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Philip Snowden: The First Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer

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Wilson's government in 1969 proposed a series of reforms to the legal basis for industrial relations (labour law) in the UK, which were outlined in a White Paper entitled " In Place of Strife", which proposed to give trade unions statutory rights, but also to limit their power. The White Paper was championed by Wilson and Barbara Castle. The proposals however faced stiff opposition from the Trades Union Congress, and some key cabinet ministers such as James Callaghan. Francis (1995) argues there was consensus both in the Labour's national executive committee and at party conferences on a definition of socialism that stressed moral improvement as well as material improvement. The Attlee government was committed to rebuilding British society as an ethical commonwealth, using public ownership and controls to abolish extremes of wealth and poverty. Labour's ideology contrasted sharply with the contemporary Conservative Party's defence of individualism, inherited privileges, and income inequality. [79] The party in Scotland suffered the breakaway of two MPs into the Scottish Labour Party (SLP). Whilst ultimately the SLP proved no real threat to the Labour Party's strong Scottish electoral base it did show that the issue of Scottish devolution was becoming increasingly contentious, especially after the discovery of North Sea Oil.

During the war years, the Labour Party was continuously active (with some success) in pushing for better arrangements of housing and billeting both of evacuees and of workers transferred for war services to already congested industrial areas, for fair systems of food rationing and distribution, for more effective control of prices, and for improvements in service pay and allowances. Labour also pressed hard for better provisions for the victims of air warfare, for more and better civic and industrial restaurants and canteens, and for war-time nurseries for the children of female workers. [18] In the 2010 general election on 6 May that year, Labour with 29.0% of the vote won the second largest number of seats (258). The Conservatives with 36.5% of the vote won the largest number of seats (307), but no party had an overall majority, meaning that Labour could still remain in power if they managed to form a coalition with at least one smaller party. [169] However, the Labour Party would have had to form a coalition with more than one other smaller party to gain an overall majority; anything less would result in a minority government. [170] On 10 May 2010, after talks to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats broke down, Gordon Brown announced his intention to stand down as Leader before the Labour Party Conference but a day later resigned as both Prime Minister and party leader. [171] 2010–present: Return to opposition and internal conflict [ edit ] Mark Drakeford is the current First Minister of Wales, since 13 December 2018 With the Liberals in disarray Labour won 142 seats in 1922, making it the second largest political group in the House of Commons and the official opposition to the Conservative government. After the election the now-rehabilitated Ramsay MacDonald was voted the first official leader of the Labour Party. The 1960s Labour government had a different emphasis from its 1940s predecessor. Harold Wilson put faith in economic planning as a way to solve Britain's economic problems. Wilson famously referred to the "white heat of technology", referring to the modernisation of British industry. This was to be achieved through the swift adoption of new technology, aided by government-funded infrastructure improvements and the creation of large high-tech public sector corporations guided by a Ministry of Technology. Economic planning through the new Department of Economic Affairs was to improve the trade balance, [13] whilst Labour carefully targeted taxation aimed at "luxury" goods and services.Labour returned with a 179-seat majority in the 1997 general election under the leadership of Tony Blair. The party's large majority in the House of Commons was slightly reduced to 167 in the 2001 general election and more substantially reduced to 66 in the 2005 general election. Under Gordon Brown, it was defeated in the 2010 general election, becoming the opposition to a Conservative/Liberal-Democrat coalition. After further losses in the 2015 general election, party leader Ed Miliband resigned with the party in opposition to a Conservative majority government under David Cameron. The Conservatives would lose their majority in 2017 but Labour would remain in opposition against a Second May ministry with a Confidence and supply agreement. The 2019 United Kingdom general election would be Labour's fourth defeat since power resulting in the First Johnson ministry majority followed by the end of the Labour Party leadership of Jeremy Corbyn. a b c d e f g h i j The Labour Party: A Centenary History edited by Brian Brivati and Richard Hefferman From the outset, it was clearly a well-received change, as Labour's 14-point lead in the November 1990 "Poll of Polls" was replaced by an 8% Tory lead a month later. The Poplar Guardians justified the generous scales of relief they paid out, together with their abandonment of principles of less eligibility in terms of a politics of redistribution of the financial burden of unemployment, stating that A perceived turning point was when Tony Blair controversially allied himself with US President George W. Bush in supporting the Iraq War, which caused him to lose much of his political support. [161] The UN Secretary-General, among many, considered the war illegal. [162] The Iraq War was deeply unpopular in most western countries, with Western governments divided in their support [163] and under pressure from worldwide popular protests. At the 2005 election, Labour was re-elected for a third term, but with a reduced majority of 66. The decisions that led up to the Iraq war and its subsequent conduct are currently the subject of Sir John Chilcot's Iraq Inquiry.

