Labour in 1945 and Attlee 1945-51 Flashcards

Question

Churchill's 1945 election speech

Answer 1

* Churchills first election speech hugely damaging, condemned socialism (eroding peoples savings, would require a form of gestapo), Mass observation noted this speech caused huge disappointment and distress among populace

Answer 2

* Produced Labour’s first majority government on 47.7% of the vote, with a landslide majority of 146 seats and thus an ability to implement its 1945 manifesto reforms – the Daily Herald described it as “the people’s win”. * 12% swing from Conservatives to Labour remains the largest ever achieved.

Answer 3

* The Liberal Party lost all its urban seats and only won 12 overall.

Answer 4

* Extremely unexpected given that Churchill had approval ratings of 83%, and had expected a majority of 30-80, especially since the election had been called early whilst his popularity was at its height – Hugh Dalton (Labour’s subsequent Chancellor) believed it would be lunacy to fight Churchill.

Answer 5

* Fielding- There was a widespread assumption that, having voted for the party, the public had fully understood and approved Labour's programme.

Answer 6

Let Us Face the Future”.

Answer 7

* There was to be no return to the gold standard and a National Investment Board was to direct investment more proﬁtably and in the social interest. The state was to be much more active in the distribution of industry and in the ‘special areas’—areas of the country which the National government could not bring itself to call depressed * Embraced nationalisation and Keynesian economic policies in the aftermath of war devastation – Britain had lost about £7bn, i.e. a quarter of its entire national wealth. * Labour planning (intended in the economic sense)- Labour fought the 1945 election as a ‘planning’ party, and unquestionably many MPs and Party members thought planning both practicable and morally superior to market capitalism

Answer 8

* Adopted the 1942 Beveridge Report (see notes above) – promised full employment, a tax- funded universal National Health Service (NHS), and a ‘cradle-to-grave’ welfare state. . Social welfare was to be extended. Labour also promised— a triumph of hope over experience—‘social’ utilization of the land and a living wage for agricultural workers.

Answer 9

cynical view -If the anti-Conservative vote went to Labour rather than the divided Liberals it was perhaps due more to a disbelief in the latter's ability or win or the absence of a candidate - the party contested less than half the available seats - rather than any strong feeling that Labour was preferable. Therefore, Labour won the conditional support of an unquantifiable number of tactical voters. The intention of this group was to limit the impact of what even most Labour politicians assumed would be a Conservative triumph. * Expecting a Tory landslide, many Liberals voted Labour in the hope of coalition.

Answer 10

WW2 meant that the Conservative Party organisation was much less prepared for an election in 1945 than Labour o Most Conservative agents had found war work or gone into the services, whereas trade unionists (the core of Labour’s local organisation) had been obliged to remain at home organising war production alongside other members of the ‘reserved occupations’.

Answer 11

o But Addison argues the explanation of war for Tory failure in 1945 is just an excuse, since most Conservative constituencies had “an active chairman or vice-chairman, treasurer and committee” in October 1944. Whilst it is true that the organisation was in a very poor state by comparison with peacetime, it does not follow that Labour had any great organisational advantage.

Answer 12

o This meant that 1/5 of all electors were voting for the first time in 1945, and surveys have revealed that 61% of these first-time voters supported Labour, “making them a uniquely pro-Labour generation” (Pugh). o The new political generation had their formative years when there was mass unemployment in the 1930s, and there were fears of this returning after the War (the armed services were decreased from 5m to 1m by December 1946) – this made Labour’s Keynesian policies aimed at achieving “full employment” appealing

Answer 13

unemployment at a mere 1.8% when the government fell in 1951

Answer 14

* Labour vote in 1945 was socially more disparate than it had previously been. The party's predominantly working-class support was supplemented by an enhanced middle class element, a social coalition united by a shared adherence to the promise of security contained within the Beveridge report.

