liverpool gov 3 main issues

liverpool background

born in June in 1770, went to Oxford and entered the house of commons in 1790 for the rotten borough of Rye, in 1791 he made his first speech

liverpool ideology

believed the British constitution to be the unique safeguard of the wellbeing of the nation and saw his chief political objective as the defence of that constitution, opposed to parliamentary reform, opposed to catholic emancipation, believed in free trade

liverpool prime minister

became in 1812 after previous one percival was assassinated

liverpool inherited issues

war with france, economic and social, social unrest

war with france issues

had to win, trade disrupted, government spending had risen to record levels, national debt had increased to £902 million in 1816 from £238 million in 1793

economic and social issues

Rapid population growth increased 50% between 1811-1841 from 12.6 million to 18.5 million which put strain on existing resources (housing, food + its prices) and living standards remained low regardless of economic growth, technological unemployment, growth of urban areas, harsh factory conditions

social unrest issue

luddism was increasing in popularity during the war with operatives in the clothing trades of the midlands and Yorkshire expressing their opposition to mechanisation by attacking and breaking machines. It was not a political movement but its grievances were economic. It demonstrated the capacity for organisation and militant action by the middle class. Tried to stop it by passing Framebreaking Act in 1812 which made it a capital offence.

liverpool and income tax

decided to prolong after war at a reduced rate of 5% from 10%

income tax result

received criticism as to continue the tax was a breach of faith after Pitt claimed it would only be temporary, and was defeated 238 to 201 votes

corn laws background

corn large product of consumption, Farmers and landowners would benefit from it raising in price as they would receive more profit, but everyone else (the working class) would suffer as they would have to spend more money on corn.

1804 corn law

raised the duty of imported wheat to 24 shillings 3d a quarter for when the price of wheat in the domestic market fell below 63 shillings, aimed to keep price between 63-65 shillings

effect of 1804 corn law

In practice the duty was never imposed as between 1805-1815 the price of wheat was continually above 63s. This shows that the price of wheat in the home market was naturally high, regardless of competition from importers. The main reason for this was the war and Napoleon attempting to stop continental wheat supplies to Britain

prosperity of corn in wars

wheat prices during the Napoleonic wars were at a historically high level, contrasting from an average of 45 shillings a quarter in 1770-1780 to 86s in 1800 and 1811, with a peak of 119s in 1801.

farmers and landlords had a period of prosperity during the war and in particular rents were at high levels.

result of prosperity in corn

Agriculture was doing well relatively to the rest of the country - the share of national income going to agriculture increased from 32.5% to 35.7% between 1801 and 1811, whereas the share going to the manufacturing industry fell from 23.4% to 20.8%.

Increased investment in the land and extended cultivation into marginal areas where arable farming had not previously been economic occurred as farmers and landlords were encouraged by high prices.

fears about end of war

inflated price of wheat could come to an end which would cut their rents and render their investment in marginal land uneconomic, warned in 1813 when price fell from 126 to 109, and the following year fell to 74 shillings due to good harvests and increased wheat imports, had become accustomed to the significantly higher prices, costs of farming had increased with the use of marginal land, war had been a period of general inflation, so in real terms the price of 63-5 was lower than it had been in 1804.

1813 response to rising prices

Irish landowner Henry Parnell arranged for a parliamentary committee to enquire into the state of the corn trade of Ireland, and with English agriculturalists also becoming concerned the committee’s terms of reference were extended to the corn trade of the UK as a whole

parnell committee conclusion

recommended that a heavy import duty of corn should be imposed whenever the price fell below 105 shillings, extravagant so gov didnt consider however prices continued to fall and Parnell attempted again but protest was received from alarmed manufacturers and commercial interest, and it was decided to postpone a final decision until 1815

anti corn law in gov

liverpool against as free trader, argued in house of lords in 1815 that price should not be fixed

pro corn law in gov

·        The landed interest within Parliament approved of it. They were too powerful to be ignored as their life-style, system of poor relief, funding for the church of England and universities of oxford and Cambridge were all mainly funded by rents and agriculture.

·        The government needed the votes of the rural interest if it was to remain in power.

·        Practical politics therefore dictated that the corn law should be retained.

anti corn law outside gov

Faced considerable opposition from the poorer classes and manufacturers who would have to pay higher wages to match the higher food price

how gov argued for corn law to general pop

present the measure as one which benefited the country as a whole, and not a piece of class legislation. Liverpool argued that it benefits poor as in order to be able to feed the country prices had to be high to match the needs of the growing population. Increased prices would mean increased supplies so food could be guaranteed for the population and stabilise the situation to avoid damaging price fluctuations.

response to gov argument for corn law

failed to win over industrial and commercial interests. Petitions occurred and on Feb 7 1815 42 petitions opposing the law were presented to the House of Commons, including one presented by a whig MP from Bristol with 22,445 signatures

1815 corn law

Feb 1815 the law was passed – the government accepted that the base or regulatory price of corn should be 80 shillings a quarter

corn law effect on cost of prices

failed to guarantee high prices – average price of wheat in 1816-27 was 67 shillings. The main reason for this was the continual high production of British agriculture and good harvests.

