The Labour Party Constitution is the rulebook of the UK Labour Party .
75-689: The original Labour Party constitution was drafted by Sidney Webb , a founder of the London School of Economics and Fabian Society. The objects of the Labour Party were as follows: 1. To organise and maintain in parliament and in the country a political Labour Party 2. To cooperate with the General Council of the Trades Union Congress , or other kindred organisations, in joint political or other action in harmony with
150-562: A combined White population smaller than that of London would hold off the concentrated power of the British Empire for 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 years and take 400,000 Imperial troops to secure victory. The war split the Liberal Party into anti- and pro-war factions. Great orators, such as Liberal David Lloyd George , who spoke against the war, became increasingly influential. Nevertheless, Liberal Unionist Joseph Chamberlain , who
225-576: A determination to retain a strong naval advantage, the British lacked a military strategy or plans for a major war. The Edwardian era stands out as a time of peace and prosperity. Britain's growth rate, manufacturing output and GDP (but not GDP per capita) fell behind its rivals, the United States and Germany, though the nation still led the world in trade, finance and shipping, and had strong bases in manufacturing and mining. The industrial sector
300-546: A form of rebellion against the child-bearing role women were expected to assume. Many considered abortion to be a selfish act that allowed a woman to avoid personal responsibility, contributing to a decline in moral values. Abortion was often a solution for women who already had children and did not want more. Consequently, the size of families decreased drastically. The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 defined who could receive monetary relief. The Act reflected and perpetuated prevailing gender conditions. In Edwardian society, men were
375-474: A perfumer, and a hairdresser"; his mother was a "hairdresser and dealer in toiletries". Webb's upbringing was "comfortable", the family employing a live-in servant; his father was "a man of local substance" as a rate collector, guardian, and sergeant in a volunteer regiment. Having attended a "first-class middle class day school" at St Martin's Lane , and his parents having sent him abroad to Switzerland and Germany to extend his education, Webb later studied law at
450-643: A policy of using the European balance of power to keep the peace. There were no wars. Bismarck was removed by an aggressive young Kaiser Wilhelm in 1890, effectively decentralizing the Bismarckian Order that had been shrewdly managed, and empowering French efforts to isolate Germany. With the formation of the Triple Entente , Germany began to feel encircled: to the West lay France, with whom rivalry
525-508: A political voice. There was significant support for woman suffrage in all the parties, but the Liberal Party was in control after 1906 and a handful of its leaders, especially H. H. Asquith , blocked it. There were numerous organisations which did their work quietly. After 1897, they were increasingly linked together by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) led by Millicent Fawcett . However, front page publicity
600-524: A quick victory for the side that was better-prepared, better armed, and faster to move. No one saw that the innovations of recent decades—high explosives, long-range artillery and machine guns—were defensive weapons that practically guaranteed defeat of massed infantry attacks with very high casualties. After 1805 the dominance of Britain's Royal Navy was unchallenged; in the 1890s Germany decided to match it. Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz (1849–1930) dominated German naval policy from 1897 until 1916. Before
675-527: A senior official of the new government and even became a top British official in the World War. In 1901, the six British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia united to form the Commonwealth of Australia, with almost complete control of its internal affairs, but with foreign policy and defence handled by London. Edmund Barton
750-442: A woman's life. Because abortion was illegal and physicians refused to perform the procedure, local women provided abortions, often using crochet hooks or similar instruments. Feminists of the era focused on educating and finding jobs for women, leaving aside the controversial issues of contraceptives and abortion, which in popular opinion were often related to promiscuity and prostitution. The Church condemned abortion as immoral and
825-702: The 1922 general election . The couple's influence can be seen in their hosting of the Coefficients , a dining club that drew in some leading statesmen and thinkers of the day. In 1929, he was created Baron Passfield of Passfield Corner in the County of Southampton. He served as Secretary of State for the Colonies and as Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs in Ramsay MacDonald 's second Labour Government in 1929. As Colonial Secretary he issued
SECTION 10
#1732765996796900-723: The Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution for a degree of the University of London in his spare time, while holding an office job. He also studied at King's College London , before being called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1885. In 1895, Webb helped to found the London School of Economics with a bequest left to the Fabian Society. He was appointed its Professor of Public Administration in 1912 and held
