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Critics of the Liberal reforms
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It may seem strange today but at the time of the Liberal reforms there was a lot of opposition to them. Many people in society as a whole still believed that it was the job of the individuals and their families to look after themselves. They were worried that if the state gave too much help to poor families then they would become lazy and expect the state to provide everything for them.
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An extract from a letter from the Board of Education to the Monmouthshire County Council, 1904 (PRO ref: ED 125/11) |
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Another factor that brought criticism was the cost of the reforms. The most spectacular example of this came in the years 1908-11. In 1908 the Liberals introduced Old Age Pensions. In 1909 the Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, introduced what he called the People's Budget. In simple terms, this budget put taxes on to the wealthy to pay for welfare reforms like pensions. Lloyd George disliked the wealthy and was very happy to upset them by passing measures like the People's Budget. The Budget caused outrage. The House of Lords opposed it. They threw out the Budget even though the elected MPs in the House of Commons had approved it. This led to another election, which the Liberals won. The Liberals then passed the Budget and passed the Parliament Act (1911), which greatly reduced the power of the House of Lords. There were other critics of the reforms as well. The British Medical Association (which represented the doctors) often criticised the National Health Insurance Act and the provisions for school medical inspections and treatment. It should be said that they usually criticised the way the measures worked, rather than the measures themselves. Trade unions and friendly societies also criticised the detailed workings of the reforms, even though they supported the reforms themselves. For example, Friendly Societies complained that the doctors who gave treatment under National Health Insurance were not always the highest quality. Trade unions often complained the Old Age Pension was not high enough. One surprising group of critics were ordinary working people. They disliked having to pay 4d. a week out of their wages for National Insurance. There were many campaigns to get certain trades made exempt (e.g. domestic servants). However, once people saw the benefits of National Insurance - health care and unemployment pay - the criticisms grew less. |
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