnoughts.

National Insurance Act (1911)

Lloyd George
It dealt with health insurance and employment. The first part dealt with those who could not work due
to illness (but would return to work after recovery) – i.e. ‘sick pay’. The second part, to do with
unemployment. This covered all workers, from 60 to 70 (because pensions happened after 70),
provided that you earned less than £160 a year. If you were ill up to 26 weeks, you would receive
benefits, and healthcare. In exchange for this, employers would deduct tax money from the salaries of
their workers. Each employer would also have to pay unemployment insurance.

Unemployment benefits lasting for up to 15 weeks throughout the year (for those suffering from
cyclical unemployment), after which you would have to go to the workhouse. This scheme was
hugely popular. However, conservatives feared that the “work-shy”, and also the principle that money
would be taken away from the already poor to pay for the scheme. The left-wing criticism, however,
was that the coverage was not extensive enough.

Lloyd George wanted to extend coverage to include widows and orphans. However, in most people’s
minds, this was a significant positive.

1906 – Workman’s Compensation Act

This had existed since 1897, but this had only included some workers – now it would include all
workers. This simply dealt with compensation for injury in work, etc.

1908 – Coal Mines Act

It stated that miners could not work for more than 8 hours a day. This was the government had ever
intervened in the working hours of grown men. Naturally, liberals disliked this, because they felt that
this was not the function of the government, and that people should work for however long they
wished. Workers also feared that their pay would be cut, or not receive overtime.

1909 – Labour Exchanges

Job centres to help casual workers, where employers could advertise jobs and casual workers would
go to get them. There were 430 across the country by 1913. Some even advertised that all jobs should
be advertised there. To encourage the unemployed to find work, when the National Insurance scheme
was introduced in 1911, they linked the two, so you could go to the same place to receive benefits and
see what other jobs were available. Naturally, traditional liberals thought the government should not
interfere in business or employment.

1909 – Trade Boards Act (Churchill)

There was a prevalence of sweatshops in Britain, where workers were terribly exploited. This act dealt
with 4 of the worst kinds of industries employing sweatshop workers: tailoring, box-making, lace-
making, and chain-making. Together, 200,000 workers were employed in such industries, making a
pittance. The government started regulating these four industries: a worker could complain of unfair
treatment to a government board or committee, which might fine the business, etc. This would be
expanded as time went on.

1911 – Shops Act

For people who worked in stores, who entitled 6-day-workers to a half day holiday per week, as well
as a lunch break. However, workers mostly had to make up for the half-day holiday on the other days.

1912 – Minimum Wages Act

Focused on miners, because coal was so vital. More workers were coal miners than any other single
occupation. Very powerful trade unions, with large coal strikes in 1911 and 1912 over poor pay. The
government ended the strike by introducing a minimum wage for miners in 1912. Eventually all
workers in Britain would be given minimjm wages.

1913 – Trade Union’s Act

When you join a trade union, you have to pay membership fees, out of which a certain portion funds
the Labour Party – the political levy. A Liberal trade unionist named Osborne took this issue to court
in 1909, and the court decided in favour of him. Thus, it altered so that you had to deliberately sign a
document saying that you were willing for a percentage of incme to go to the Labour Party, which
many workers didn’t bother to sign, which hugely impacted Labour income. What the 1913 Act did
was make this an “opt out” scheme, i.e. the Labour Party would be percentage-funded, so long as the
worker explicitly decided otherwise.

House of Lords Crisis – 1908-1911

The two-chamber structure of the British Parliament meant that the House of Lords could
constitutionally block the legislation sent up to it by the House of Commons. However, it was only
Liberal measures which were rejected by the HoL. A striking example of this was Gladstone’s 1894
Home Rule Bill, which passed through Commons but then out of the Lords. As Britain became more
democratic, there were questions as to why an unelected assembly had the absolute right of bveto.

The House of Lords opposed Liberal reforms, because the HoL consisted of aristocrats and
Conservatives (predominantly). Thus, the House of Lords was reformed – but, obviously, the HoL did
not agree to these reforms. At the time, there were 459 Conservative peers.

By this time, convention had arisen that the House of Lords would not reject a bill approved by the
House of Commons provided it was a “money bill”.

In 1908, the House of Lords was opposed to the new pensions bill introduced by the government, but
since Lloyd George labelled it a “money bill”, they verbally opposed it, but allowed it.

(For context, between 1906 and 1909, 10 legislation pieces were rejected, with none rejected in the
duration of previous Conservative rule).