975-546: The Franco-Russian Alliance of 1894, the 1904 Entente Cordiale linking France and Great Britain, and finally the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907 which became the Triple Entente . France thus had a formal alliance with Russia, and an informal alignment with Britain, against Germany and Austria. By 1903 good relations had been established with the United States and Japan. Britain abandoned
1050-665: The Passfield White Paper that revised the government policy on Palestine , previously set by the Churchill White Paper of 1922. In 1930, failing health caused him to step down as Dominions Secretary, but he stayed on as Colonial Secretary until the fall of the Labour government in August 1931. The Webbs ignored mounting evidence of atrocities being committed by Joseph Stalin and remained supporters of
1125-531: The Soviet Union until their deaths. Having reached their seventies and early eighties, their books, Soviet Communism: A New Civilisation? (1935) and The Truth About Soviet Russia (1942), still gave a positive assessment of Stalin's regime. The Trotskyist historian Al Richardson later dubbed Soviet Communism: A New Civilization? "pure Soviet propaganda at its most mendacious". Webb co-authored with his wife The History of Trade Unionism (1894). For
1200-464: The industrial working class . Women started (again) to play more of a role in politics. The Edwardian period is sometimes portrayed as a romantic golden age of long summer days and garden parties, basking in a sun that never set on the British Empire . This perception was created in the 1920s and later by those who remembered the Edwardian age with nostalgia, looking back to their childhoods across
1275-418: The "Aims and Values" under Clause IV as follows. 1. The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party. It believes that by the strength of our common endeavour, we achieve more than we achieve alone so as to create for each of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many not the few, where the rights we enjoy reflect
1350-465: The 1910-1911 Tonypandy riots ; the 1911 Liverpool general transport strike ; the National coal strike of 1912 ; and the 1913 Dublin lockout . It was modern Britain's worst labour unrest and compares with the 1926 general strike . The period of unrest was labelled "great" not because of its scale, but due to the level of violence employed by both the state and labourers; including deaths of strikers at
1425-538: The Anglican fold – were a powerful element, dedicated to opposing the established church in the fields of education and taxation. However, the Dissenters were losing support and played a lesser and lesser role in party affairs after 1900. The party also included Roman Catholics, including the notable Catholic intellectual Hilaire Belloc , who sat as a Liberal MP between 1906 and 1910. They included secularists from
1500-559: The Clyde River, marked as it was by the emergence of independent locally based unions among both dockers and seamen. By the late-1880s, the Industrial Revolution had created new technologies that changed the way people lived. The growth of industry shifts in manufacturing factories, special-purpose machinery and technological innovations, which led to increased productivity. Gender roles shifted as women made use of
1575-481: The Conservative government, with Arthur Balfour as Prime Minister , had numerous successes in foreign policy, defence, and education, as well as solutions for the issues of alcohol licensing and land ownership for the tenant farmers of Ireland. Nevertheless, the weaknesses were accumulating, and proved so overwhelming in 1906 that the party did not return to complete power until 1922 . The Conservative Party
SECTION 20
#17327659967961650-443: The Edwardian era as a "leisurely time when women wore picture hats and did not vote, when the rich were not ashamed to live conspicuously, and the sun never set on the British flag." The Liberals returned to power in 1906 and made significant reforms . Below the upper class, the era was marked by significant shifts in politics among sections of society that had largely been excluded from power, such as labourers , servants , and
1725-680: The Fabian Society he wrote on poverty in London, the eight-hour day , land nationalisation , the nature of socialism, education, eugenics , and reform of the House of Lords . He also drafted Clause IV , which committed the Labour Party to public ownership of industry. In H. G. Wells ' The New Machiavelli (1911), the Webbs, as "the Baileys", are mercilessly lampooned as short-sighted, bourgeois manipulators. The Fabian Society, of which Wells
1800-553: The Fabian Society into the pre-eminent politico-intellectual society in Edwardian England. He wrote the original, pro-nationalisation Clause IV for the British Labour Party . Webb was born at 45, Cranbourn Street, near Leicester Square , London, the second of three children of Charles Webb (1828/9-1891) and Elizabeth Mary (1820/21-1895), née Stacey. His father was "variously described as an accountant,
1875-652: The German Empire formed in 1871, Prussia never had a real navy, nor did the other German states. Tirpitz turned a modest fleet into a world-class one that could threaten the British Royal Navy. The British responded with new technology typified by the Dreadnought . It made every other class of battleship obsolete and, supported by a global network of coaling stations and telegraph cables, enabled Britain to stay well ahead in naval affairs. Apart from
