Competing views on Britain’s National Health Service

Larkin Walters 20070563

Dr. Chris Kempshall

HIST 289

04 March 2021
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The Second World War left Britain in a state of ruin. Significant parts of the country

were destroyed and damaged due to the lengthy German bombing campaigns. The destruction of

the bombings can be viewed on a bomb census1,which provides the location of every bomb that

was dropped in London during the Blitz. The country was seeing high rates of unemployment,

child mortality and housing issues 2something needed to be done. As Sir William Beveridge

wrote “a revolutionary moment in the world’s history is a time for revolution”3. A fundamental

component of the rebuilding process was the creation of a welfare state that was proposed in the

Beveridge Report. In 1945 as World War Two was coming to an end, a national election was

held resulting in a landslide victory for the Labour Party. The Labour Party utilized the

Beveridge report as a blueprint to build their manifesto. It was clear that the British people

wanted a change and the Labour party offered a vision of a new Britain; a country that had better

housing, full employment and free healthcare. Despite the apparent need for a Health service, the

idea was something that was not shared by all. Specifically, this essay will examine those who

were opposed to the National Health Service, the welfare state and the competing views of its

creation. This will be achieved through an examination of the public's popular support of a

National Health Service, as evidenced through various Mass Observation file reports.

Additionally, I will use political cartoons and newspaper articles to explore the British Medical

Association’s resistance towards the proposed National Health Service. As well as looking at

1
“Technical overview of the Android mobile application,” Bomb Sight, 17 November 2012,
http://bombsight.org
2
Ian MacMillan, The NHS: A Difficult Beginning, Narrated by Imelda Staunton, Produced by
Mark Hayhurst (2009; London, BBC), YouTube video.
3
Anthony Skillen, Welfare State Versus Welfare Society? (1985), 3-17.
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primary source considerations and the writings of Joan C. Brown, specifically her work on the

five giant evils of the British society.

Despite all the opposing views, the people of Britain rallied behind the idea of the National

Health Service to help it come to fruition.

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Bibliography

Brown, Joan C. “Poverty in Post-War Britain.” In Understanding Post-War British Society

Obelkevich, James and Catterall, Peters (Eds), 116-127, London, Routledge, 1994.

MacMillan, Ian. THE NHS: A Difficult Beginning. Narrated by Imelda Staunton,

Produced by Mark Hayhurst. 2009; London, BBC. YouTube video.

Skillen, Anthony. “Welfare State Versus Welfare Society?.” In Journal of Applied Philosophy 2.
3-17, 1985.

“Technical overview of the Android mobile application.” Bomb Sight. 17 November 2012.
http://bombsight.org