Attlee ministry
Clement Attlee formed the Attlee Ministry in the United Kingdom in 1945, succeeding Winston Churchill as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It won a landslide victory in 1945, enacting much of the Post-war consensus policies, especially the welfare state and nationalization of some industries.[1] It worked to reduce the severity of economic austerity, gave independence to India and engaged in the Cold War against Soviet Communism. It was narrowly reelected in 1950, and narrowly defeated in 1951.
Leaders
The Labour Party came to power in the United Kingdom after its unexpected victory in the July 1945 general elections. Party leader Clement Attlee became Prime Minister replacing Winston Churchill in late July. Ernest Bevin was Foreign Secretary until shortly before his death in April 1951. Hugh Dalton became Chancellor of the Exchequer, but had to resign in 1947, while James Chuter Ede was Home Secretary for the whole length of the party's stay in power.
Other notable figures in the government included: Herbert Morrison, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons, who replaced Bevin as Foreign Secretary in March 1951; Sir Stafford Cripps was initially President of the Board of Trade but replaced Dalton as Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1947; Hugh Gaitskell held several minor posts before replacing Cripps as Chancellor in 1950; Nye Bevan was Minister for Health; Arthur Greenwood was Lord Privy Seal and Paymaster General while future Prime Minister Harold Wilson became the youngest member of the cabinet in the 20th century (at the age of 31) when he was made President of the Board of Trade in 1947. The most notable of the few female members of the government was Ellen Wilkinson, who was Minister for Education until her early death in 1947.
Policies
It was an "age of austerity," as wartime rationing was continued and even expanded to cover bread. Living conditions were poor, instead of expansion it was a matter of replacing the national wealth destroyed or used up during the war. The Great Depression did not return, and full employment was the norm. Returning veterans were successfully reabsorbed into the economy and society.[2] The Attlee government nationalized about 20% of the economy, including coal, railways, road transport, the Bank of England, civil aviation, cable and wireless, electricity and gas, and steel. However there was no money for investment to modernize these industries, and there was no effort made to turn control over to union members. The Attlee government greatly expanded the welfare state, with the Family Allowances Act (1945) and especially the National Health Service Act of 1946, which nationalized the hospitals and provided for free universal medical care. The National Insurance Act of 1946 provided sickness and unemployment benefits for adults, plus retirement pensions. The National Assistance Act of 1948 provided a safety net for anyone not otherwise covered. The Education Act of 1944 was expanded, more council housing was built, and plans were made through the New Towns Act of 1946 for the growth of suburbs. Since there was little money for detailed planning, the government adopted Keynesianism, which allowed for planning in the sense of overall control of the national deficit and surplus.[3][4]
The Transport Act 1947 established the British Transport Commission taking over the railways from the Big Four being the Great Western Railway, London, Midland and Scottish Railway, London and North Eastern Railway and the Southern Railway to form British Railways.
In foreign affairs, the government was active in the United Nations and negotiated a $5 billion loan from the U.S. and Canada in 1946. It eagerly joined the Marshall Plan in 1948. It could no longer afford to support the Greek government and encouraged the U.S. to take its place through the Truman Doctrine in 1947. It took an active role in joining the United States in the Cold War and forming NATO. It gave independence to India, Pakistan, Ceylon and Burma and moved to strengthen the British Commonwealth.[5]
Nationalization projects
- 1945-51 The Labour Party comes to power with a program for nationalizing weak sectors of the economy.[6][7][8]
- 1946 Coal industry under the National Coal Board (later British Coal).[9]
- 1946 Bank of England[10]
- 1946 National Health Service created (with separate units in England, Wales, and Scotland and for Northern Ireland) taking over hospitals and making medical services free. NHS started operations in 1948.[11][12]
- 1947 Central Electricity Generating Board and area electricity boards.[13]
- 1947 Cable & Wireless.[14]
- 1948 National rail, inland (not marine) water transport, some road haulage, some road passenger transport and Thomas Cook & Son under the British Transport Commission. Separate elements operated as British Railways, British Road Services, and British Waterways.[15]
- 1949 Local authority gas supply undertakings in England, Scotland and Wales[13]
- 1951 Iron and Steel Industry (denationalised by Conservative Government in 1955, and re-nationalized by Labour in 1967 as British Steel Corporation).[16][17][18]
Social policies
Health
Attlee's Health Minister, Aneurin Bevan, fought hard against the general disapproval of the medical establishment, including the British Medical Association, by creating the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948. This was a publicly funded healthcare system, which offered treatment free of charge for all at the point of use. Reflecting pent-up demand that had long existed for medical services, the NHS treated some 8½ million dental patients and dispensed more than 5 million pairs of spectacles during its first year of operation.[19]