1950-557: The House of Lords, the Liberals lost most of their members, who in the 1890s "became Conservative in all but name." The government could force the unwilling king to create new Liberal peers, and that threat did prove decisive in the battle for dominance of Commons over Lords in 1911. The government entered the Second Boer War with great confidence, little expecting that the two small rural Boer republics in southern Africa with
2025-461: The Liberal MPs elected in 1906 were supportive of the " new liberalism ", which advocated government action to improve people's lives. Liberals in 1906–1911 passed major legislation designed to reform politics and society, such as the regulation of working hours, National Insurance and the beginnings of the welfare state, as well as curtailing the power of the House of Lords. Women's suffrage
2100-481: The Liberals, allowing for cross-party support in elections, and the emergence of a small Labour contingent in Parliament. It was a temporary arrangement until the 1920s, when the Labour Party was strong enough to act on its own, and the Liberals were in an irreversible decline. Subtle social changes in the working-class were producing a younger generation that wanted to act independently. Michael Childs argues that
2175-742: The London School of Economics, alongside the Housing Association, renamed its Great Dover Street student residence Sidney Webb House in his honour. Sidney Webb's papers form part of the Passfield archive at the London School of Economics. Posts about Sidney Webb regularly appear in the LSE Archives blog. Edwardian era In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned
2250-505: The United Nations and its various agencies and other international organisations for the promotion of peace, the adjustment and settlement of international disputes by conciliation or judicial arbitration, the establishment and defence of human rights, and the improvement of the social and economic standards and conditions of work of the people of the world The Labour Party Constitution was amended in 1995 under Tony Blair, and changed
2325-488: The United States, especially in railways. These assets proved vital in paying for supplies in the first years of the World War. Amenities, especially in urban life, were accumulating—prosperity was highly visible. The working classes were beginning to protest politically for a greater voice in government, especially after 1908, reaching a crescendo known as the Great Unrest in 1910-1914. The extreme agitation included
Labour Party Constitution - Misplaced Pages Continue
2400-682: The War Office and David Lloyd George at the Board of Trade . Campbell-Bannerman retired in 1908 and was succeeded by Asquith. He stepped up the government's radicalism, especially in the " People's Budget " of 1909 that proposed to fund expanded social welfare programmes with new taxes on land and high incomes. It was blocked by the Conservative-dominated House of Lords , but eventually became law in April 1910. Almost half of
2475-480: The abyss of the Great War . The Edwardian age was also seen as a mediocre period of pleasure between the great achievements of the preceding Victorian age and the catastrophe of the following war. Recent assessments emphasise the great differences between the wealthy and the poor during this period and describe the age as heralding great changes in political and social life. Historian Lawrence James argued that
2550-674: The basis of these principles, Labour seeks the trust of the people to govern. Sidney Webb Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield , OM , PC (13 July 1859 – 13 October 1947) was a British socialist , economist, supporter of Stalinism, and reformer, who co-founded the London School of Economics . He was an early member of the Fabian Society in 1884, joining, like George Bernard Shaw , three months after its inception. Along with his wife Beatrice Webb and with Annie Besant , Graham Wallas , Edward R. Pease , Hubert Bland and Sydney Olivier , Shaw and Webb turned
2625-412: The best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry or service. 5. Generally to promote the political, social and economic emancipation of the people , and more particularly of those who depend directly upon their own exertions by hand or by brain for the means of life. In 1960, Hugh Gaitskill attempted amendments to the constitution, including change of clause IV , but
2700-403: The better-off element of traditional working-class Britons in the larger cities. In rural areas, the national headquarters made highly effective use of paid travelling lecturers, with pamphlets, posters, and especially lantern slides, who were able to communicate effectively with rural voters – particularly the newly enfranchised agricultural workers. In the first years of the twentieth century,
2775-558: The build-up of its navy from 1898 which led to the Anglo-German naval arms race . British diplomat Arthur Nicolson argued it was "far more disadvantageous to us to have an unfriendly France and Russia than an unfriendly Germany". The impact of the Triple Entente was to improve British relations with France and its ally Russia and to demote the importance to Britain of good relations with Germany. After 1905, foreign policy
2850-577: The casket of her ashes was buried in the garden of their house in Passfield Corner, as were those of Lord Passfield in 1947. Shortly afterwards, George Bernard Shaw launched a petition to have both reburied in Westminster Abbey , which was eventually granted – the Webbs' ashes are interred in the nave, close to those of Clement Attlee and Ernest Bevin . The Webbs were also friends of philosopher Bertrand Russell . In 2006,
