How successful was Lord Liverpools government in defeating radical demands 1815-1827?

One major issue in the period was Catholic emancipation so was a big target for radicals’ demands.

As by the mid 1820s the predominantly Catholic country of Ireland was very sensitive on the issue, as shown by the movement of The Catholic Association.  Throughout the period of his government Lord Liverpool kept the issue an open question and in his failing to address it showed the Catholics he may be still be willing to grant them repeal of the Act on Union 1800 but at the same time denied all of their demands. This was a very clever political move as he kept both parties happy and is shown to be the best option as after his retirement the party close the question dividing and weakening the party.  One further action of the government to deal with radical action was the 6 acts or gagging acts which included a ban on military style training and banned public meeting over 50 people without official permission. These acts allowed the government to further suppress radicals by not allowing them to meet in large numbers to show popular support and gave local agencies more power to deal with violent action which meant that the government defeat radical demands by suppressing all political activity.

Other historians argue that the government under Lord Liverpool’s acts were not successful in defeating radical demands. One method of dealing with demand was the combination acts (1800) where the government passed laws which banned trade unions. However in 1824 the act was repealed after a radical campaign led by Francis Place. This shows how the radicals were influencing the government as they never publically supported the idea.  The trade unions, although restricted, were joined in masses and therefore were able to encourage people to join the radicals and a mass also enabled the radicals demand more as they were seen as a unified force. The repeal therefore opened the gates for even more demands which the government would have to deal with.

Habeas corpus was suspended in 1816 after an attack on the Prince Regents coach meaning that people could then be arrested without trial or reason for simply being a radical. This seemed like it would help decrease demands but the harshness of the act was a target for many radical leaders and speeches thus attracting more people to the radical cause and therefore increasing the number of demands making the success of Lord Liverpool less likely. The suspension was repealed in 1817 which shows a failure on the government’s part as they fell to the radical demands to restore Habeas corpus as a basic human right. The March of the Blanketeers in 1817 was a peaceful protest march starting in Manchester with the intention of presenting a petition in London. They only just left Manchester when they were stopped y troops and arrested one man being killed. This may seem like a good way to stop radical demands but the harshness of the acts as well as the economic climate at the time only added to a large list of grievances the radicals already had creating more demands making the success of Lord Liverpool less likely.  The Blanketeers were peaceful and a positive move by the government e.g. agreeing to look at the petition may have calmed down radicals for a while in the short term.

The debate whether Lord Liverpool’s government was successful or not is strong on both sides with the positive being radical demands were dealt with using methods as shown by the lack of reform in government pre 1827. However it can also be argued that the government were too harsh and therefore this created more demands which weren’t dealt with, however at a time where radials were a new idea and the very basics of British democracy which had been core for decades were challenged historians argue that the government did what they had to do for what they felt right.

The acts can all be justified by radical action of which some was violent and could not be dealt with by the yeomanry. Overall Lord Liverpool’s government was successful in defeating radical demands between 1815-1827.