1910 Election

In 1909, Lloyd George introduced the “People’s Budget” – increase taxes on alcohol and tobacco,
which irked the people, as well as a road tax – which angered the rich. He also raised taxes on those
earning more than £3,000 a year (when the average earning was £50), and introduced the “super-tax”,
on those earning more than £5,000 a year. Then, he increased inheritance tax (which was introduced
in 1894).

The people’s budget was rejected by the House of Lords, which broke with precedent and tradition.
Lloyd George called the House of Lords Arthur Balfour’s Poodle. Asquith decided to call an election,
almost acting as a referendum to the issue. Asquith therefore named the election the “Peers vs People”
election, in January 1910. There was 87% voter turnout, and the liberals were reduced to 275 MPs,
with the Conservatives having 273 MPs, Labour 40 MPs, and the Irish Parliamentary Party (pro
Home Rule) had 82 MPs. This was a hung parliament, and Asquith approached Mr Edmund, leader of
the IPP, asking him to vote with him. Naturally, Edmund asked for Hoke Rule - but this was deeply
divisive issue in the Party. However, Asquith agreed. However, he understood that Home Rule would
be rejected by the House of Lords. Now, he realised that he had to reduce the power of the House of
Lords.
The Conservatives did not win the elections of 1910, and began turning against Balfour, especially
after the Parliament Act was signed. BMG began - Balfour must go. The new leader was called
Andrew Bonar Law, who was not an aristocrat. He was Secretary of State for the Colonies in
Asquith’s Coalition cabinet.

Ireland and Home Rule

Prior to 1800, Ireland was self-governing, with its own Parliament, but thereafter were governed by
Westminster. The majority were Catholic, and poor, but a minority were Protestant, and rich – who
owned most of the land, while the Catholics were landless. The Catholics were discriminated against.
Then there was famine. Thus, there was a large movement in Ireland for Home Rule.

This had failed twice in Parliament, but there was a third attempt in 1910-14 for this to happen. As the
Home Rule movement grew in the 19th century, one of the things that grew alongside it was the rise of
Irish nationalism – language, Irish sport, etc.

Sinn Fein vs H. R., the latter of which was dominant – until the First World War. The pro-Home Rule
party was the Irish Parliamentary Party, under John Redmond. After the elections of 1910, Asquith
approached Redmond for support – to which Redmond agreed, on the condition of Home Rule.

However, Asquith had neglected that a minority of Protestants in the North East of Ireland were not in
favour of Home Rule. This put them into huge sympathy with the Conservatives. Northern Ireland
created its own army

90% of the Irish were Roman Catholic, but 10% were Protestant (during the time of Oliver Cromwell,
some Scottish protestants were moved there to make Ireland easier to administrate).

The Catholic South was largely agricultural, but Ulster (especially Belfast) were wealthy and
intertwined with Britain and the Empire due to its port proximity. Ulster had a safety net in the form
of the House of Lords. However, now they realised that Asquith would introduce it for self-interested
political reasons – and they had to place it their own hands. Ulster Unionists began start preparing to
resist home rule.

Ulster Covenant, 1912. In response, the Irish Catholics set up their own military.

New Prime Minister, Bonar Law, who was rabidly opposed to Home Rule, since he had most of his
childhood in Ulster, and thought of Asquith-Redmond’s deal as a corrupt.

Irish Partition: “If home rule is passed, how will Ireland be split?” The South, however, was opposed
– because Ireland ought to be indivisible (and because of the economic strength of the Northeast).

Curragh Mutiny: there were British barracks outside Dublin. Many were thinking that, when Home
Rule passed, they might be forced to go into Ulster, against their fellow citizens, who didn’t want it.
60 of the Third cavalry Regiment decided they would rather resign than do this. Asquith then began to
doubt if he was able to send the army into Ireland, or anywhere else (e.g. next war with Germany),
which he found hugely unsettling. This was happening alongside the suffragettes, strikes, etc. In April,
at Larne, Ulster, 40,000 rifles, and 3 million rounds of ammunition were smuggled in. In July,
something similar happened in Howth, when the police intervened, people threw stones, the police
fired at them, killed 3 people and wounded 38. King George V organised a conference to sort this out,
which failed.
What they agreed, it was agreed that Home Rule would not be passed until after WWI, but everyone
assumed that this would be by the end of the year. John Redmond, leader of the IPP, said to the people
of Ireland – be loyal and fight for the country. He wanted Home Rule to be passed legally, and knew
Home Rule was on the horizon. So, 90% of the Irish volunteers fought for Great Britain, and 100% of
the Ulster volunteers. However, because, Irish feeling against Britain after WWI was very strong,
these IV did not come home as heroes, nor were they memorialised. Also, the 10% of IV who refused
would cause problems. The Ulster Volunteers were decimated on the first day of the Somme. The
people of Ireland, felt deeply angry because their people were being slaughtered by English generals,
yet not getting Home Rule. In 1915, a coalition is formed to fight the war. Bonar Law, as leader of the
conservatives, joins this coalition. This deeply concerned the Irish (because Conservatives were the
enemies of the people). They asked John Redmond to join the Cabinet, but Redmond refused – he said
that he would only join the cabinet AFTER home rule was implemented. This was a major mistake.