Consultants benefited from the new system by being paid salaries that provided an acceptable standard of living without the need for them to resort to private practice.[20] The NHS brought major improvements in the health of working-class people, with deaths from diphtheria, pneumonia, and TB significantly reduced.[21] Although there were often disputes about its organisation and funding, British parties continued to voice their general support for the NHS in order to remain electable.[22]
In the field of health care, funds were allocated to modernisation and extension schemes aimed at improving administrative efficiency. Improvements were made in nursing accommodation in order to recruit more nurses and reduce labour shortages which were keeping 60,000 beds out of use, and efforts were made to reduce the imbalance "between an excess of fever and tuberculosis (TB) beds and a shortage of maternity beds."[23]
BCG vaccinations were introduced for the protection of medical students, midwives, nurses, and contacts of patients with TB,[24] a pension scheme was set up for employees of the newly established NHS,[25] and the Radioactive Substances Act of 1948 set out general provisions to control radioactive substances.[26] Numerous lesser reforms were also introduced, some of which were of great benefit to certain segments of British society, such as the mentally deficient and the blind.[27] Between 1948–51, Attlee's government increased spending on health from £6 billion to £11 billion, an increase of over 80%, and from 2.1% to 3.6% of GDP.[28]
Welfare
The government set about implementing William Beveridge's plans for the creation of a 'cradle to grave' welfare state, and set in place an entirely new system of social security. Among the most important pieces of legislation was the National Insurance Act 1946, in which people in work paid a flat rate of national insurance. In return, they (and the wives of male contributors) were eligible for flat-rate pensions, sickness benefit, unemployment benefit, and funeral benefit. Various other pieces of legislation provided for child benefit and support for people with no other source of income.[29] In 1949, unemployment, sickness and maternity benefits were exempted from tax.[30]
A block grant introduced in 1948 helped the social services provided by local authorities.[31] Personal Social Services or welfare services were developed in 1948 for individual and families in general, particularly special groups such as the mentally disordered, deprived children, the elderly, and the handicapped.[32]
The Attlee Government increased pensions and other benefits, with pensions raised to become more of a living income than they had been. War pensions and allowances (for both world wars) were increased by an Act of 1946 which gave the wounded man with an allowance for his wife and children if he married after he had been wounded, thereby removing a grievance of more than twenty years standing.[33] Other improvements were made in war pensions during Attlee’s tenure as prime minister. A Constant Attendance Allowance was tripled, an Unemployability Allowance was tripled from 10s to 30s a week, and a special hardship allowance of up to £1 a week was introduced. In addition, the 1951 Budget made further improvements in the supplementary allowances for many war pensioners. From 1945 onwards, three out of every four pension claims had been successful, whilst after the First World War only one pension claim in three was allowed.[34] Under the Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act of 1948, employees of a body representative of local authorities or of the officers of local authorities could be admitted “on suitable terms to the superannuation fund of a local authority.”[35]
A more extensive system of social welfare benefits was established by the Attlee Government, which did much to reduce acute social deprivation. The cumulative impact of the Attlee's Government's health and welfare policies was such that all the indices of health (such as statistics of school medical or dental officers, or of medical officers of health) showed signs of improvement, with continual improvements in survival rates for infants and increased life expectancy for the elderly.[31] The success of the Attlee Government's welfare legislation in reducing poverty was such that, in the general election of 1950, according to one study, "Labour propaganda could make much of the claim that social security had eradicated the most abject destitution of the 1930s".[19]
Housing
The New Towns Act of 1946 set up development corporations to construct new towns, while the Town and Country Planning Act of 1947 instructed county councils to prepare development plans and also provided compulsory purchase powers.[36] The Attlee Government also extended the powers of local authorities to requisition houses and parts of houses, and made the acquisition of land less difficult than before.[37] The Housing (Scotland) Act of 1949 provided grants of 75% (87.5% in the highlands and islands) towards modernisation costs payable by Treasury to local authorities.[38]
In 1949, local authorities were empowered to provide people suffering from poor health with public housing at subsidised rents.[39]
To assist home ownership, the limit on the amount of money that people could borrow from their local authority in order to purchase or build a home was raised from £800 to £1,500 in 1945, and to £5,000 in 1949.[40] Under the National Assistance act of 1948, local authorities had a duty "to provide emergency temporary accommodation for families which become homeless through no fault of their own."[41]
