Study all the sources. Using all these sources and your own knowledge, assess the view that the rise of the Labour party was the greatest political challenge to the Liberal party in the period of 1906-1914

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Study all the sources.
Using all these sources and your own knowledge, assess the view that the rise of the Labour party was the greatest political challenge to the Liberal party in the period of 1906-1914

        All four sources I will use to answer the question are from different perspectives at different periods of time and all have a different level of relevance. For instance, the source dated 1906 has more relevance to the view than the source from 1981. Also, with the varied levels of favouritism towards each party, the opinions and views towards the statement that the rise of Labour was the greatest challenge for the Liberals. Source A is the only source with a Liberal view whilst Source B is the only of the sources with a Labour perspective; Source C is from a Tory viewpoint and Source D is the only of the four to have a neutral opinion.

        Source A is from October 1906 and is by David Lloyd George at a time he was the President of the Board of Trade. Due to his role in the Liberal government, who had just been put into power, he is heavily narrow-minded towards the Liberal preferences. However, as the speech was made just after the 1906 general election, the speech is not a persuasive vote-seeker, but rather a warning to his party about the Labour uprising. The Liberals had just been voted into power which left them vulnerable and needed to answer questions on their policies with relevant action. “I can tell the Liberals now what will make this Independent Labour party into a powerful force that is capable of sweeping away Liberalism” – this quote has a tone of desperation for Lloyd George who seemingly respects the Labour party and believes they have the potential to ruin the Liberals and their policies. However, the Liberal minister offers a solution to this problem: “But if the Liberals tackle these great problems of extreme poverty now, then the Labour party will call in vain for the workers to desert Liberalism and join with a rival political group”. This is a very bold statement from Lloyd George, and shows his conversion from the regular laissez-faire viewpoint to a more collective approach. In a contrast to this, Source B is from a well-known socialist and member of the Labour party and is a diary extract that criticises the Liberal policies on welfare. The Source is from Beatrice Webb, an active member of the Fabian Society, and is a personal, opinionated text that heavily favours the Labour party. She states that the Liberals favour “partial state responsibility”, whilst Labour believe in “complete state responsibility” which shows the contrast in trust for each of the parties. Therefore, the Labour party are shown as more strong and reliable than the Liberals in this perspective, and coincidentally Lloyd George is not known for his honesty. Despite this indication of strength, the Labour party seem vulnerable as the extract features repetition of the word ‘hope’ which show their lack of power: “Our hope is that if people find sickness increasing, and insurance premiums going up, they may turn their attention to the prevention of poverty itself”. This also shows a sense of desperation alike Source A, and show the party were in a bad state in 1911 as their votes were still far worse than the Liberals’.

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The date of the source is May 1911, which was after the 2 General Elections in 1910 whereby the Liberals – who could not break the deadlock with the Conservatives seen in the January 1910 election - did not get a majority vote and went on to form a coalition with the Irish Nationalists in return for their policy of the ‘home rule’. The fact that the Liberals were unable to get a majority of seats in the House of Common proved to be worry for Lloyd George. Between 1906 – the date source A was produced - and the ...

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