The 10% of the IV who did not fight in the war renamed themselves as the Irish Republican
Brotherhood (later the IRA). The IRB wanted to start a revolution in Ireland.- namely in the Easter
Rising of 1916. The IRB tried taking various buildings, but they only took the Post Office in Dublin.
What they hoped was that the people of Dublin would rise up in the support of them, and then the
other Irish people. However, this didn’t happen. The British just shot the hell out of them with
warships. Although this was a humiliating failure, it was a great symbolic victory for the Irish.
However, Britain’s response was a deep mistake. Their heavyhanded response was incredibly
unpopular, and alienated the Irish so that they not only wanted Home Rule, but wanted independence.
Martial Law introduced in Ireland – as if the whole island had participated in the uprising. Thousands
who were considered to be “politically suspect” were arrested and deported to Britain.

The British discovered who the 15 ringleaders of the uprising were, and executed them by firing
squad. One person was dying anyway, but they too him half-conscious out of the hospital and simply
shot him. There was a lot of anger against this in the Irish, both domestically and internationally – for
example, many irish in the us were appalled and this hindered their involvement in WW1.
Increase in support for Sinn Fein, decline in support for Home Rule.

In May after the Easter Rising, Britain introduced conscription. Ireland was exempt, however. The
UK government aso illegalised Sinn Fein, games of football, etc. In the election of 1918 after the war,
Sinn Fein wins most of the votes (more than a quarter of the candidates were in prison from the Easter
Rising). They therefore declared themselves the official government of Ireland.

Female Suffrage
Suffrage Campaign

Before that, all of the property owned by a woman before she married would be owned by her
husband. Also, custody of children ALWAYS went to the father. Women couldn’t go to universities
(they could sit in lectures, but could not obtain a degree). They could not have professional careers,
like doctors or lawyers. They could not sit in juries - very damaging, for example, in rape cases. They
could not, of course, vote or become MPs. They had tried to change this since the end of the 18th
century. First female doctors began in 1870s - but they had to go to Edinburgh because English
universities did not let them graduate. A few laws in the 1880s allowed women to keep their property
after marriage, and keep their children if they were not the faulty party. They were also allowed to
vote in local elections. Also, overseas, eg New Zealand, were allowed to vote nationally.

The vote was seen as an exchange for the government right to conscript. Before 1872, there were no
secret ballots, and elections were often chaotic, disordered affairs. Therefore, it was argued that
elections were unsafe for women. Politicians were also unsure as to what party women would vote
for.
Most female suffrage campaigners were middle or upper class. Eventually, two pressure groups
emerged – NUWSS (National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, under Millicent Fawcett, of
suffragists, established in 1897) and the more radical WSPU (Women Social and Political Union and
suffragettes, led by the Pankhursts, established in 1903). The suffragists did most of the work. They
campaigned non-violently or “constitutionally”, as they suggested. The historian Martin Pugh argued
that by 1906, the majority of MPs had been won over to the idea of votes for women – but the House
of Lords Crisis intervened, social reform, etc. Thus, the suffragists were largely successful. However,
this change didn’t happen. The WSPU were more focused on the way the vote could change the lives
of women and society (rather than the principle of equality, as the NUWSS), and were frustrated by
the lack of progress, and turnig more radical. They heckled political leaders and disrupted meetings
(considered unladylike), and the police would drag them out, and they would spit at the policemen,
and would then get arrested. However, from 1909 they started smashing windows, chaining
themselves to the railings outside Downing Street and Buckingham Palace.

In 1912, however, there was a turning point. Previously, plural voting was used (where voting was
allocated depending on how many houses you had). In the bill to abolish this, the Liberals tried to
amend it to include women’s votes, but this was voted out – so neither plural voting nor female
suffrage were achieved. Thus, the WSPU began to set fire to postboxes, etc. and this turned the
Liberal government and public opinion against them. The suffragettes went on hunger strike – but the
government didn’t want women to die in prison, so force-fed them. This was bad publicity.