A large house-building programme was carried out with the intention of providing millions of people with high-quality homes.[19] A housing bill passed in 1946 increased Treasury subsidies for the construction of local authority housing in England and Wales.[36] Four out of five houses constructed under Labour were council properties built to more generous specifications than before the Second World War, and subsidies kept down council rents. Altogether, these policies provided public-sector housing with its biggest ever boost up until that point, while low-wage earners particularly benefited from these developments. Although the Attlee Government failed to meet its targets, primarily due to economic constraints, over a million new homes were built between 1945-51 (a significant achievement under the circumstances) which ensured that decent, affordable housing was available to many low-income families for the first time ever.[19]
Women and children
A number of reforms were embarked upon to improve conditions for women and children. In 1946, universal family allowances were introduced to provide financial support to households for raising children.[42][43] These benefits had been legislated for the previous year by Churchill's Family Allowances Act 1945, and was the first measure pushed through parliament by Attlee's government.[44] Conservatives would later criticise Labour for having been "too hasty" in introducing family allowances.[37]
A Married Women (Restraint Upon Anticipation) Act was passed in 1949 "to equalise, to render inoperative any restrictions upon anticipation or alienation attached to the enjoyment of property by a woman," while the Married Women (Maintenance) Act of 1949 was enacted with the intention of improving the adequacy and duration of financial benefits for married women.[45]
The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 1950 amended an Act of 1885 to bring prostitutes within the law and safeguard them from abduction and abuse.[46] The Criminal Justice Act of 1948 restricted imprisonment for juveniles and brought improvements to the probation and remand centres systems, while the passage of the Justices of the Peace Act of 1949 led to extensive reforms of magistrates courts.[47] The Attlee Government also abolished the marriage bar in the Civil Service, thereby enabling married women to work in that institution.[48]
In 1946, the government set up a National Institute of Houseworkers as a means of providing a social democratic variety of domestic service.[49]
By late 1946, agreed standards of training were established, which was followed by the opening of a training headquarters and the opening of an additional nine (9) training centres in Wales, Scotland, and then throughout Great Britain. The National Health Service Act of 1946 indicated that domestic help should be provided for households where that help is required "owing to the presence of any person who is ill, lying-in, an expectant mother, mentally defective, aged or a child not over compulsory school age". 'Home help' therefore included the provision of home-helps for nursing and expectant mothers and for mothers with children under the age of five, and by 1952 some 20,000 women were engaged in this service.[50]
Planning and development
Development rights were nationalised while the government attempted to take all development profits for the State. Strong planning authorities were set up to control land use, and issued manuals of guidance which stressed the importance of safeguarding agricultural land. A strong chain of regional offices was set up within its planning ministry to provide a strong lead in regional development policies.[51]
Comprehensive Development Areas (CDAs), a designation under the Town and Country Planning Act of 1947, allowed local authorities to acquire property in the designated areas using powers of compulsory purchase in order to re-plan and develop urban areas suffering from urban blight or war damage.[52]
Workers' rights
Various measures were carried out to improve conditions in the workplace. Entitlement to sick leave was greatly extended, and sick pay schemes were introduced for local authority administrative, professional and technical workers in 1946 and for various categories of manual workers in 1948.[53] Worker's compensation was also significantly improved.[54]
The Fair Wages Resolution of 1946 required any contractor working on a public project to at least match the pay rates and other employment conditions set in the appropriate collective agreement.[55][56][57] In 1946, purchase tax was removed completely from kitchen fittings and crockery, while the rate was reduced on various gardening items.[49]
The Fire Services Act 1947 introduced a new pension scheme for fire-fighters,[58] while the Electricity Act 1947 introduced better retirement benefits for workers in that industry.[59] A Workers' Compensation (Supplementation) Act was passed in 1948 that introduced benefits for workers with certain asbestos-related diseases which had occurred before 1948.[60] The Merchant Shipping Act of 1948 and the Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act of 1949 were passed to improve conditions for seamen. The Shops Act of 1950 consolidated previous legislation which provided that no one could be employed in a shop for more than six hours without having a break for at least 20 minutes. The legislation also required a lunch break of at least 45 minutes for anyone for worked between 11:30 am and 2:30 pm and a half-hour tea break for anyone working between 4 pm and 7 pm.[61] The government also strengthened a Fair Wages Resolution, with a clause that required all employers getting government contracts to recognise the rights of their workers to join trade unions.[62]
