Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Second Labour Government
- Dealing with the Economic Crisis 1929-31
- Reforms
- Lack of support from the Liberals in a minority government stopped
the Education Bill - aimed at raising school leaving age to 15 - and a
bill to increase maximum working week of 48 hours, as well as a plan
to repel the 1927 Trade Union Act
- Arthur Greenwood's Housing Act -
Increased subsidies for house-building and
introduced new slum clearance schemes.
- Land Utilisation Act and Agricultural
Marketing Act - Establised a series of
marketing boards to help producers
- Coal Mine Act - Reduced the
minnrs day to 7.5hr instead of 8
- Unemployment benefits increased
- Wall Street Crash
- American stock market crashed, leading to
loss of American markets and loss in the
trade of other European countries
- Unemployment was already over a
million due to long-term structural
decline. End of 1932 almost 3 million
unemployed
- Depositors withdrew all their money fro the
Bank of England This was withdraw by gold
as Britain was still on the Gold Standard,
this threatened Britain's reserves
- Financial Crisis - More unemployed meant
more unemployment benefits putting greater
strain on government finances - Labour values
of supporting the working man vs traditional
belief in 'balancing the budget'
- John Maynard Keynes - Radical Liberal - Embark
on massive spending programme. Spend your way
out of trouble - Get Britain off the Gold Standard -
Keep Free Trade
- Ramsay MacDonald - Dependent on other peoples
advice - Economic Advisory Council of industrialists
and economists to sort out the problem - Balance
Budget - Committee by George May of the
Prudential Insurance
- May Committee 31st July budget deficit of
£120million by 1932 unless severe cuts were
made in government spending
- Recommended cuts amounting to
£96.5million from public sectors 20% cut in
unemployment benefits and heavier taxation
- Oswald Mosley - British Union Facists - Spend
it's way out of trouble - Public Work Schemes
for unemployed (it had worked for the Nazis)
- Philip Snowden - Chancellor of Exchequer - Balance Budget
and maintain the Gold Standard - Public Spending cuts -
Keep Fair Trade
- Stafford Cripps - Extreme Left-wing socialist -
Create socialist economy by nationalising
industries banks and services
- Collapse of Labour Government
- Divided Party - Many wanted the government to
tax the rich heavier rather than cutting
unemployment benefits
- The fact MacDonald left his party's belief to do what he
though was right bitterly divided the Labour Government
- Cabinet Economy Committee meeting
- Pay cuts- 10% unemployment benefit cut
£38million - substantially less than the My
Committee suggested
- New York Bankers only agreed to loans if they
cut unemployment benefits Conservative and
Liberals agreed to this but Labour still struggled
against it
- A vote was casted on Sunday 23rd August It was approved 11
votes to 9 This split the Labour party so bad that MacDonald
could no longer run it This lead to the set up of the National
Government
- Setting up of the National Government
- Establishment
- Support
- The Conservatives and Liberals saw it an advantage
that a Labour PM would be in place at a time when
major cuts were needed As for the rest of the Labour
Party on 3 chose to follow MacDonald - Snowden,
Thomas and Sankey.
- MacDoanld threatened to resign brought the King to make an
agreement between Lloyd-George and Herbert Samuel;
Ramsay would stay PM of a National Government
- MacDonald's 'crimes'
- Attitude
- Had become arrogant and convinced he knew best - Disloyal to the
party - Not brave enough to consider new ideas, ignored Oswald
Mosley - Slow in responding to crisis and allowed them to get worse.
- Snobbish and abandoned the working class
- Labour Beliefs
- Too ready to ignore the Trade Unions and the advice of his own cabinet
ministers - Sacrificed Labour in the interest of the upper class 'aristocratic
embrace'
- Failed in Honour - should of resigned when the Liberals
declined instead he sided with the Conservatives so that he
could become the country 'saviour'
- MacDonald's Defence
- He had no reason to distrust 'orthodox economic principles',coming
off the Gold Standard was thought to cause inflation
Anmerkungen:
- He acted honourably by sacrificing his party's principles for the greater good of the nation
- Continued to borrow money up to summer 1931 to maintain unemployment insurance funds
- MacDonald was one of the founders of the Labour Party, he had no need to want to destroy it
- 1931 Crisis; Impact on Labour to 1940
- Decline in Seats
- As Labour was an unstable party seats went down
from 288 seats in 1929 52 seats 1931
- However, Labour did not loose the 1931 elections
dramatically, it was Britain's 'first past the post' system which
lead to Labours fall from power
- MacDonald became a prisoner to
the Conerrvtives as he lead a
Conservative majority cabinet
- Labour Recovery 1930's
- Labour Won most by-elections and support went up
more than anyone seemed to have though in the 30's
They won control of London City Council in 1934
- 1935 - Labour's seats increased to 153 - 102 more
than in 1931 The won 38% which was higher than
ever before even mores so than 1929
- No Opposition
- Flaws of the National Government
- Unemployment had rose to 3 million in 1932 and many was long-term
Hatred of means test and many 'hunger marches' helped to maitain
working-class loyalty to Labour
- Reforms
- The biggest change to the Labour party was the move
away from radicalism and the turn in becoming more
modest and make 'respectable policies'
- Socialist League
- Set up by Stafford Cripps, for all radical socialists of the Labour
Party, was shut down and Cripps was banned from the Party.