When the Conservative government of Harold Macmillan attempted to take Britain into the European Communities in 1962, Gaitskell alienated some of his supporters by his opposition to British membership. In a speech to the party conference in October 1962 Gaitskell claimed that EEC membership would mean "the end of Britain as an independent European state. I make no apology for repeating it. It means the end of a thousand years of history".

Philip Snowden

The 1970s saw tensions re-emerge between Labour's left and right wings, [13] which eventually caused a catastrophic split in the party in the 1980s and the formation of the Social Democratic Party. Following the perceived disappointments of the 1960s Labour government and the failures of the 'revisionist' right, the left of the party under Tony Benn and Michael Foot became increasingly influential during the early 1970s. [108] Labour's influence in the passage of the Liberal welfare reforms was the result of an informal Labour-Liberal alliance that was established in the run up to the general election of 1906. The Labour and Liberal parties reached agreement to accommodate each other's candidates. The Liberals, who were eager to cut deadweight electoral losses to the Conservatives, arrived at a list of 30 constituencies in which they would "stand down", thereby giving the LRC free run against Conservatives in exchange for some sway over LRC campaign planks. Winning 25 out of the 30 seats in question, Labour helped H. H. Asquith's government pass Britain's first national pension law in 1908 and, after extended collaboration in the election of 1910, the National Insurance Act 1911 providing National Insurance for both health and unemployment. [19] Labour was also successful in amending the Workmen's Compensation Act 1906 by the time of its implementation, such as in its level of coverage. [20] Early years and the rise of the Labour Party [ edit ] Frank Bealey, "The Electoral Arrangement between the Labour Representation Committee and the Liberal Party," Journal of Modern History 28#4 (1956), pp. 353–373 in JSTOR As observed by Kenneth O. Morgan, "Labour ministers were uniquely associated with the triumphs on the home front." Herbert Morrison at the Home Office, assisted by his friend Ellen Wilkinson, was noted for his effective involvement in home defence and presiding over the repairs carried out on major cities affected by the Blitz. [64] Arthur Greenwood, in his capacity as minister without portfolio, commissioned the Beveridge Report which would lay the foundations for the post-war British welfare state. [65] For those in rural areas, Labour in the wartime coalition government was successful in raising unemployment benefits for agricultural workers to a maximum of 41s per week and in introducing a new national minimum wage of 43s. [66] In the decade following the Second World War, Labour councils played an important part in the housing reconstruction that followed the end of the conflict, and stood as important players in the reconstruction of housing and city centres. In Newcastle, under the leadership of the visionary but corrupt T. Dan Smith, an accelerated "modernisation" of the city took place, as characterised by an ambitious programme of road construction and public building and the replacement of slum terraces with new innovative estates such as the Byker "wall." [3]

The perceived relaxed attitude of Callaghan to the crisis reflected badly upon public opinion of the government's ability to run the country. After the withdrawal of SNP support for the government, the Conservatives put down a vote of no confidence, which was held and passed by one vote on 28 March 1979, forcing a general election. Main article: Churchill war ministry A graph showing Labour Party individual membership which showcase a large increase in membership after the war As noted by one historian, in summing up the reform record of Wilson's government, "In spite of the economic problems encountered by the First Wilson Government and in spite of (and to some degree in response to) the criticisms of its own supporters, Labour presided over a notable expansion of state welfare during its time in office." [107] "In Place of Strife" [ edit ]The Wilson and Callaghan governments of the 1970s tried to control inflation (which reached 23.7% in 1975 [118]) by a policy of wage restraint. This was fairly successful, reducing inflation to 7.4% by 1978, [13] [118] but led to increasingly strained relations between the government and the trade unions. The Labour governments of the 1970s did, however, manage to protect many people from the economic storm, with pensions increasing by 20% in real terms between 1974 and 1979, while measures such as rent controls and food and transport subsidies prevented the incomes of other people from deteriorating further. [119] Meanwhile, the Liberal Party declined rapidly and the party suffered a catastrophic split that allowed the Labour Party to co-opt much of the Liberals' support. Main article: Shadow Cabinet of Michael Foot Michael Foot, leader of the party in opposition (1980–83)

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