The Trades Disputes Act 1927 was repealed, and a Dock Labour Scheme was introduced in 1947 to put an end to the casual system of hiring labour in the docks.[63] This scheme gave registered dockers the legal right to minimum work and decent conditions. Through the National Dock Labour Board (on which trade unions and employers had equal representation) the unions acquired control over recruitment and dismissal. Registered dockers laid off by employers within the Scheme had the right either to be taken on by another, or to generous compensation.[64] All dockers were registered under the Dock Labour Scheme, giving them a legal right to minimum work, holidays and sick pay.[65]
Wages for members of the police force were significantly increased.[66] The introduction of a Miner's Charter in 1946 instituted a five-day work week for miners and a standardised day wage structure,[31] and in 1948 a Colliery Workers Supplementary Scheme was approved, providing supplementary allowances to disabled coal-workers and their dependants.[67][68] In 1948, a pension scheme was set up to provide pension benefits for employees of the new NHS, as well as their dependents.[69] Under the Coal Industry Nationalisation (Superannuation) Regulations of 1950, a pension scheme for mineworkers was established.[70] Improvements were also made in farmworkers' wages,[34] and the Agricultural Wages Board in 1948 not only safeguarded wage levels, but also ensured that workers were provided with accommodation.[71]
A number of regulations aimed at safeguarding the health and safety of people at work were also introduced during Attlee's time in office. Regulations were issued in February 1946 applying to factories involved with “manufacturing briquettes or blocks of fuel consisting of coal, coal dust, coke or slurry with pitch as a binding .substance,” and which concerned “dust and ventilation, washing facilities and clothing accommodation, medical supervision and examination, skin and eye protection and messrooms.”[72]
The Magnesium (Grinding of Castings and Other Articles) (Special Regulations) Order of December 1946 contained special measures “respecting the maintenance of plant and apparatus; precautions against causing sparks; the interception and removal of dust; automatic operation of appliances; protective clothing; and prohibition of smoking, open lights and fires.”[73] For those workers engaged in luminising processes, the Factories (Luminising) Special Regulations (1947) prohibited the employment of those under the age of 18 and ordered “an initial medical examination to be carried out before the seventh day of employment; subsequent examinations are to be carried out once a month.”Under the terms of the Blasting (Castings and Other Articles) Special Regulations (1949) “no sand or other substance containing free silica is to be employed in any blasting process,” while the Foundries (Parting Materials) Special Regulations (1950) prohibited the use of certain parting powders “which give rise to a substantial risk of silicosis.”[74]
The Building (Safety, Health & Welfare) Regulations of 1948 required that measures should be taken to minimise exposure to potentially harmful dust or fumes,[75] while the Pottery (Health) Special Regulations (1947) prohibited the use “except in the manufacture of glazed tiles" of all “but leadless or low solubility glazes and prescribe certain processes in which ground or powdered flint or quartz are not to be employed.”[74] while the Pottery (Health and Welfare) Special Regulations of 1950 made provision for the health and safety of workers employed in factories "in which there is carried on the manufacture or decoration of pottery or certain allied manufactures or processes."[76]
Law
Various law reforms were also carried out by Attlee's government. The Criminal Justice Act of 1948 provided for new methods to deal with offenders, and abolished hard labour, penal servitude, prison divisions and whipping.[77] The Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948 enabled employees to sue their employers in cases where they experienced injury due to the negligence of a fellow employee.[78] The Legal Aid and Advice Act of 1949 introduced a State aided scheme to assist those who couldn't afford legal services.[79]
Post-war consensus
Most historians argue that the main domestic policies (except nationalization of steel) reflected a broad bipartisan consensus. The post-war consensus is a historians' model of political agreement from 1945 to the late-1970s. In 1979 newly elected Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher rejected and reversed it.[80] The concept claims there was a widespread consensus that covered support for coherent package of policies that were developed in the 1930s, promised during the Second World War, and enacted under Attlee. The policies dealt with a mixed economy, Keynesianism, and a broad welfare state.[81] In recent years the validity of the interpretation has been debated by historians.
The historians' model of the post-war consensus was most fully developed by Paul Addison.[82] The basic argument is that in the 1930s Liberal Party intellectuals led by John Maynard Keynes and William Beveridge developed a series of plans that became especially attractive as the wartime government promised a much better post-war Britain and saw the need to engage every sector of society. The coalition government during the war, headed by Churchill and Attlee, signed off on a series of white papers that promised Britain a much improved welfare state. After the war, the promises included the national health service, and expansion of education, housing, and a number of welfare programs. It did not include the nationalization of iron and steel, which was aaproved only by the Labour Party.
