Context:Even by 1906, with Campbell-Bannerman’s Liberals in power, there was no sign of the ‘Liberal Reforms’

Campbell-Bannerman, leader 1899-1908: old proponent of Gladstonian politics; wouldn’t support New Liberalism
Asquith, PM ‘08-’16: C. of the Exchequer in 1906; pragmatic; kept treasury content w/ low expenditure (not reform)
Herbert Gladstone, Home Secretary: cautious politician, unwilling to adopt reform radical for Liberal Party standards
All 3 men associated with Old Gladstonianism: individualism, free trade (no tariffs), taxation=harmful, limited gov.
‘Individualism’ still popular; went hand-in-hand with laissez-faire
Aka self-help; 1 e.g ‘Friendly Societies’: worker-run insurance schemes providing sickness/u’ment benefits, pensions
Poor Law 1834: passed to reduce tax rates; poor to present selves to P.L Guardians; sent to ‘degrading’
workhouses
Under Poor Law, workhouses made worse than being on the streets; poverty was the fault of laziness/drunkenness
Electorate unwilling to be taxed more to fund reform; no money from tariffs since Liberals committed to free trade

Change:‘Great Depression’ during late c19th due to foreign competition; improved by 1900, but high u’ment 1904-05
No matter how hard you looked, there were simply no jobs; self-help theory breaking down; urban families starving
British population: 30mil in 1881 to 37mil in 1901; no gov. help; workhouses still feared; ‘inmates’ lost right to vote
Boer War exposed poverty; near 50% volunteers unfit; Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest’; reform needed to save
empire

Surveys:
Christian ship-owner/philanthropist C. Booth’s 1886-1903 survey: 30%+ of London in serious poverty (45% of old)
Quaker Rowntree;01 York survey: 28% in serious poverty; ‘25-30% of the town population of UK are living in
poverty’
Realised that only the gov. has money to help the 30% of the population in poverty; Booth suggests 5s pension at
65
Rowntree suggests minimum wage; recommended £1.08 as enough to keep fam of 5 in ‘Spartan physical efficiency’

Change pt.2
Socialist groups advocating ‘redistribution of wealth’; all industry to be jointly owned by people (gov) + profits shared
1884:Workers given vote; fear they may vote Labour if no reform; this was Bismarck’s motive behind pensions in
80s
‘New Liberalism’ emerged in 80s w/ Oxford philosopher T.H. Green; demanded the state give a ‘safety net’ for all
Hobhouse campaigned for ‘collective action’; began Liberal paper ‘Tribune’ in 1906; Hobson another 1900s thinker

Factor leading to the Liberal Reforms 1: New Liberalism

Inspired by thinkers, state interventionism + Labour’s popularity; a change in Liberal Party policy was necessary
‘Interventionist’ New Libs like DLG given important jobs (C. of the Exchequer); him + Churchill had personal desires
Factor leading to the Liberal Reforms 2: National Efficiency
Boer War volunteers’ health showed inadequacies of non-interventionist state; struggled w/ Boers, imagine
Germany
Britain’s imperial supremacy in danger due to inferior health (8/12k Manny); 25% Boer War volunteers rejected
Factor leading to the Liberal Reforms 3: Germany
1906:Germany industrialised, navy matching Britain’s;already had Bismarckian policies (pension,sick pay,
education)
Boer War showed British weakness relative to Germany; Germany committed to national efficiency; UK must follow
Germany an example; UK politicians resented inferiority to Germany; if Germany could afford it, why couldn’t Britain
Factor leading to the Liberal Reforms 4: Labour
29 seats, 5% of vote in 1906; Labour’s promises attracted workers; 4 seat gain in by-elections ‘06-10; 42 seats in ‘10
Labour’s rise pressured Libs into passing Old Age Pensions Act ‘09 + Nat. Ins. Act ‘11 (need to steal L’s thunder)
Factor leading to the Liberal Reforms 5: Need for a healthy population -
Poor physical state of working class volunteers in South Africa shocked Britain
Result: Committee on Physical Deterioration suggested in 1904 free school meals and regular medical inspections
Birmingham Chamber of Commerce called for health insurance, claiming it would increase ‘national efficiency’
Factor leading to the Liberal Reforms 6: The need for policies to distinguish Libs from Conservatives
Some Cons wanted free meals
PM Balfour refused due to cost, which could only be met through increasing taxes; Liberals wanted to prove wrong
Factor Leading to the Liberal Reforms 7: Desire for justice and fairness
Deemed unfair for ⅓ to live in poverty, all the while there was some prosperity
Industrialist profits increased, but wages were stagnant while prices went up - ½ of nat. income went to 1/9 of ppl