Answer 15

o As whole of pop in war effort, gov had to give welfare for all, 1940 - Attlee’s committee approved scheme of free and subsidized milks to mums and kids under 5, free school meals generally available.

Answer 16

o The blitz and destruction it caused stimulated media narrative of reconstruction after war. o 1942 survey - 90% approved of rationing, 60% said because it ensured fair shared - powerful social drive towards egalitarianism, people really adopted rhetoric of equality of sacrifice angry at rich who got off better

Answer 17

 Home intelligence, Feb 1942 found ‘thank god for Russia’ as frequent, fervent and widespread expression used by public.  Churchill - told ministry of info to counter ‘tendency of public to forget dangers of communism in their enthusiasm over Russian resistance’.  Every region asked to report if they had any evidence of a ‘home made socialist’ phenomenon brewing, 11/13 regional offices said something of that kind was occurring, Northern Region notes ‘strong tendency towards socialism in all classes’, South-west region notes ‘swing to left directed against Tories and men of Munich, the old gang and colonel blimp types’ - again shows strong evidence of this shift in war

Answer 18

 1938, communist party 18,000 members, by 1942 65,000 - tailed of later on, yet this growth does suggest Russian influence in ideas to extent opinion poll in 1939; 74% preferred communism to fascism

Answer 19

o Dec 1942, mass observation est ⅖ changed political views since start of war

Answer 20

o Class barriers removed- The war meant mass movement of people, classes intermixing and class barriers removed e.g soldiers barged into 1st class train carriages, 1941 Lord Marley said ‘Englishmen speaking to each other in public despite never being introduced War had brought all classes / social backgrounds together in a patriotic spirit fighting for a common cause – e.g. the existence of rations created an ethos of equality and ‘fair shares’.

Answer 21

government spending increasing to 60% of GDP by 1945

Answer 22

 By 1945 most of those industries to be nationalized were hardly viable in the private sector. Coal and railways demanded heavy re-equipment costs after six years of wear-and-tear and underinvestment Most shareholders understandably thought this was a good time to get out, to ofﬂoad the costs of new investment on to the taxpayer.

Answer 23

o Social reforms – surveys in the aftermath of WW1 found that the major issues in the minds of voters were housing, health, and unemployment, so the ‘Let Us Face the Future’ campaign accorded well with public opinion.

Answer 24

J.M.Keynes - side-lined in 1939, yet had own office at treasury in 1940

Answer 25

* In August 1944 44% wanted some form of coalition under either Eden or Churchill whereas only 26% sought an exclusively Labour government. It is possible that Churchill and Eden were the favoured candidates for prime minister simply because they enjoyed the most publicity as leader and foreign secretary of the coalition. March 1945 poll revealed that 55% of those asked were willing to vote for an anti-Conservative popular front. * Most soldiers, wanted to do their job as quickly as possible and return to the normality of 'civvy street'. That many appeared confused about the future or only dimly aware of the necessity for a radical post-war settlement was perhaps understandable

Answer 26

the Report itself was only commissioned as a result of WW2 – Beveridge had been appointed to review ways of improving Britain’s social safety net because the Cabinet was already planning for post-war reconstruction following the widespread deprivation evident in the inter-war years.

Answer 27

* The Daily Mail (with a circulation of 3m in 1946) abandoned its pro-Conservative loyalties and swung towards Labour, helping the party to represent itself to the patriotic, Tory working-class communities as moderate and pragmatic, not as socialist and revolutionary.