The model states that from 1945 until the arrival of Thatcher in 1979, there was a broad multi-partisan national consensus on social and economic policy, especially regarding the welfare state, nationalized health services, educational reform, a mixed economy, government regulation, Keynesian macroeconoic, policies , and full employment. Apart from the question of nationalization of some industries, these policies were broadly accepted by the three major parties, as well as by industry, the financial community and the labour movement. Until the 1980s, historians generally agreed on the existence and importance of the consensus. Some historians such as Ralph Milibrand expressed disappointment that the consensus was a modest or even conservative package that blocked a fully socialized society.[83] Historian Angus Calder complained bitterly that the post-war reforms were an inadequate reward for the wartime sacrifices, and a cynical betrayal of the people's hope for a more just post-war society.[84] In recent years, there has been a historiographical debate on whether such a consensus ever existed.[85]
Fate
The Labour Party narrowly defeated the Conservative Party at the February 1950 general election. However, in the October 1951 general elections the Conservatives returned to power under Winston Churchill. Labour was to remain out of office for the next thirteen years, until 1964, when Harold Wilson became Prime Minister.
Cabinets
1945 − 1950
- Clement Attlee: Prime Minister and Minister of Defence
- Lord Jowitt: Lord Chancellor
- Herbert Morrison: Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
- Arthur Greenwood: Lord Privy Seal
- Hugh Dalton: Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Ernest Bevin: Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
- James Chuter Ede: Secretary of State for the Home Department
- George Henry Hall: Secretary of State for the Colonies
- Lord Addison: Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs and Leader of the House of Lords
- Lord Pethick-Lawrence: Secretary of State for India and Burma
- A. V. Alexander: First Lord of the Admiralty
- Jack Lawson: Secretary of State for War
- Lord Stansgate: Secretary of State for Air
- Ellen Wilkinson: Minister of Education
- Joseph Westwood: Secretary of State for Scotland
- Tom Williams: Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries
- George Isaacs: Minister of Labour and National Service
- Aneurin Bevan: Minister of Health
- Sir Stafford Cripps: President of the Board of Trade
- Emanuel Shinwell: Minister of Fuel and Power
Changes
- July 1946 – Arthur Greenwood becomes Paymaster General as well as Lord Privy Seal.
- October 1946 – The three service ministers (Secretary of State for War, Secretary of State for Air, and First Lord of the Admiralty) cease to be cabinet positions. A. V. Alexander remains in the cabinet as Minister without Portfolio. George Hall replaces A. V. Alexander as First Lord of the Admiralty, outside the cabinet. Arthur Creech Jones succeeds Hall as Secretary of State for the Colonies.
- December 1946 – A. V. Alexander succeeds Attlee as Minister of Defence.
- February 1947 – George Tomlinson succeeds Ellen Wilkinson as Minister of Education upon her death.
- March 1947 – Arthur Greenwood ceases to be Paymaster General, remaining Lord Privy Seal. His successor as Paymaster General is not in the cabinet.
- April 1947 – Arthur Greenwood becomes Minister without Portfolio. Lord Inman succeeds Arthur Greenwood as Lord Privy Seal. William Francis Hare, Lord Listowel succeeds Lord Pethick-Lawrence as Secretary of State for India and Burma.
- July 1947 – The Dominion Affairs Office becomes the Office of Commonwealth Relations. Addison remains at the head.
- August 1947 – The India and Burma Office becomes the Burma office with India's independence. Lord Listowel remains in office. Responsibility for relations with India and Pakistan themselves are transferred to Addison and the Commonwealth Relations Office.
- September 1947 – Sir Stafford Cripps becomes Minister of Economic Affairs. Harold Wilson succeeds Cripps as President of the Board of Trade. Arthur Greenwood retires from the Front Bench.
- October 1947 – Lord Addison succeeds Lord Inman as Lord Privy Seal, remaining also Leader of the House of Lords. Philip Noel-Baker succeeds Lord Addison as Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations. Arthur Woodburn succeeds Joseph Westwood as Secretary of State for Scotland. The Minister of Fuel and Power, Emanuel Shinwell, leaves the Cabinet.
- November 1947 – Sir Stafford Cripps succeeds Hugh Dalton as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
- January 1948 – The Burma Office is abolished with Burma's independence.
- May 1948: Hugh Dalton re-enters the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Lord Pakenham enters the Cabinet as Minister of Civil Aviation.
- July 1948: Lord Addison becomes Paymaster General.
- April 1949: Lord Addison ceases to be Paymaster General, remaining Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords. His successor as Paymaster General is not in the Cabinet.
