Attlee government, 1945-51
- Created by: Emily_O
- Created on: 29-12-14 22:56
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- Attlee government, 1945-51
- End of wartime coalition
- German army surrendered on 7th May 1945, on the 23rd the British coalition ended
- Churchill formed a 'caretaker' Tory Cabinet until an election could be held
- Voting decided to take place on 5th July 1945
- There was much consensus between the two parties during the war but this was coming to an end
- 1945 General Election
- Why Labour won
- Consistently ahead in opinion polls
- Conservatives paid penalty for suffering and mistakes of the 1930s
- Unemployment and fear of its return
- British government's dealings with Hitler before the war and policy of appeasement now looked at with shame
- Blamed on Conservatives
- Appeared better organised than Conservatives
- There was increased faith in the power of the state to produce a fairer society
- Attlee claimed Labour was now the all-embracing national party, representing 'all the main streams which flow into the great river of our national life'
- Conservatives seen as a 'class party' representing 'property and privilege'
- Attlee claimed Labour was now the all-embracing national party, representing 'all the main streams which flow into the great river of our national life'
- Churchill's attempts to scare the electorate with Gestapo speech were unconvincing
- There was a big difference between war leader Churchill and peacetime leader Churchill
- Large amount of armed forces didn't want to live under the same conditions as they had before
- Conservatives relied on Churchill for victory
- Result of the election
- 393 Labour MPs (154 in 1935) to 213 Conservative (432 in 1935)
- Why Labour won
- The welfare state
- Beveridge report, 1942
- Talked about 'five giants' that needed to be conquered
- Want
- Disease
- Ignorance
- Squalor
- Idleness
- Talked about 'five giants' that needed to be conquered
- National Insurance Act, 1946
- Paid for by contributions from workers and employers, not taxation
- Minimum number of contributions had to be made before benefits could be drawn
- School children, pensioners, married women and self-employed earning less than £104 a year weren't covered
- Old-age pensions were introduced
- Paid for by contributions from workers and employers, not taxation
- National Assistance Act, 1948
- The unemployed and those who didn't make contributions were covered
- Personal means tests were applied by regional offices of the National Assistance Board
- National Health Service Act, 1946
- Bevan decided to nationalise all hospitals
- 80% of the costs was to come from taxation, the rest from national insurance contributions
- Plan was for 388 hospitals to be run by 14 regional hospital oards
- He had problems with the British Medical Association (BMA)
- Most doctors feared becoming state employees and losing money
- Bevan compromised: doctors would receive a small salary topped up by fees depending on the amount of patients
- He allowed private practice to continue
- For the first time ever, everyone could access free healthcare
- Bevan decided to nationalise all hospitals
- Housing and town planning
- By 1945 there were 700,000 fewer houses than in 1939
- Nye Bevan was responsible for housing (Minister of Health) but was 'only keeping half a Nye on it'
- He was responsible for two Housing Acts
- 157,000 prefabricated houses were constructed as temporary accomodation
- However he didn't reach target of 300,000 houses a year
- 750,000 homes had been provided by September 1948
- Town and Country Planning Act, 1948
- Agricultural land to be protected
- Urban development to be carefully controlled
- 14 new towns to be built
- National Parks introduced
- Beveridge report, 1942
- Education
- Butler's Education Act, 1944
- Implementation left to Labour
- Ellen Wilkinson appointed Minister of Education
- Hard to produce change - financial stingency
- School leaving age raised to 15 in 1947
- 928 new primary school buildings built by 1950 and there were 35,000 extra teachers from service personnel
- Tripartite system of education introduced
- Failed to produce technical schools - financial problems
- 25% of children went to grammar schools, 75% to secondary moderns
- Seen as socially divisive
- Did provide opportunities for working class children and contributed to social mobility over next 30 years
- Butler's Education Act, 1944
- Nationalisation
- Made little change to workers within industries and usually left same managers
- Coal industry and Cable and Wireless, January 1947
- Iron and steel industry, 1951
- Strongly resisted by Conservatives
- Age of Austerity
- USA suddenly ended Lend-Lease in August 1945
- Without it Britain wouldn't be able to pay for food imports or defence commitments
- Occupied Germany, Greece and the Middle East
- Economist John Meynard Keynes was sent to America to negotiate a loan
- In 1946 the US agreed to a fifty year loan of $3.75 billion at 2% interest
- Also within 1 year of the loan beginning the pound had to become freely convertible
- In 1946 the US agreed to a fifty year loan of $3.75 billion at 2% interest
- Without it Britain wouldn't be able to pay for food imports or defence commitments
- British exports collapsed
- Dalton introduced heavy taxation
- Meant to restrain spending power in Britain and encourage firms to export
- Dalton introduced heavy taxation
- Extremely bad winter 1947
- Conservatives coined the phrase 'shiver with Shinwell'
- Manny Shinwell was Minister of Fuel and Power
- Fuel shortages in December 1946
- Conservatives coined the phrase 'shiver with Shinwell'
- Ra\
- USA suddenly ended Lend-Lease in August 1945
- End of wartime coalition
- Made considerable difference to all but the wealthiest members of British society
- National Assistance Act, 1948
- The unemployed and those who didn't make contributions were covered
- Personal means tests were applied by regional offices of the National Assistance Board
- National Insurance Act, 1946
- Paid for by contributions from workers and employers, not taxation
- Minimum number of contributions had to be made before benefits could be drawn
- School children, pensioners, married women and self-employed earning less than £104 a year weren't covered
- Old-age pensions were introduced
- Paid for by contributions from workers and employers, not taxation
- Built on existing welfare provisions, giving almost universal security from extreme poverty
- National Assistance Act, 1948
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