'How far had the British Government abandoned the policy of laissez-faire by 1914?'

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Essay 2                                                        Lauren Ford 5R2

‘How far had the British Government abandoned the policy of laissez-faire by 1914?’

100 years ago ¾ of the population in Britain were merely working class, 1/3 were living in severe poverty. Life expectancy was short and infant mortality rates were absurd, in Scotland 13 out of every 100 babies would die before they reached the age of one. The government and many rich, prosperous people believed in ‘Self help not State help’, many possessed the saying of ‘heaven helps those who help themselves.’ Overall, in their opinion it was up to the individuals to look after themselves. Many things contributed to the Government finally realising that Britain was at a stage where state intervention was greatly needed. The colossal divide in social classes in the 1800s to early 1900s resulting in many people falling in to great poverty highlighting the lack of efficiency in the Governments laissez-faire ideology. The findings of Booth and Rowntree lead to a national uproar at the high number of people in Britain living without a decent house and enough money to feed a family for a week. By the year 1914, the British Government had abandoned the policy of laissez-faire to a certain extent.

David Lloyd George, or otherwise known as ‘The Father of the Welfare State’ wanted to enforce state intervention to such an extent that it would provide the country with enough help to create a healthy Britain. His initial plan included a state funded National Health Service (NHS), state funded education, unemployment benefit and a state pension.  He called this ‘The Welfare State’.

So why did the British Government resort to abandoning the policy of laissez-faire? The Boer War of 1899-1902 proved the British National Efficiency to be extremely low. Over half of the applicants who seeked work in the army were rejected simply because they were not fit enough. Many people highlighted the fact that if there were no fit or healthy soldiers then there was no protection for Britain as a country or their colonies. Furthermore, if the British workforce were unhealthy then the trade and exports would decrease because of an insufficient output of goods.

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In January 1906, the Liberal party won 400 seats in the House of Commons, thereby a majority and gaining power. The Liberals strongly believed in state intervention and with Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman in power till 1908 and thereafter Herbert Henry Asquith, they passed various reforms between 1906-1914, which did in a way remove the old laissez-faire ideology.

These liberal reforms targeted many areas of society, but in particular one group that was helped a great deal were the children. Between 1906-1914 the Government passed various policies that would help the growing concern in the deterioration of children’s health ...

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