As a result, the government passed the Cat and Mouse Act (the prisoners act of 1913) allowed the
prisoners to be released on licence as soon as the hunger strike affected their health; they then had a
predetermined period of time in which to recover after which they were rearrested and taken back to
prison to serve out the rest of their sentence.

However – importantly! – when WWI broke out, the WSPU did everything to present itself as
patriotic as possible, in favour of the war effort, and mobilise women in favour of the war.

Votes for women – when the Liberals called an election in 1918, they realised that the residency
requirement (needing to live in a constituency for a year) wouldn’t allow many war veterans to vote.
In addition to this, they decided to add on votes for women. However, this measure said that all men
could vote – and women who were over 30 could vote (because women were flighty and hysterical)
and had to pay a certain amount of rent or own a certain amount of property..

The first trade unions were for skilled workers. These skilled workers felt threatened by automation,
so banded together. They nicknamed themselves the New Model Unions. They were quite
conservative – believed in capitalism, didn’t strike unless as a last resort, etc. By 1875, it was legal to
have trade unions, and it was legal to go out on strike (i.e. you could go out and not lose your job).
These reforms were introduced by the Conservatives.

However, unskilled labourers felt disenfranchised – but were increasingly becoming literate – so,
from the 1880s, trade unions for unskilled workers were formed. This was called New Unionism.
These unions are more likely to go on strike, more violence, more radical, keener on socialism. These
really concerned the employers and government, who were afraid of revolution. In the 1880s, many
unions striking got pay raises, which encouraged their setup even more.

They also wanted to achieve the “closed shop” – that employers could only hire someone who was
already part of the trade union. Karl Marx wrote that the workers could only succeed with a change of
mindset – that everyone like them is in the same boat, and they must act together. Marx said this was
very difficult, because the system was designed to introduce competition between the workers. He
called the unity between workers “working class solidarity”. Employers naturally did not like trade
unionism. So in the late 19th and early 20th century, courts make a series of rulings AGAINST trade
unions.

Taff Vale, 1901. 1899, Lyons vs Wilkins, declared that workers could not picket. This emant that
employers could hire other workers to immediately replace striking workers. This enraged trade
unions. This convinced trade unions that they needed to be in power to change the laws.

Osborne Judgement of 1909 – he opposed a portion of his trade union fees going to the Labour Party
(the political levy). The court rule in favour of Osborne, where the money was “opt-in”. The Liberal
Government reverses this in the Trade Unions of 1913, to make it “opt-out”. They did this to curry
favour with the unions. This demonstrated the strength of the trade unions.

The Labour Party would not have been created if the Liberals and Conservatives had been responsive
enough to the needs of the workers. The Secret Ballot was introduced in Britain.

Working class people were previously implicitly barred from being MPs by the pay. Some, however,
were paid by the Liberals to be MPs (before the creation of the Labour party in 1900), and were
known as “Lib-Labs”.

The Labour Paryt is an amalgamation of various groups: the SDF, which was the Social Democratic
Federation. This is the most left-wing of the groups – they wanted revolution and Communism, with
violence if necessary. There were also the Fabians, whow anted to persuade the British public to the
evils of capitalism. This, they called “gradual permeation”. In 1893, Keir Hardie established the ILP.
He understood that there needed to be an independent working-class party, and wanted greater reform
via elections.

The Trade Unions Congress decided to unite and work together in 1903. At first, the Labour Party
called itself the LRC (the Labour Representation Committee).

World War One

Asquith, leader of the Liberals, Bonar Law, leader of the Conservatives, and Redmond, leader of the
IPP, all lost a son in WWI. They decided that general elections would not occur until the war was
over. By 1918, they were planning the war to continue in 1919 and 1920 – they didn’t expect that it
would end early. America would still have elections every four years. In the UK, no elections was far
political stability. Also, this might dissuade MPs from going off to war (because they would be away
and therefore unable to campaign). Asquith would be blamed for the war not ending by Christmas,
which everyone believed would happen. However, it continued with no sign of victory. Asquith was
blamed for this, and this was the last Liberal government.

All cabinet ministers were liberals. Some Liberals were pacifists – there were a few prominent MPs
who resigned when war was declared. However, most went into WWI. Britain was mostly united for
WWI. In 1916, some Liberals and Conservatives joined together to kick Asquith out, claiming Britain
would lose the war with him.