Answer 28

* Increasing prom of left-wing media outlets e,g Daily Mirror, 1939 - 1.7 mil circulation, 1946 - 3 mil * Addison, categorized 7 daily newspapers as right or left, left - 30% of sale share in 1930, 48.1% in 1946

Answer 29

whilst these changed loyalties were undoubtedly important, they were themselves caused by dissatisfaction with the Conservatives’ handling of the War (especially appeasement), so we can see this factor as being caused by WW2 or Tory failure. * The mirror, big paper - key in denouncing Munich men, harrowing the ‘guilty men’ after chamberlains fall, championing Beveridge report, vendetta against old school tie elite w vested interests - these agenda became prom in pop opinion, precipitated shift towards left attitudes

Answer 30

* Despite his 83% approval ratings, Harrison argues Churchill was seen only as a war leader (‘Bulldog of Battle’), not a “man of peace, domestic policy or human detail”. * Insisted on running a very negative (and counter-productive) campaign, e.g. by making a speech in which he claimed that Labour-style socialism would lead to “some kind of Gestapo” in Britain, and Post Office savings being raided. * But it is unlikely this factor can explain the huge 12% Conservative-Labour swing.

Answer 31

Offered no threat to traditional Conservative values- could attract broader base of support Eg Attlee supported the Monarchy and Empire Only wanted to nationalise “lame duck” industries - profitable industries which paid good wages were left

Answer 32

Hugh Dalton was Chancellor but resigned in 1947 due to the convertibility Crisis. sterling crisis 1949- pound devalued convertibility crisis - forced to make pound convertible to dollar but not ready to open up to global markets

Answer 33

parliament passed 347 Acts of Parliament.

Answer 34

* Nationalised about 20% of the economy , including coal (about 1,000 pits became the property of the National Coal Board in 1947), railroads, road transport, the Bank of England, civil aviation, cable and wireless, and electricity and gas.

Answer 35

* Social humanitarianism – public ownership would protect industry from the brutality of ‘unplanned’ capitalism. * Constituted a form of economic redistribution from the shareholder to the workforce (though shareholders were in fact generously compensated), and from the producer to the consumer. * Industrial democracy – transfer of managerial authority to the workforce. * Efficiency and modernisation – public ownership more responsive than private ownership.

Answer 36

* The second wave of nationalisation was much harder to justify on economic grounds (the industries were not failing), so much less successful o Attempts to nationalise sugar were dropped due to Tate and Lyle’s infamous Mr Cube campaign. o The nationalisation of iron and steel was vehemently opposed by the Conservatives, faced huge opposition in the Lords (leading to the 1949 Parliament Act), and was unpopular even amongst many Labour MPs.

Answer 37

* In 1946, repealed the Trades Dispute Act 1927 which had banned solidarity action (i.e. sympathy strikes) and mass picketing

Answer 38

created the ‘welfare state’ in accordance with the recommendations of the Beveridge Report, aiming to make social security the ‘birth right’ of every citizen: * National Insurance Act 1946 provided sickness and unemployment benefits for adults, and made retirement pensions universal (with the pension rate being substantially increased by the Pensions Act 1947). did what it promised, and much of what it did was in the tradition of British welfare legislation— that is, was based upon the principle of insurance. Pensions, unemployment beneﬁt and other similar payments were technically ‘earned’ by the payment of National Insurance contributions…. Attlee’s welfare state was universal. Under Attlee everyone was entitled to pensions, family allowances and unemployment insurance. Before 1914 the middle class was excluded from all such beneﬁts.

Answer 39

* National Health Service (NHS) Act 1946 nationalised the hospitals and provided free universal medical care from 1948, though opposition from doctors meant they were allowed to continue operating a private practice. McKibbin describes this as “probably the Attlee government’s only social legislation ideologically acceptable to more or less everyone”.

Answer 40

* National Assistance Act 1948 formally abolished the Poor Law system that had existed since the reign of Elizabeth I, and established a social safety net even for those who did not pay National Insurance contributions (e.g. the homeless / the physically disabled / unmarried mothers).

Answer 41

* Landlord and Tenant Act 1949 controlled excessive rents being charged by landlords, e.g. by empowering rent tribunals to determine “reasonable rates” for unfurnished private properties.

Answer 42

* Built over 1m new homes by 1951, 80% of which were council houses – although this was below the government’s target (and is often seen as the government’s greatest failing), it was still significant given the economic circumstances.

