Explain Why the Liberal Government Introduced a Series of Reforms Between 1906-1914. What Reforms Did They Introduce, and How Far Did They Go Towards Laying the Foundations of the Present Welfare State System.

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EXPLAIN WHY THE LIBERAL GOVERNMENT INTRODUCED A SERIES OF REFORMS BETWEEN 1906-1914. WHAT REFORMS DID THEY INTRODUCE, AND HOW FAR DID THEY GO TOWARDS LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE PRESENT WELFARE STATE SYSTEM

The new Liberal Government of 1906 marked the beginning of a new era in British politics, because they managed to take office, after winning by a landslide victory. The conservative party had been in power for years, representing the wealthy upper classes, but now, with the Liberal government in power, the lower and middle classes were finally represented-the government was no longer dominated by wealthy aristocrats. The Liberal government knew they needed to be more involved with society and needed to change the way things were, ensuring that the public were even. The Liberals decided to introduce a number of reforms while they were in power, in return for middle and working class support. The reforms mainly supported the young, the old, the unemployed, the workers and the sick.

When the Liberal government came to power, it saw the beginning of new Liberalism, which went against the idea of ‘Laissez-Faire’. They knew things had to be changed. These changes needed to be made for several reasons. The first of these reasons concerned two men: Charles Booth and Seebohn Rowntree. The two of them proved that 30% of the population were living in poverty, and the majority of people who had a job, were on very low wages.  Another reason was because of the Boer War. This war highlighted that over half the men who had volunteered to fight, were medically unfit. A healthy workforce was needed for military and economic purposes, which showed that if the UK were to be involved in war, they would need people to fight. The Liberals also needed to make sure that the people recognised that they were very different from the conservatives, in order to secure votes. The Liberals wanted to introduce reforms also because the Liberals were under pressure from the Labour party, due to the Lib-Lab pact, and from trade unions. The final reason was because David Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Winston Churchill, the minister of trade, were anxious to enhance their reputations.

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With all of these reasons, the Liberals needed to gain support and so created a number of reforms, to help put the middle and upper classes on their side. As I mentioned, the reforms benefited the young, the old, the unemployed, the workers and the sick. The majority of the reforms benefited the workers in 1909, and so the majority of them benefited them. The acts that benefited the workers were all very important, some more than others, and some were more successful than others. Probably the most important for them were the payment of MP’s act, the national ...

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