1950 − 1951
In February 1950, a substantial reshuffle took place following the General Election:
- Clement Attlee: Prime Minister
- Lord Jowitt: Lord Chancellor
- Herbert Morrison: Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
- Lord Addison: Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords
- Sir Stafford Cripps: Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Ernest Bevin: Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
- James Chuter Ede: Secretary of State for the Home Department
- Jim Griffiths: Secretary of State for the Colonies
- Patrick Gordon Walker: Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations
- Harold Wilson: President of the Board of Trade
- Lord Alexander of Hillsborough: Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
- George Tomlinson: Minister of Education
- Hector McNeil: Secretary of State for Scotland
- Tom Williams: Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries
- George Isaacs: Minister of Labour and National Service
- Aneurin Bevan: Minister of Health
- Emanuel Shinwell: Minister of Defence
- Hugh Dalton: Minister of Town and Country Planning
Changes
- October 1950: Hugh Gaitskell succeeds Sir Stafford Cripps as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
- January 1951: Aneurin Bevan succeeds George Isaacs as Minister of Labour and National service. Bevan's successor as Minister of Health is not in the cabinet. Hugh Dalton's post is renamed Minister of Local Government and Planning.
- March 1951: Herbert Morrison succeeds Ernest Bevin as Foreign Secretary. Lord Addison succeeds Morrison as Lord President. Bevin succeeds Addison as Lord Privy Seal. James Chuter Ede succeeds Morrison as Leader of the House of Commons whilst remaining Home Secretary.
- April 1951: Richard Stokes succeeds Ernest Bevin as Lord Privy Seal. Alf Robens succeeds Aneurin Bevan (resigned) as Minister of Labour and National Service. Sir Hartley Shawcross succeeds Harold Wilson (resigned) as President of the Board of Trade.
List of Ministers
Members of the Cabinet are in bold face.
Major legislation enacted during the Attlee Government
- Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945
- Housing (Financial and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1946
- Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946
- Furnished Houses (Rent Control) Act 1946
- National Health Service Act 1946
- National Insurance Act 1946
- National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Act 1946
- New Towns Act 1946
- Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1946
- Hill Farming Act 1946
- Agriculture Act 1947
- Pensions (Increase) Act 1947
- Electricity Act 1947
- Town and Country Planning Act 1947
- Transport Act 1947
- National Assistance Act 1948
- Children Act 1948
- Factories Act 1948
- Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1948
- Agricultural Holdings Act 1948
- Employment and Training Act 1948
- Nurseries and Child-Minders Regulation Act 1948
- Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948
- Local Government Act 1948
- Representation of the People Act 1948
- Housing Act 1949
- Superannuation Act 1949
- House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949
- Landlord and Tenant (Rent Control) Act 1949
- Lands Tribunal Act 1949
- Legal Aid and Advice Act 1949
- Adoption of Children Act 1949
- Marriage Act 1949
- National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949
- Parliament Act 1949
- Representation of the People Act 1949
- Distribution of Industry Act 1950
- Coal-Mining (Subsidence) Act 1950
- Allotments Act 1950
- Workmen's Compensation (Supplementation) Act 1951
See also
Notes
- ↑ Rachel Reeves, and Martin McIvor. "Clement Attlee and the foundations of the British welfare state." Renewal: a Journal of Labour Politics 22#3/4 (2014): 42+. online
- ↑ Andrew Marr, A History of Modern Britain (2007) pp 1–111
- ↑ Stephen J. Lee, Aspects of British Political History 1914–1995 (1996) pp 185–89
- ↑ Alan Sked and Chris Cook, Post-War Britain: A Political History (1993) pp 24–223
- ↑ Stephen J. Lee, Aspects of British Political History 1914–1995 (1996) pp 261–66, 310–12
- ↑ William Ashworth, The state in business: 1945 to the mid 1980s (1991).
- ↑ Martin Chick, Industrial policy in Britain 1945-1951: economic planning, nationalisation and the Labour governments (2002).
- ↑ Robert A. Brady, Crisis in Britain. Plans and Achievements of the Labour Government (1950) excerpt
- ↑ Brady, Crisis in Britain pp 77-32
- ↑ Brady, Crisis in Britain pp 43-77.
- ↑ Brady, Crisis in Britain pp 352-401
- ↑ Michael Foot, Aneurin Bevan: v. 2. 1945-1960 (1973) pp 100-215
- 1 2 Brady, Crisis in Britain pp 132-8
- ↑ Brady, Crisis in Britain pp 284-306
- ↑ Brady, Crisis in Britain pp 236-83
- ↑ George W. Ross, The Nationalization of Steel: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back? (1965).
- ↑ Alasdair M. Blair, "The British iron and steel industry since 1945." Journal of European Economic History 26.3 (1997): 571.
- ↑ Brady, Crisis in Britain pp 183-235
- 1 2 3 4 Jefferys, Kevin. The Attlee Governments, 1945–1951.
- ↑ Timmins, Nicholas. The Five Giants: A Biography of the Welfare State.