2925-761: The duties we owe, and where we live together, freely, in a spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect. 2. To these ends we work for: 3. Labour is committed to the defence and security of the British people, and to cooperating in European institutions, the United Nations , the Commonwealth and other international bodies to secure peace, freedom, democracy, economic security and environmental protection for all. 4. Labour will work in pursuit of these aims with trade unions, co-operative societies and other affiliated organisations, and also with voluntary organisations, consumer groups and other representative bodies. 5. On
3000-432: The hands of police and sabotage on the part of the workers. The Great Unrest saw an enormous increase in trade union membership, which affected all industries to varying extents. The militants were most active in coal mining, textiles and transportation. Much of the militancy emerged from grassroots protests against falling real wages, with union leadership scrambling to catch up. The new unions of semiskilled workers were
3075-651: The incomes of households and increases in town tax revenues helped cause the decline of mortality. The new money permitted higher spending on food, and also on a wide range of health-enhancing goods and services such as medical care. The major improvement in the physical environment was the quality of the housing stock, which rose faster than the population; its quality was increasingly regulated by central and local government. Infant mortality fell faster in England and Wales than in Scotland. Clive Lee argues that one factor
Labour Party Constitution - Misplaced Pages Continue
3150-607: The internees died. Emily Hobhouse visited the camps and was appalled at the living conditions, which she brought to the attention of the British public. Public outcry resulted in the Fawcett Commission which corroborated Hobhouse's report and eventually led to improved conditions. The Boers surrendered, and the Boer Republics were annexed by the British Empire. Jan Smuts —a leading Boer general—became
3225-835: The issue, with a large faction strongly opposed to the war in Africa. The Triple Entente between Britain, France and Russia is often compared to the Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria–Hungary and Italy, but historians caution against the comparison. The Entente, in contrast to the Triple Alliance or the Franco-Russian Alliance , was not an alliance of mutual defence, and Britain therefore felt free to make her own foreign policy decisions in 1914. The Liberals were highly moralistic, and by 1914 they were increasingly convinced that German aggression violated international norms, and specifically that its invasion of neutral Belgium
3300-431: The labour movement. The middle-class business, professional and intellectual communities were generally strongholds, although some old aristocratic families played important roles as well. The working-class element was moving rapidly toward the newly emerging Labour Party . One unifying element was widespread agreement on the use of politics and Parliament as a means to upgrade and improve society and to reform politics. In
3375-646: The leaders felt increasingly threatened by rival powers such as Germany, Russia, and the United States. Nevertheless, the sudden arrival of World War I in the summer of 1914 was largely unexpected, except by the Royal Navy, because it had been prepared and readied for war . There was a growing political awareness among the working class, leading to a rise in trade unions, the Labour movement and demands for better working conditions. The aristocracy remained in control of top government offices. The Conservatives – at
3450-607: The machine-made lace and finishing trade. It was later expanded to coal mining and then to other industries with preponderance of unskilled manual labour by the Trade Boards Act 1918 . Under the leadership of David Lloyd George Liberals extended minimum wages to farm workers. Conservative peers in the House of Lords tried to stop the People's Budget . The Liberals passed the Parliament Act 1911 to sharply reduce
3525-512: The most militant. The National Sailors' and Firemen's Union directed strike activities in many port cities across Britain. The national leadership was strongly supported by local leaders, for example the Glasgow Trades Council. In Glasgow and other major cities there were distinctive local variations. Glasgow was more unified and coherent than most centres. The long-term result was seen in the strength of waterfront organisation on
3600-516: The new technology to upgrade their lifestyle and their career opportunities. Mortality declined steadily in urban England and Wales 1870–1917. Robert Millward and Frances N. Bell looked statistically at those factors in the physical environment (especially population density and overcrowding) that raised death rates directly, as well as indirect factors such as price and income movements that affected expenditures on sewers, water supplies, food, and medical staff. The statistical data show that increases in
3675-490: The older generation of Liberal voters. The Liberal Party lacked a unified ideological base in 1906. It contained numerous contradictory and hostile factions, such as imperialists and supporters of the Boers; near-socialists and laissez-faire classical liberals ; suffragettes and opponents of women's suffrage; antiwar elements and supporters of the military alliance with France. Nonconformist Dissenters – Protestants outside
3750-403: The party constitution and standing orders. 3. To give effect as far as possible to the principles from time to time approved by the party conference. 4. To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry and the most equitable distribution thereof that may be possible upon the basis of the common ownership of the means of production , distribution, and exchange, and