Factor leading to the Liberal Reforms 8: Progressing careers

Churchill and Lloyd George were the main names behind reform; ambitious
Both Lloyd and Churchill said by some to have done reforms in order to make a name for themselves

New Liberalism and its faces

Key to New Liberalism was that the state should help the individual
Churchill: Pres. of Board of Trade ‘08-’10; demanded a ‘new constructive policy’ in an article in ‘The Nation’
DLG: C. of Exchequer 1908-15: rooted in Welsh radicalism, little sense of English needs (promised temperance,
church disestablishment in 1906 speech)
Recession looming in 1909, high u’ment; DLG wanted to pay for welfare through massive cuts in defence spending
Began strongly campaigning for state intervention in 1909; his ‘People’s Budget’ was ruthless: super-tax for rich
Media/public insistent on a German invasion - DLG instead waged war against poverty
Ppl’s Budget: Estate duties for wealthy, ‘Super tax’ for the super rich; hated in HoL; Anti-Budget League established
Former Liberal PM Lord Rosebery‘: people’s budget = pure socialism’ ‘revolution’
Most in Houses were aristocracy, wealthy and/or powerful; did not want to be taxed
DLG ‘incited revolution’ (day of reckoning shall come); Nov. 1909: budget rejected in the Lords’ (huge majority)
1st 1910 election to break deadlock on the People's Budget; Liberals hung onto power
7/1911: Asquith cheered on the way to HoC; inside, Tories chant traitor & ‘who killed the king’ for 45 mins
Asquith leaves, but Tory leaders call for surrender;234 Tory MPs eventually agree inc. campaign leader Lord Curzon
The People’s Budget was revolutionary; radical change; nothing of the sort attempted since magna carta
The Reforms
Workmen’s Compensation Act 1906: employers ‘forced’ to pay compensation to all categories of worker for injury
caused by industrial conditions and accidents - not effective

Trade Disputes Act 1906: unions could not be sued for damages;picketing (preventing people from entering) allowed
Considered by some to give unions far too much power

Education: By 1900, state already responsible for financing and organising elementary, compulsory education
Balfour’s Education Act of 1902 gave loc. aut. the power to help existing voluntary sec. schools w/ money from rates
Local authorities also directed to create new sec. schools, but they were too costly for most parents
‘Free place’ system introduced - sec. schools obliged to save (only) 25% of places for kids from elementary schools

School Meals Act ‘06: loc. authorities given power, though not forced, to provide free school meals for needy kids.
Developed from a Labour bill; not compulsory, hence its effects weren’t great (1913:only 40% of councils,310k kids)
By 1914, only ½ of education authorities in England and Wales provided meals; made compulsory, funds given

Med. Inspections for Children Act ‘07: Compulsory medical inspections; education auth. could give free treatment
Did more to find out the state of children’s health than to actually improve it; treatment too costly for most
In 1912, government grants given for second part of the act; school clinics began to be set up (⅔ of schools in 1914)

Education Act ‘07: Sec. schools receiving council funding have to allocate ¼ of places to elementary pupils rather
than those from private education ‘free place system’. No. working class kids in sec. schools slowly increases

Punishment: young offenders now tried in special juvenile courts and sent to corrective schools (borstals)

Children’s Act ‘08: Protected kids against parental abuse; councils responsible for enforcing; few parents prosecuted

Children’s Act ‘09: Children tried & sent to borstals for begging/stealing food - didn’t fix why kids were doing this
Stiff penalties for mistreating children or selling them cigarettes, tobacco, or alcohol in unsealed jugs (1908)

Old age Pensions Act ‘08: 5 shillings (25p) weekly at the age of 70 (not at 65 as Charles Booth suggested)
Non-contributory pension; you did not have to pay anything towards it; financed out of taxation
Ineligible for pension if income from other sources exceeds £21 yearly/ if you had a past conviction for drunkenness
Very expensive for the government; 45% of those eligible claimed them; many didn’t as they were ill in workhouses
Labour complained; too little, many wouldn’t live to 70 - nevertheless very popular, George was credited