Answer 43

* Created 157 Standing Committees. * Created 306 ‘ad hoc’ committees to feed decisions back to the main Cabinet.

Answer 44

* Actively participated in international institutions–e.g. joined the USA in the Cold War and helped to form NATO. * Negotiated a $5bn loan from the USA and Canada in 1946. * Encouraged the Truman Doctrine (could no longer afford to support the Greek government so wanted USA to take its place), and keenly joined the Marshall Plan. Gave independence to India, Pakistan, Ceylon and Burma, pulled out of Palestine, and moved to strengthen the British Commonwealth.

Answer 45

* Although their implementation was new, most of the ideas were not new for Labour – McKibbin argues that their 1934 ‘For Socialism and Peace’ programme (refined in 1937 to form their ‘Immediate Programme’ in response to election defeat in 1935) “closely approximated the victorious programme of 1945”: o The programme, as we have seen, differed little except in detail from the last pre-war programme and presented the same mixture of public ownership, public housing, welfare provision, industrial modernization, planning and land reform. o Labour had been calling for the nationalisation of coal, rail, the utilities, and the Bank of England since 1934. o Labour’s avocation of the extension of social welfare was nothing new, but was just given new ‘impetus’ by the 1942 Beveridge Report.

Answer 46

* Although the precise model of the NHS was established / modified by Attlee’s governments, the general principle of a universal, non-contributory health system had already been accepted before WW2. Though admittedly the Conservatives simply wanted to extend the health insurance scheme without affecting private practice too much, fearing that this would lead to an inevitable lowering of medical standards. Conservatives had actually started negotiations with doctors about free medical care in 1943, but these proved too difficult.

Answer 47

had used Keynesian policies, and had already started to implement some welfare reforms – e.g. the Family Allowances Act 1945 provided child benefits. Under the coalition, government spending had increased from 20% to 60% of GDP.

Answer 48

* Francis- Others have gone further and argued that Labour's later years in power were characterised not merely by a loss of momentum, but also by a dilution of the party's socialist commitment. - they argue that the government came to rely increasingly on the techniques of demand management, and in doing so quietly abandoned a specifically socialist economic policy in favour of Keynesian-inspired expedients, which were at best ideological, at worse anti-socialist. * At the close of the 1940s the Labour government was adopting the techniques of demand management - 1947 Dalton at the Treasury took up the recommendations of the Economic Section to deliberately use the budget surplus to counter inflation.

Answer 49

The Attlee government's increasing utilisation of demand-management did not represent a simple shift away from a specifically socialist economic policy. Contemporaries did not see socialism and Keynesianism as necessarily antithetical.

Answer 50

* Not all industries were nationalised – just those which were considered inefficient (those which had “failed the nation”). o Though this was not the case with the steel industry, which was relatively profitable – it was only pursued because of a campaign from the left-wing of the Labour Party, with 150 backbenchers signing a petition.

Answer 51

* Despite the establishment of the NHS, it was still possible to ‘buy’ private healthcare, when really doctors should have become public servants. In implementing the health reforms, Bevan wrongly believed that people would eventually have no reason to want private healthcare. o Though this was still a big achievement, especially given huge opposition from doctors – a BMA poll found that only 10% of doctors (on a turnout of 84%) were in favour of the establishment of the NHS.

Answer 52

* In terms of education, Attlee’s governments just implemented the coalition’s Butler Education Act 1944 (with a small extension in 1948) – this contained some positive elements (e.g. raising the school leaving age), but did not do enough to prioritise the comprehensive system, and did not touch private education at all.

Answer 53

* Addison: Due to its involvement in Churchill’s war coalition, Labour had a team of ministers “schooled in office”; it dominated the Reconstruction Committee 1943- 45; and, as Deputy Prime Minister 1942-45, Attlee was able to “rehearse the premiership whenever Churchill was absent”. WW2 therefore gave Attlee a “double mandate”, one from the electorate and one from the establishment. * When Attlee and Bevin (as PM and Foreign Secretary) returned to Potsdam in July 1945, not a single person in the 35-member delegation accompanying them had changed – Attlee even kept Churchill’s valet!