- ↑ Lowe, Norman. Mastering Modern World History (second edition)
- ↑ Blendon, R.J. & K. Donelan (1989). "British public opinion on National Health Service reform" (PDF). Health Affairs. 8 (4): 52–62. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.8.4.52. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ Chick, Martin. Industrial Policy in Britain 1945–1951: Economic Planning, Nationalisation and the Labour Governments
- ↑ Poverty, inequality and health in Britain, 1800–2000: a reader edited by George Davey Smith, Daniel Dorling, and Mary Shaw
- ↑ Emslie, Stuart & Charles Hancock, eds. (30 July 2008). Issues in Healthcare Risk Management. Oxford, UK: Healthcare Governance Limited. p. 179. ISBN 9780955852602. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- ↑ "International Standards for Food Safety". Retrieved 9 January 2016.
- ↑ Hill, C.P. British Economic and Social History, 1700–1964.
- ↑ Ten Years of New Labour (edited by Matt Beech and Simon Lee)
- ↑ Thorpe, Andrew. (2001) A History of the British Labour Party, Palgrave; ISBN 0-333-92908-X
- ↑ "HC S Budget Resolution and Economic Situation". Margaret Thatcher Foundation. 5 May 1966. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- 1 2 3 Morgan, Kenneth. Labour in Power, 1945–51.
- ↑ Byrne, Tony & Colin F. Padfield. Social Services: Made Simple.
- ↑ Socialism: The British Way (edited by Donald Munro).
- 1 2 Fifty Facts for Labour, published by the Labour Party, Transport House, Smith Square, London, SW1, October 1951.
- ↑ "Pension and Widows' and Orphans' Funds". Retrieved 9 January 2016.
- 1 2 Harmer, Harry. The Longman Companion to The Labour Party 1900–1998.
- 1 2 Pritt, Denis Nowell. The Labour Government 1945–51.
- ↑ Scottish Housing in the Twentieth Century (edited by Richard Rodger)
- ↑ Miller, George (1 January 2000). On Fairness and Efficiency: The Privatisation of the Public Income Over the Past Millennium. Bristol, UK: The Policy Press. p. 172. ISBN 9781861342218. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- ↑ "Fifty Facts on Housing", published by the Labour Party, Transport House, Smith Square, London SW1, February 1951
- ↑ Socially Deprived Families in Britain (edited by Robert Holman), first published in 1970 (reprinted edition 1971).
- ↑ "Who, What, Why: Why do the rich get child benefit?". BBC News. 4 October 2010.
- ↑ "An Assessment of the Attlee Government". Google. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- ↑ Waltman, Jerold L. (2004). The Case for the Living Wage. Algore Publishing. p. 199. ISBN 9780875863023. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- ↑ J.P. Lawton (April 1950). "Married Women (Maintenance) Act, 1949". The Modern Law Review. Wiley. 13 (2): 220–22. JSTOR 1089590.
- ↑ "Mulberry". Learningeye.net. 9 October 2004. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- ↑ The Longman Companion to the Labour Party, 1900–1998 by H.J.P. Harmer
- ↑ Hollowell, J. (2008). Britain Since 1945. Wiley. p. 180. ISBN 9780470758175. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- 1 2 Francis, Martin. Ideas and Policies Under Labour, 1945–1951.
- ↑ "The Women's Library Special Collections Catalogue". Calmarchive.londonmet.ac.uk. 9 July 1952. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ↑ Labour and Inequality: Sixteen Fabian Essays (edited by Peter Townsend and Nicholas Bosanquet).
- ↑ Squires, Graham (21 August 2012). "Urban and Environmental Economics: An Introduction". ISBN 9781136791000.
- ↑ Townsend, Peter. Poverty in the United Kingdom: A Survey of Household Resources and Standards of Living.
- ↑ Hicks, Alexander M. Social Democracy & Welfare Capitalism: A Century of Income Security Politics.
- ↑ Beaumont, Phil B. (1987). The Decline of Trade Union Organisation. Croom Helm. ISBN 9780709939580. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ↑ Card, David, Richard Blundell & Richard B. Freeman (1 December 2007). Seeking a Premier Economy: The Economic Effects of British Economic Reforms. University of Chicago Press. p. 192. ISBN 9780226092904. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ↑ Asplund, Rita, ed. (1998). Flexibility in the Nordic Labour Market. Nordic Council of Ministers. p. 119. ISBN 9789289302579. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ↑ "Google Drive Viewer" (PDF). Google. 5 December 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ↑ "MIDLANDS ELECTRICITY BOARD (WORKERS' PENSION SCHEME) (Hansard, 21 November 1957)". Hansard.millbanksystems.com. 21 November 1957. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- ↑ "DWP IIAC Cm 6553 1805" (PDF). July 2005. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ↑ "Working Time Directive" (PDF). 19 November 1996. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ↑ Fraser, W. Hamish. A History of British Trade Unionism, 1700–1998.
