Britain 1851-1951

Britain 1851-1951

Reasons for social reforms

Reasons for reforms • LEARNING INTENTIONS • Describe reasons that the Liberal government introduced various social reforms • Social campaigners (Booth and Rowntree) • National security / threat of war • New Liberalism • Rise of the Labour Party • Municipal socialism • National efficiency • Other countries’ influence

Liberal Social Reforms The Liberal Reforms marked a huge change in British society. The end of ‘laissez faire’ meant that the government would now play a big role in people’s lives. But why did this happen?

Social campaigners

Reasons for reforms The deserving poor Before the twentieth century, many people’s attitude to the poor was that it was their own fault. As a result, the government did little or nothing to help them. The very poor had to rely on charity to meet their basic needs. But this began to change in the late-1800s; the ‘deserving poor’ were born.

Reasons for reforms Booth and Rowntree Most middle and upper class people in Britain had no idea what life was like for the very poorest in society. Two famous reports helped change this. Charles Booth, a London businessman, did not believe that extreme poverty existed in the capital city. He carried out an investigation to prove this.

Reasons for reforms Booth’s findings In fact it was Booth who was surprised; not only did extreme poverty exist in London, it was worse than anyone had imagined. Booth carried out his reports between 1889 and 1903. He warned that if people’s lives were not improved, a revolution might occur.

Reasons for reforms “Few of the 200 families who lived there occupied more than one room. 15 rooms out of 20 were filthy to the last degree. Not a room was free of vermin (mice or lice). The little yard at the back was only sufficient for a dust bin, toilet and water tap, which served 7 families.” Excerpt from one of Charles Booth’s reports

Reasons for reforms The Chocolate Kings Many of Britain’s most famous sweets and chocolates came from the Rowntree family in York, including Kit Kats, Jelly Tots and Fruit Pastilles. The Rowntree Family also helped show Victorian Britain just how bad poverty was.

Reasons for reforms Joseph Rowntree Joseph Rowntree was the owner of the world famous Rowntree factory in York. Although very rich he believed in treating his workers fairly, offering benefits such as education, medical help and pensions. He inspired his son’s interest in these issues too.

Reasons for reforms Seebohm Rowntree Seebohm was influenced by his father Joseph and Charles Booth and conducted a study into poverty in his home town of York. His study found that 30% of people lived in extreme poverty. In particular he recognised that poverty was often not the fault of those living in it.

Reasons for reforms Primary Poverty Primary poverty meant that some families – regardless of how they spent their money – could not afford the minimum amount needed to live on. The publicity this created helped persuade the Liberal government of the need to take action.

Reasons for reforms Secondary poverty However Rowntree’s report also gave people opposed to helping the poor an excuse not to do so. He talked about secondary poverty – this meant that a poor family had just enough money to live on but wasted it on luxuries such as alcohol or cigarettes. Some said this made it their fault.

Reasons for reforms Not the end of poverty Ultimately social campaigners did raise awareness of poverty, but not enough to end the problem. Many people continued to live very poor lives, and the maximum pension was still below the amount needed to achieve a decent standard of living.

National security

Reasons for reforms The Boer War In the late-1800s Britain was still very much the head of an empire which spanned all across the world. As a result it would periodically find itself involved in wars and needing men to join the armed forces. A conflict in South Africa created a real worry for Britain.

Reasons for reforms The Boer War In 1899 Britain began fighting a war against the South African Boers. Britain still had a volunteer army and 25% of people who tried to join the army were rejected because they were not fit enough. The number was even higher for recruits from industrial cities.

Reasons for reforms The Arms Race At this time, Britain was not the only country in with a strong military and desire to control parts of the world. Germany was arming itself and there was a fear that war may soon come. If Britain did not have the soldiers to fight South African farmers, what hope had they against Germany?

Reasons for reforms Fighting fit for Britain In 1904, two reports showed that all across Britain many adult males were not fit enough to fight because of their poor living and working conditions. Improving living conditions was not just about helping the poorest in society, it was about protecting Great Britain.

Reasons for reforms Reforms for war? Many of the Liberal reforms were aimed at people who would be the right age to fight if war with Germany came (School Meals, Health Inspections, etc). However a great many reforms, including Old Age Pensions, would not have helped win a war, suggesting national security was not the only consideration.

Reasons for reforms Poverty not dreadnoughts It can also be argued that the reforms partly undermined Britain’s war preparations. Spending money on social policies took money from military spending, just as the arms race was increasing such as the building of Dreadnoughts.

New Liberalism

Reasons for reforms The Liberal Party In the late-1800s there were two major political parties in British politics – the Conservatives and the Liberals. The Liberals were generally the party most likely to gain working class support. However many of their members and MPs did not favour changing the government’s laissez faire approach to poverty.

Reasons for reforms The New Liberals Therefore another reason for reform was that new Liberals – with very different opinions – took over the government. Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman – an ‘Old Liberal’ - died in 1908 and was replaced by Herbert Asquith. He gave jobs to people supportive of reforms, such as DavidLloyd George.