3825-524: The policy of holding aloof from the continental powers, so called " Splendid Isolation ", in the 1900s after being isolated during the Boer War . Britain concluded agreements, limited to colonial affairs, with her two major colonial rivals: the Entente Cordiale with France in 1904 and the Anglo-Russian Entente of 1907. Britain's alignment was a reaction to an assertive German foreign policy and
SECTION 50
#17327659967963900-497: The post for 15 years. In 1892, he married Beatrice Potter , who shared his interests and beliefs. The money she contributed to the marriage enabled him to give up his clerical job and concentrate on his other activities. Sidney and Beatrice Webb founded the New Statesman magazine in 1913. Webb and Potter were members of the Labour Party and took an active role in politics. Sidney became Member of Parliament for Seaham at
3975-528: The power of the House of Lords to block legislation. The cost was high, however, as the government was required by the King to call two general elections in 1910 to validate its position and ended up frittering away most of its large majority, with the balance of power held by Labour and Irish Parliamentary Party members. Germany's Chancellor Otto von Bismarck dominated European diplomacy from 1872 to 1890, with
4050-450: The procedure was used not only as a means of terminating pregnancy, but also to prevent poverty and unemployment. Those who transported contraceptives could be legally punished. Contraceptives became more expensive over time and had a high failure rate. Unlike contraceptives, abortion did not need any prior planning and was less expensive. Newspaper advertisements were used to promote and sell abortifacients indirectly. Not all of society
4125-543: The rapid expansion of the school system, and the emergence of the new profession of nursing. Education and status led to demands for female roles in the rapidly expanding world of sports. Women were very active in church affairs, including attendance at services, Sunday school teaching, fund raising, pastoral care, social work and support for international missionary activities. They were almost completely excluded from practically all leadership roles. As middle-class women rose in status, they increasingly supported demands for
4200-637: The reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King George V . The era is dated from the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901, which marked the end of the Victorian era . Her son and successor, Edward VII, was already the leader of a fashionable elite that set a style influenced by the art and fashions of continental Europe . Samuel Hynes described
4275-464: The source of wealth. The law restricted relief for unemployed, able-bodied male workers, due to the prevailing view that they would find work in the absence of financial assistance. However, women were treated differently. After the Poor Law was passed, women and children received most of the aid. The law did not recognise single independent women, and put women and children into the same category. If
4350-697: The time called "Unionists" – were the dominant political party from the 1890s until 1906 . The party had many strengths, appealing to voters supportive of imperialism , tariffs, the Church of England , a powerful Royal Navy , and traditional hierarchical society. There was a powerful leadership base in the landed aristocracy and landed gentry in rural England, plus strong support from the Church of England and military interests. Historians have used election returns to demonstrate that Conservatives did surprisingly well in working-class districts. They had an appeal as well to
4425-483: The top tier of the working-class and lower middle-class, and there was dissatisfaction among intellectuals. The 1906 general election was a landslide victory for the Liberal Party, which saw its total vote share increase by 25%, while the Conservative total vote held steady. The Labour Party was emerging from the rapidly growing trade union movement after 1890. In 1903 it entered the Gladstone–MacDonald pact with
4500-441: The younger generation had reason to prefer Labour over Liberal political styles. Social factors included secularised elementary education (with a disappearing role for Dissenting schools that inculcated Liberal viewpoints); the "New Unionism" after 1890 brought unskilled workers into a movement previously dominated by the skilled workers; and new leisure activities, especially the music hall and sports, involved youth while repelling
4575-462: Was a majority of support for suffrage in Parliament, the ruling Liberal Party refused to allow a vote on the issue; the result of which was an escalation in the suffragette campaign. The WSPU, in dramatic contrast to its allies, embarked on a campaign of violence to publicise the issue, even to the detriment of its own aims. Although abortion was illegal, it was nevertheless a widespread form of birth control. Used predominantly by working-class women,
SECTION 60
#17327659967964650-458: Was accepting of contraceptives or abortion, and opponents viewed both as part of one and the same sin. Abortion was much more common among the middle classes than among those living in rural areas, where the procedure was not readily available. Women were often tricked into purchasing ineffective pills. In addition to fearing legal reprimands, many physicians did not condone abortion because they viewed it as an immoral procedure potentially endangering