- ↑ "DOCK WORKERS (PENSIONS) BILL (Hansard, 11 May 1960)". Hansard.millbanksystems.com. 11 May 1960. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
- ↑ Harrison, Brian (26 March 2009). Seeking a Role: The United Kingdom 1951–1970. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191606786. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ↑ "Ken Loach's film - The Spirit Of '45 – How We Did it". thespiritof45.com. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ "POLICE PENSIONS REGULATIONS (Hansard, 29 June 1949)". Hansard.millbanksystems.com. 29 June 1949. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- ↑ "HC S National Insurance (Colliery Workers)". Margaret Thatcher Foundation. 15 March 1965. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- ↑ Social security in Britain, Great Britain, Central Office of Information, Reference Division, H.M. Stationery Office (1977)
- ↑ http://www.amicustheunion.org/pdf/NHSHandSBlueBook.pdf[]
- ↑ Eggar, Tim (22 November 1994). "The Industry-Wide Mineworkers' Pension Scheme Regulations 1994". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
- ↑ "Labour's rural legacy under threat". 29 April 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
- ↑
- ↑ The Magnesium (Grinding of Castings and Other Articles) (Special Regulations) Order of December 1946, staging.ilo.org; accessed 25 March 2016.
- 1 2 "Foundries (Parting Materials) Special Regulations (1950)", staging.ilo.org; accessed 25 March 2016.
- ↑ "International Handbook on Regulating Nanotechnologies". Retrieved 9 January 2016.
- ↑ "The Pottery (Health and Welfare) Special Regulations 1950". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ Examination note-book of the English legal system: including a history of judicial institutions by Ronald Harry Graveson
- ↑ Steele, J. (2010). Tort Law: Text, Cases, and Materials. OUP Oxford. p. 15. ISBN 9780199550753. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ Collins, M. (2000). AS Level Law. Taylor & Francis. p. 164. ISBN 9781135340858. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ↑ Richard Toye, "From 'Consensus' to 'Common Ground': The Rhetoric of the Postwar Settlement and its Collapse," Journal of Contemporary History (2013) 48#1 pp 3-23.
- ↑ Dennis Kavanagh, "The Postwar Consensus," Twentieth Century British History (1992) 3#2 pp 175-190.
- ↑ Paul Addison, The road to 1945: British politics and the Second World War (1975).
- ↑ Ralph Miliband, Parliamentary socialism: A study in the politics of labour. (1972).
- ↑ Angus Calder, The Peoples War: Britain, 1939 – 1945 (1969).
- ↑ Daniel Ritschel, Daniel. "Consensus in the Postwar Period After 1945," in David Loades, ed., Reader's Guide to British History (2003) 1:296-297.
Further reading
- Brady, Robert A. Crisis in Britain: Plans and Achievements of the Labour Government. (1950), 730pp, highly detailed coverage of each nationalization project Social Security, health programs, and other domestic policies. excerpt
- Butler, David and G. Butler, Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900–2000.
- Childs, David. Britain since 1945: A Political History (2012) excerpt and text search
- French, David. Army, Empire, and Cold War: The British Army and Military Policy, 1945-1971 (Oxford University Press, 2012).
- Hennessy, Peter. Never Again: Britain, 1945-1951 (1994).
- Hennessey, Thomas. Britain's Korean War: Cold War diplomacy, strategy and security 1950-53 (Oxford University Press, 2015).
- Kynaston, David. Austerity Britain, 1945–1951 (2008) excerpt and text search, social history
- Morgan, Kenneth O. Labour in Power 1945–51 (Oxford University Press, 1984)
- Ovendale, R. ed. The foreign policy of the British Labour governments, 1945–51 (1984).
- Pelling, Henry. "The 1945 general election reconsidered." Historical Journal 23#2 (1980): 399-414. in JSTOR
- Pelling, Henry. Labour Governments, 1945-51 (1984) 313pp.
- Reeves, Rachel, and Martin McIvor. "Clement Attlee and the foundations of the British welfare state." Renewal: a Journal of Labour Politics 22#3/4 (2014): 42+. online
- Sked, Alan, and Chris Cook. Post-War Britain: A Political History (1979)
- Tomlinson, Jim. Democratic Socialism and Economic Policy: The Attlee Years, 1945–1951 (2002) Excerpt and text search
- Williamson, Adrian. "The Bullock Report on Industrial Democracy and the Post-War Consensus." Contemporary British History 30#1 (2016): 119-149.
| Preceded by Churchill caretaker ministry |
Government of the United Kingdom 1945–1951 |
Succeeded by Third Churchill ministry |
.svg.png){kind=small}
.svg.png)