Reasons for reforms David Lloyd George Lloyd George’s father was a teacher but died when his son was young. This forced his family to move and gave him an insight into the problems many people in Britain had to face. Lloyd George trained as a lawyer before eventually getting involved in, firstly local politics, and then national politics.

Reasons for reforms The People’s Budget Lloyd George introduced the People’s Budget in 1909. This aimed to raise money from the wealthy to tackle poverty and fund welfare reform. The Budget was stopped by the House of Lords. This lead to two General Elections in 1910 and then the 1911 Parliament Act, which reduced the Lords’ power.

Reasons for reforms The New Liberals It is unfairto suggest that the only reason the Liberals backed social reforms was due to political advantage. Lloyd George and others – some of whom had lived poor lives - genuinely felt that society should be fairer, and that Britain would be more prosperous and strong if this happened.

Reasons for reforms The New Liberals Lloyd George and other New Liberals were influential – but not all Liberal MPs agreed with their opinions. Many of these MPs had been elected long before 1906 and had not supported taking action to improve working class lives, until the rise of Labour forced them to do so.

Reasons for reforms A new party In 1906 the Labour Party were a new political party and not hugely influential; working class parties had not been successful in previous national elections. Many Liberals would not have believed that they were going to lose supporters to Labour, making this less of a reason for the introduction of the reforms.

Reasons for reforms Working with Labour However the Liberals clearly recognised Labour as a threat. In 1903 they formed a pact with Labour to not stand a Liberal candidate in areas with a high working class vote. This suggests that the Liberals knew that Labour could challenge them, and cost them votes.

Rise of the Labour Party

Reasons for reforms Working class votes The Reform Acts of 1832, 1867 and 1884 had made big changes to British politics. Working class men that could now vote demanded that politicians listened to them. This meant dealing with the poor’s concerns – even if the party did not genuinely support this (political advantage).

Reasons for reforms Working class groups In the late-1800s, different political groups were set up to represent working class interests. This included the Independent Labour Party, the Social Democratic Federation and the Fabian Society. In 1900, these groups worked together to form the Labour Representation Committee.

Reasons for reforms The Labour Party The establishment of the Labour Representation Committee gave working class men their own authentic voice. The Labour Party (as it became in 1906) offered a variety of policies aimed to attract working class support, including better housing, equal votes, more jobs and an eight-hour working day.

Reasons for reforms The Labour Party Labour’s rise led to Liberal worries. The Liberals usually attracted working class votes, so a working class party could take away a lot of their support The need to keep working class votes may have forced the Liberals to back social reforms.

Reasons for reforms 1906 Manifesto However it is too simple to say that the Liberals only brought in reforms to beat Labour. One major point to consider is that in the 1906 General Election the Liberal manifesto makes almost no mention of social reforms. This suggests the issue is of limited importance.

Reasons for reforms Local policies Labour representatives were elected to local councils across Britain, notably West Ham in London which in 1898 became the first Labour-run council. Labour’s actions gained them more support from the working class, which forced the Liberals to follow their example and introduce various reforms.

Reasons for reforms Liberals’ local policies However it is wrong to claim that only Labour was taking local action to improve the lives of working class Britons. Many Liberal-controlled councils across Britain had also taken actions which aimed to tackle poverty, including introducing free school meals.

Municipal socialism

Reasons for reforms Municipal socialism Socialism was the belief in economic equality, meaning the rich should pay to help the poor. Although most help for poor people came from charities, from the 1850s onwards other changes began to be made by local and national governments, particularly by local (municipal) government.

Reasons for reforms Local social reforms Local government across Britain began spending local taxpayers’ money on social reforms which improved many lives. By the 1860s in Glasgow, the Council controlled city lighting and the water supply. A new pipeline from Loch Katrine brought clean water to parts of the city that had never enjoyed this before.

Reasons for reforms Government intervention These changes happened across Britain. Some councils provided better water; others chose to spend money on free school meals for poor children. The success of these reforms – by Labour and Liberal councils – helped show how government could improve people’s lives.

Reasons for reforms Delay national action? ‘Municipal socialism’ certainly helped show what government could achieve. Although it could be argued it delayed national action by giving small help in areas which needed it most. In addition not all local councils participated in these social reforms, meaning that their impact was limited.

Reasons for reforms Limited reforms Furthermore, the Liberal reforms often did not go far enough to copy what had been done in local areas. For example, free school meals had been tried in different areas. However the initial School Meals Act only gave councils the option to do it, they did not make it compulsory.

National efficiency

Reasons for reforms Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution may have its origins in Britain – but other parts of the world were fast catching up. Britain still lead the world in manufacturing – including goods such as jute and ships – but this could change, meaning Britain would lose power and influence.

Reasons for reforms The USA and Germany In particular, worried looks were going towards Germany and the United States of America. Both those countries had strong workforces (although they also had poverty problems too). If they caught up with Britain, they could take over its role as the world’s major power.

Reasons for reforms Germany’s success Poverty existed all around the world – but Germany had taken action to fix this. Germany had already introduced benefits including pensions as long ago as the 1880s. Britain needed to do the same too if it was going to compete with them (both economically and militarily).

Britain 1851-1951