corn law effect on stability of prices

failed to secure stable prices – fluctuated much more than they had previously with largest gap between 1771 and 1790 being 20 shillings but 52s between 1816 and 1827. This was due to the fluctuation in opening and closing the foreign market; if price above 80s foreign wheat available and price decreases, if under 80s foreign supply cut-off and price pushed back up again.

corn law effect on agriculture

remained depressed – combination of low and unstable prices contributed to a prolonged agricultural depression until 1822, since the early 1800s the growth in the output of British agriculture had out-striped consumption demand.

corn law effect on social distress and divisions

Social distress increased – fed into radicalism as increased class struggle. Scarcity due to bad harvests would result in starvation as imported corn could only be sold if the price averaged at 80s for 3 months.

Exacerbated social divisions – seen as rich attacking poor regardless of Liverpool’s attempts. Also alienated the middle class.

corn law effect on liverpool gov

Liverpool retained power – gave him a policy to stay in power.

catholics rights in ireland/britain

In Ireland 80% of the population were Catholics. By Pitt’s act of union in 1801 these Catholics had been given the right to vote MPs to the British parliament. However they could not stand for Parliament themselves as Catholics were not allowed to sit in the House of Commons as they would have to swear an oath to the Church of England. They were also barred from government office

catholic emancipation

demand for the removal of the civil disabilities affecting Irish Catholics

catholic emancipation party ops

whigs were in favour of it, but the tories were divided. The majority were opposed, including Liverpool, but an influential minority represented by Canning favoured granting concessions to the Catholics

catholic emancipation issue

·        It raised problems such as the coronation oath and use of royal prerogative, the place of religion in the constitution, the place of the Catholic Church, the government of Ireland.

·        Pitt’s government fell in 1801 over it.

·        The Ministry of All the Talents was replaced in 1807 because it took up the issue.

·        It was the most dangerous issue to the survival of Liverpool’s ministry.

shift in parliament support for catholic emancipation

Before 1822 the opponents of catholic emancipation were in the strongest position and included Liverpool, the home secretary and lord chancellor. However after 1822 the balance within the government began to shift in favour of the Catholics with Canning became foreign secretary and leader of the commons

catholic association

·        Led by Daniel O’Connell, Irish barrister + outstanding orator with a charismatic personality who took Catholic Emancipation in 1808 and transformed it from a middle class affair into an effective mass movement with peasant support.

·        formed in 1823 and campaigned for catholic emancipation in Britain.

result of catholic association

Liverpool gov was put under pressure by developing protests in Ireland and the king threatened to dismiss the government if something was not done

gov action against catholic association

1825 a bill was passed which banned all irish associations – protestant as well as catholic. However it did little to stop the catholic association as O’Connell simply changed its name to the Order of Liberation. The effect of this agitation was to force politicians in England take up the issue of emancipation and make it an issue which they could not be neutral about as it became an issue of British power in Ireland.

result of catholic emancipation issue

In 1826 parliament was dissolved and a general election was called. The average voter would be anti-catholic so would vote tory. Liverpool remained convinced emancipation would occur shortly, so would resign at the end of the new session of parliament in 1827 so he could retire honourably Canning could form a new catholic administration. However he suffered a stroke in feb 1827 before this could happen and resigned as prime minister in march

gold standard

currency system in which the value of a currency is fixed in terms of a certain amount of gold, pitt suspended in 1797 which resulted in inflation

reason return to gold standard was impractical

·        In 1815 expenditure exceeded income by 45%

·        80% of gov spending was used to finance interest charges on the national debt

·        Gold was in short supply, in 1814 alone £31 million of gold in value had been exported eg to pay the costs of war in Europe.

·        In this situation of gov borrowing and continued inflation a resumption of gold specie payments was considered impractical

methods taken to stabilise economy while gold standard return postponed

·        Taxes on consumption were increased eg duties on tea, coffee, tobacco, wool, cocoa, pepper all raised.

·        Government spending was cut by 50% in the years 1815-18 eg in 1817 all official salaries were cut by 10%, sinecures abandoned, reduction in the size of the armed forces.

liverpool action on gold standard issue

Liverpool decided in May 1819 to delegate consideration of the issue to a committee chaired by Robert Peel. Peel declared that there were two schools of thought on the issue of whether Britain should return to the gold standard; bullion or currency

bullion school

led by Ricardo, orthodox economists, city of London and cotton manufacturers who wanted a return to gold-backed currency as gold standard keeps prices stable.

currency school

led by Attwood and wanted to retain a paper currency whose supply could be adjusted to meet the needs of the industry.

peel committee result

ultimately favoured the gold standard viewpoint, and in 1819 the currency act was passed, which would put England back on the gold standard by 1823.

effect of going back on gold standard

between 1819 and 1822 prices fell by 21% and inflation decreased. For those in debt this deflation was damaging, and unemployment increased. However export industries such as cotton enjoyed the return of a stable currency, and the fall in prices after 1815 presented issue of over-supply. In the long term it was good, but in the short term negative