Answer 54

o Morrison controlled MPs by dividing them into interest groups, and then into regional groupings to ensure they had regular contact with ministers. o The radical left within the PLP remained weak – it had little support in the NEC; its popularity was damaged hugely by Cold War fears; and there was no group of rebels which had “ties with an outside organisation” (Rubenstein), as there had been during the inter-war period

Answer 55

* The House of Lords was generally acquiescent to Labour’s demands: This explains the huge volume of legislation passed.The one period of opposition was over iron and steel nationalisation, which led to the passing of the 1949 Parliament Act (further restricted the Lords’ suspensive veto power to just one year).

Answer 56

* Labour’s overall majority shrank from 146 to 5. 2.8% swing towards the Tories

Answer 57

* Francis - When Labour went to the polls in 1950 it offered a much more modest programme of public ownership. Not only was Labour proposing less nationalisation, but it presented these new nationalisation measures in a tone which was generally unenthusiastic, and sometimes virtually apologetic.

Answer 58

abolition of plural voting and university constituencies.

Answer 59

* Labour called another election to reassert their majority and the Tories won it Labour called the election hoping to increase their majorit

Answer 60

the Conservatives (still led by Churchill) won a majority with 321 seats * This was despite the fact that Labour won 48.8% of the vote, polled almost 250,000 more votes than the Conservatives and their National Liberal allies combined, and won the most votes that Labour had ever won (and has ever won to this day). The increased Labour votes translated into increased majorities for MPs in already safe seats, rather than into gaining new seats. Labour ended up with 50 of the 60 largest constituency majorities. led to 13 years of Tory rule

Answer 61

- Except for Ernest Bevin, who is a rule-proving exception, Herbert Morrison (the son of a policeman and thus only on the border of the working class) and Aneurin Bevan, every signiﬁcant member of Attlee’s government was of middle or upper-middle-class origin. The decay of the autodidact tradition accompanied the process by which the leadership of the Labour Party passed from the working to the educated middle class. in the 1950 election we ﬁnd a proﬁle very different from that of the country as a whole and from the Labour Party of 1931- one-ﬁfth of Labour’s candidates has been educated privately.

Answer 62

- Cronin and Tiratsoo suggest, it was Labour that failed to maintain a relevant relationship with the new society. - problem of identification for the party, rather than simple class allegiance.

Answer 63

– the period was known as the ‘Age of Austerity’ * In the aftermath of WW2, there was a labour shortage (it was difficult to mobilise soldiers back to work) and a shortage of capital (as industry had been focussed on wartime production).

Answer 64

* Shortages continued after the end of WW2, leading to a continuation of rationing – some rations actually became stricter, e.g. due to poor weather conditions, bread rationing was started in 1946 and potato rationing in 1947, and sweets remained rationed until 1954. It has been argued that housewives faced more difficult shopping conditions after the war than during it.

Answer 65

* Conscription continued until 1963.

Answer 66

one of coldest on record- drastic food shortages, power cuts, continued food rationing

Answer 67

* Most overseas investments had been sold during WW2, thus losing their income. Britain lost around £7bn during WW2 = 1⁄4 of its national wealth. * In 1945, British exports were only 30% of their 1939 value.