Mines Act 1908: maximum eight-hour work day for miners, first time such a limit had ever been created

Trade Boards Act 1909: dealt with workers in ‘sweated’ industries; women + kids working hard for outrageously little
Churchill’s Act set up boards to fix min. wages in tailoring, lace-, box- and chain-making (6 more trades by 1913)
400,000 workers protected and ensured a reasonable wage; unfortunately a small fraction of workers
Labour Exchanges ‘09: in response to unemployment (2x that of 1907) - Churchill and Beveridge of Board of Trade
Employers with vacancies to inform the Exchanges so that unemployed workers could easily find available work
430 exchanges by 1913; working well, however could have been better as it was voluntary

Housing + Town Planning Act ‘10: local councils given the power to build council houses; compulsory slum cleaning
Despite the destruction of some of Britain’s worst slums, few council actually replaced them (no government cash)

Shops Act ‘11: shop assistants given half-day holiday weekly;didn’t limit hours;most now worked longer on other day

Minimum Wage Act 1912: local boards set up to fix minimum wages in each district to help toiling miners
Miners unhappy; had striked Feb-Apr 1912 for national minimum wage of 5s (2s for boys)

Trade Union Act 1913: gave unions the right to use funds made from subscriptions for political purposes

National Insurance Act 1911

Biggest reform; DLG’s greatest achievement before ‘14; two-part compulsory scheme: health & u’ment insurance
Contributory insurance schemes which workers had to pay, unlike pensions
Labour wanted non-contributory; Lloyd George believed this would be far too costly for the treasury
This was because pensions were higher than what was expected;done to offset pension costs + allow future reforms
Lloyd George’s controversial 1909 budget taxed rich to help poor
Approx. 75k tuberculosis deaths annually genuinely concerned Lloyd George; one reason for health insurance
Unemployment insurance was a response to Labour and trade union pressure

Health Insurance: worker paid four-, employer three-, state two-pence weekly
If sick, worker received 10s weekly for 13 weeks + entitled to free medical attention and medicines
A maternity grant of 30s and sanatoria allowance in case worker fell ill with tb also given
Benefits (exc. Maternity grant) did not apply to the wife or children, nor to those earning £160+ per annum
Strong socialists (Keir Hardie) demanded even higher taxes for the rich; contributory aspect also disliked
Cons. claimed gov has no right to force people to pay into the scheme; Friendly Societies fearful of losing business
In response, DLG makes the scheme operated by ‘approved societies’ (usually insurance companies), which the
workers would join. These were under state supervision.
Not launched till ‘13; full employment during the war; it had no true test; unknown if it could withstand depression

Unemployment insurance: only applied in certain trades, where labour demand fluctuated the most
These trades were building, shipbuilding, mechanical engineering, vehicle construction, iron-founding + sawmilling
Worker and employer paid 2 ½ pence; state twopence
7s weekly for up to 15 weeks in any 12-month period
Soon 2.25 million protected by this; one drawback was the lack of trades protected
Despite downsides, DLG had intended for both schemes to be experimental & soon extended - WW1 prevented this

How successful were they?

Individual acts had varying success; taken together they did relieve the worst effects of poverty
Trade unions unhappy; militancy increased 1910-1914; 1911: 32% of workers still earning less than 5s per week.
By 1914, some areas were still unreformed; Poor Law still continued till 1929; agricultural workers still the worst-paid
Rejection rate during Boer War: 34%; Rejection rate 1917: 31.5% w/ minor disabilities and 10% totally unfit to serve
Jan. 1910 election: 25 Liberal MPs stood down rather than support a programme they deemed too left-wing
Complete reform would take time; lots of opposition from parties and some of society (individualism still popular)
The old now had pensions for 1st time; improvements in children’s health; Some improvement is better than none.
Liberals were building from literally nothing, to expect them to create a welfare state like today is unrealistic.
Aimed to raise all above a certain acceptable standard of living, then allow them to fend for themselves within the
traditions of a laissez–faire society (Full state intervention was not the Liberal aim)
Churchill: not the government’s aim to take the ‘toiler to dry land’ but rather to ‘strap a lifebelt around him’.
Regardless, the Liberals’ work laid the foundations on which Lloyd George and Churchill intended to expand later
Further ambitions were never realised with the First World War and the rapid rise of the Labour Party