4725-645: Was awakening after a generation of dormancy following the Franco-Prussian War , to the East sat Russia, whose rapid industrialization worried Berlin and Vienna. Joseph Chamberlain , who played a major role in foreign policy in the late 1890s under the Salisbury government, repeatedly tried to open talks with Germany about some sort of alliance. Berlin was not interested. Meanwhile, Paris went to great pains to woo Russia and Great Britain. Key markers were
4800-421: Was briefly a member (1903–1908), fares no better in his estimation. Beatrice Webb in her diary records that they "read the caricatures of ourselves... with much interest and amusement. The portraits are very clever in a malicious way." She reviews the book and Wells's character, summarising: "As an attempt at representing a political philosophy the book utterly fails..." When his wife, Beatrice, died in 1943,
4875-401: Was completely unacceptable in terms of morality, of Britain and Germany's obligations under the Treaty of London , and of British policy against any one power controlling the continent of Europe. Until the last few weeks before it started in August 1914, almost no one saw a world war coming. The expectation among the generals was that because of industrial advances any future war would produce
4950-561: Was largely in charge of the war, maintained his hold on power. When General Kitchener took command in 1900, he initiated a scorched earth policy to foil Boer guerrilla tactics. Captured Boer combatants were transported overseas to other British possessions as prisoners of war. However, he relocated non-combatant Boers—mostly women and children—into heavily guarded internment camps. The internment camps were overcrowded with bad sanitation and meagre food rations. Contagious diseases such as measles, typhoid and dysentery were endemic. Many of
5025-400: Was losing its drive and enthusiasm, especially after the retirement of the charismatic Joseph Chamberlain . There was a bitter split on "tariff reform" (that is, imposing tariffs or taxes on all imports), that drove many of the free traders over to the Liberal camp. Tariff reform was a losing issue that the Conservative leadership inexplicably clung to. Conservative support weakened among
5100-434: Was not on the Liberal agenda. There were numerous major reforms helping labour, typified by the Trade Boards Act 1909 that set minimum wages in certain trades with the history of "sweated" or "sweatshop" rates of especially low wages, because of surplus of available workers, the presence of women workers, or the lack of skills. At first it applied to four industries: chain-making, ready-made tailoring, paper-box making, and
5175-419: Was seized by the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). Founded in 1903, it was tightly controlled by the three Pankhursts, Emmeline Pankhurst (1858–1928), and her daughters Christabel Pankhurst (1880–1958) and Sylvia Pankhurst (1882–1960). It specialised in highly visible publicity campaigns such as large parades. This had the effect of energising all dimensions of the suffrage movement. While there
5250-430: Was slow to adjust to global changes, and there was a striking preference for leisure over entrepreneurship among the elite. However, London was the financial centre of the world—far more efficient and wide-ranging than New York, Paris or Berlin. Britain had built up a vast reserve of overseas credits in its formal Empire, as well as in an informal empire in Latin America and other nations. It had huge financial holdings in
5325-420: Was sustained as an important aid for women negotiating wider social shifts and tensions in their lives." Increased literacy in the middle class gave women wider access to information and ideas. Numerous new magazines appealed to their tastes and helped define femininity. The inventions of the typewriter, telephone, and new filing systems offered middle-class women increased employment opportunities. So too did
5400-485: Was the continued overcrowding in Scotland's housing. During the First World War, infant mortality fell sharply across the country. J. M. Winter attributes this to the full employment and higher wages paid to war workers. For housewives, sewing machines enabled the production of ready-made clothing and made it easier for women to sew their own clothes; more generally, argues Barbara Burman, "home dressmaking
5475-535: Was the first prime minister. The Liberal Party under Henry Campbell-Bannerman rallied Liberals around the traditional platform of free trade and land reform and led them to the greatest electoral victory in Liberal Party history. The Prime Minister was overshadowed by his frontbench, most notably H. H. Asquith at the Exchequer, Edward Grey at the Foreign Office, Richard Burdon Haldane at
5550-567: Was tightly controlled by the Liberal Foreign Secretary Edward Grey (1862–1933), who seldom consulted with his party leadership. Grey shared the strong Liberal policy against all wars and against military alliances that would force Britain to take a side in war. However, in the case of the Boer War, Grey held that the Boers had committed an aggression that it was necessary to repulse. The Liberal party split on
5625-435: Was voted down. However two further points were added. 6. To cooperate with labour and socialist organisations in the commonwealth overseas with a view to promoting the purposes of the party and to take common action for the promotion of a higher standard of social and economic life for the working population of the respective countries. 7. To cooperate with the labour and socialist organisations in other countries and to support
#795204