Answer 68

by 1950, the average age in the Cabinet was around 60, and most had health problems – Bevin died in 1951, and Cripps died in 1952. * Once the 1945 manifesto had been largely implemented, the Cabinet became increasingly divided over policy / ideology: Whereas Morrison and the majority of the party called for ‘consolidation’, Bevan and the Labour ‘fundamentalists’ (e.g. the authors of the ‘Keep Left’ pamphlet) wanted further bold reforms, especially more nationalisation. 2. In April 1951, Bevan, Wilson and Freeman resigned over Gaitskell’s (Chancellor) decision to introduce prescription charges for dentures and spectacles in order to fund rearmament for the Korean War. This left-wing rebellion was remarkable since, with Labour’s very slim majority of just 5 seats

Answer 69

The Liberal Party was struggling, and could only afford to put up 109 candidates in 1951 (as compared to 475 in 1950) – Liberal voters with no Liberal candidate tended to vote Conservative rather than Labour (the opposite had occurred in 1945, but only because Liberals had wanted to counterbalance the expected Tory majority).

Answer 70

the abolition of plural voting (whereby the owners of business premises outside their constituency could vote twice), and by the abolition of the university seats.

Answer 71

o The abolition of two-member constituencies. o The redrawing of constituency boundaries to account for changing population patterns. o The introduction of postal voting – 90% of these were cast in favour of the Conservatives.

Answer 72

o Their 1950 manifesto (‘This is the Road’) pragmatically accepted most of Labour’s reforms (e.g. the social welfare reforms and the ‘mixed economy’) – the existence of this ‘post-war consensus’ meant that Labour’s policies were not distinctive, and the Conservatives were able to re-attract the support of the middle-class.

Answer 73

spearheaded by Lord Woolton (Party Chairman) * Grassroots were revitalised by being set the target of raising £1m. * New rule that no parliamentary candidate should contribute more than £25 to his local party, thus removing the incentive for only wealthy men to be picked as candidates. This led to a talented ‘class of 1950’ including Edward Heath and Enoch Powell.

Answer 74

* Re-won the support of newspapers like The Daily Mail.

Answer 75

Conservative revival was based upon a new form of electoral mobilization: consumption against production and women against men: ‘There was little common ground on the issue of consumption and living standards between Labour and the Conservatives during the late 1940s and early 1950s. In this revival gender is more important than class. It represented a revolt of women against the ‘collectivist, productionist agenda’ of the Labour Party in favour of the Conservative Party’s consumptionism. The ‘female Conservative preference in 1951 goes a long way towards explaining the Conservative victory’. But underrates the extent to which the Conservative Party did adjust itself to the welfare state, and thought it had to; and it overrates the extent to which the Tory Party had to devise new forms of mobilization

Answer 76

- Remember massive reforms Labour carried through- far too expensive to be paid for by extensive taxation which had already gone high with WW2 so American loans were pivotal in British reconstruction. - If you take American money you have to adhere to American foreign policy – as cold war began, Britain was entirely on Western side of argument. Helped set up NATO In 1948/9. - Within labour arguments began because of Labour’s support of USA in Korean war, so government put 10-11% of whole national budget on defence

Answer 77

- The division of Europe through old Germany meant that European defence became part of foreign policy and commitment of 40k or so British troops to Germany – maintenance of national service

Answer 78

How far the Attlee government’s programme was ‘socialist’ is an almost pointless question. There is little agreement about what constitutes socialism or the criteria by which we can judge it. But those who implemented the programme thought it was socialist, that it represented both a social transformation and a system of values superior to any alternative. Yet it was a peculiar form of socialism; the socialism of a particular generation, one which drew a clear distinction between the economy and social policy on the one hand, and Britain’s status and class system on the other

Answer 79

McKibbin – Britain was heading towards milk and water socialism. - Labour inherited rather than inaugurated changes in industry brought about by the war therefore nationalisation of some of the biggest industries particularly coal and railways was formalising the control which governments had taken during the war. - Nationalisation of coal had been a labour policy since 1920. - Owners were compensated generally for nationalisation by supposedly socialist government. Nationalisation did not inherently mean pay increases or better work conditions although these came in due course. - Nationalisation did mean job preservation for long than the private market would have meant - Labour was committed to full time employment

Answer 80

coal industry railway gas steel was repriavtised under Churchill

Labour in 1945 and Attlee 1945-51 Flashcards

(104 cards)