Ultimately, the government had a new wartime economy plan: e.g. the government would pay
saucepan factories to make rifles. Most businesses agreed because they were paid a lot. The
government took over the railways. Britain went into the first world war with a volunteer army – by
1916, the volunteers were mostly dead, so conscription was introduced. By 1916, factory workers
were ordered to work in factories very very far away. Coal miners were exempt from conscription. If
it hadn’t done this, it might not have won the war.

However, at the beginning of the war, Asquith and others saw no need to take over the economy like
this. They thought Britain could cope. Churchill accused Asquith of having a “business as usual”
attitude. The public wanted Asquith to do more, which he did try to do – filling in the gaps,
responding to complaints. However, he did it too slowly and too late. Similarly, he had a very
traditional view of war – so he delegated military affairs to the generals and military, as he was only a
politician. However, because of Asquith’s economy policy, the economy began lagging behind
relative to demand.

The British and French were making lots of mistakes – huge casualties without victory. However, the
generals were taking a “war of attrition” approach – which was very unpopular with the public. He
kept decision making in wra the same as in peace – he had a cabinet of 24 people, with cabinet
unanimity, which took a very long time. However, from 1915 onwards, the Conservatives started
criticising Asquith. Various articles on Asquith were published, which were deeply critical of him. The
Shell Scandal of 1915 spring – it was publicised that the shells that Britain received were duds (1 in
every 3) or didn’t explode at the right time. Even those, however, were not enough. The Battle of
Gallipoli. Asqutih was attacked the whole time – he understood the precariousness of his situation so
in May 1915, he resigned his government and stayed as Prime Minister of a Coalition Government,
bringing in the Conservatives, Labour, etc – so these opposition parties would not criticise him. So,
the last Liberal government in the UK ended in May 1915. Asquith had a cabinet of 12 liberals, 5
Tories, and 1 Labour (first ever cabinet with labour!). The Conservatives agreed to this because they
understood the Liberals would take the blame for wwi if it went badly.

May 1915 – at the same time Asquith’s reputation deteriorates, Lloyd George’s ascends. Lloyd
George was a working-class Welshman. Lloyd George became Minister of Munitions in Asquith’s
coalition cabinet. He wanted to rally the country’s economy for war, like Asquith was, except more
slowly. Lloyd George transformed the situation so the army was no longer complaining about
munitions. This became very important in the long-run, but not immediate military benefit. In 1916,
Britain went through the Battle of the Somme. Lots of attacks in the press against Asquith – but not
Lloyd George, and they began wondering how it would be if he were Prime Minister. Many
Conservaties were fed up with Asquith, and Lloyd George was also fed up with him. Thus, Lloyd
George and the Conservatives worked together to oust Asquith, so LG led a new coalition cabinet.
Lloyd George, however, argued that under Asquith the war would be lost to Germany, so he was
acting in the interests of the nature.

Lloyd George said to Asquith that wartime decisions needed to be made a lot more quickly – and
suggested having a very small cabinet with just 4 people. At this point, Asquith was drinking quite
heavily because his son had been killed. Perrier-Jouet was the brand of champagne Asquith liked –
and this was a nickname for him. Lloyd George told him that Asquith should not be part of this
cabinet – so that Asquith would serve as Prime Minsiter, without being responsible for much decision-
making. Asquith rejected this. LG then said to Asquith that he would resign if Asqutih didn’t accept
the proposal. The Conservatives added that if LG resigned, all Conservatives would leave the
coalition. So, on the 5th December, 1916, Asquith (also nicknamed Old Squiffy) resigned. Bonar Law
still did not want to be Prime Minister (in case he was blamed for failings in the war) so he told LG to
become Prime Minsiter. When LG took power as Prime Minsiter, it was a Coalition – however, only
half of the Liberal Party went into the coalition. The other half, Asqutiha and his supporters, refused
to be in it. Because of the absence of these Liberals, the Conservatives were the majority of this
coalition – so many Liberals criticised this. After the war ended, LG kept the coalition going into
peacetime in 1922, after which the Conservatives, disillusioned and disappointed with LG, kicked him
out. At the moment when the Liberal Party was collapsing, the Liberal Party was becoming very
strong. The First World War was effectively a catastrophe of the Liberal party.
The Liberals struggled ideologically with war. Individualism, free trade, rights, etc. were all
abandoned during war. E.g. virtually nationalising businesses. DORA gave the parliament whatever
liberty it wanted for the national good related to the war. There was heavy censorship, which was
exceptionally illiberal. Rationing was also illiberal. There were limits on the hours of pub openings,
and what they drank (to prevent factory workers from being too drink). Beer was watered down. The
ultimate illiberal act was conscription and bringing men to die. Thus, Liberalism as an ideology was
destroyed.