My issue 4 reasons for the introduction of the Liberal Reforms

Introduction - B1

In the early 1900s Britain's living conditions were poor with lots of people being forced to rely on the workhouse or charity if they were unable to work and support their families.

Introduction - B2

This was due to the laissez-faire approach of the government but this changed as a result of the Liberal Government coming into power in 1906 and introduced their social welfare reforms.

Introduction - list factors

There were many reasons for the introduction of social welfare reforms such as the concerns over poverty revealed by the surveys conducted by Booth and Rowentree, fears over national security, rise of the Labour Party, New Liberalism and Municipal Socialism.

Introduction - LOA

Through an in depth analysis of the above factors it will become clear that concerns over poverty shown through Booth and Rowentree's survey was the most important reason for the introduction of the Liberal Social Welfare Reforms, not fears over national security therefore the view is invalid.

Booth and Rowentree (most important) - K (1)

The investigations conducted by Booth and Rowentree revealed that around 30% of Britain's population was living in poverty due to circumstances outwith their control such as low wages.

Booth and Rowentree (most important) - A (1)

This factor is important because their studies were drawn from statistical evidence, which was difficult for the Government to ignore which resulted in the Liberals introducing their reforms to help those in poverty and with low wages.

Booth and Rowentree (most important) - K (2)

Booth investigated poverty in London and found that anyone who earned less than 21 shillings per week would end up in poverty which was caused that unemployment, old age and illness and that cures for this were beyond the individual efforts of the poor.

Booth and Rowentree (most important) - A (2)

This factor is important because it showed the Government the exact amount that people need to earn to be lifted out of poverty. This helped to convince the Liberal Government to introduce reforms to support groups such as the old to have financial support to earn more than 21 shilling.

Booth and Rowentree (most important) - limitation

However, the surveys of Booth and Rowentree had low sample sizes with only 2 cities out of over 70 cities being investigated. This factor is limited because the government may not see poverty as a national problem and they could not be convinced to step in and introduce the national reforms to help those in poverty due to low sample sizes.

Fears over national security - K (1)

During the Boer War,25% of volunteers had to be rejected on medical grounds, therefore, the minimum height requirement had to be dropped to 5'2.

Fears over national security - A (1)

This factor is important because the country would be extremely vulnerable if it went to war because the army is supposed to protect the nation and they are too weak to do so, therefore the Liberals would pass the reforms to help improve the health of the nation to ensure a stronger army in the future.

Fears over national security - K (2)

The Royal Commission on Physical Training in Scotland (1903) revealed that children from Edinburgh were significantly underweight and under height compared to children in Britain as a whole.

Fears over national security - A (2)

This factor is important because children were living in poverty and were in ill health. These children would be the next generation army who would protect the country in future wars therefore the Liberal government were forced to step in and introduce reforms to take the children out of poverty and improve their health to ensure a safer country in the future.

Fears over national security - limitation

However, the government was not planning any future wars, and Britain had won the Boer War.

This factor is limited because the Liberal government was not convinced to pass the costly reforms as they weren't concerned about the nation's safety as over 75% of the recruits were accepted into the army suggesting they were healthy.

Rise of the Labour Party - K (1)

The Liberals were losing votes to the working class men, who were beginning to support the Labour Party as Labour were offering reforms such as the Old Age Pensions and provision for poor children.

Rise of the Labour Party - A (1)

This factor is important because the Liberals were convinced to pass the reforms because Labour was stealing their votes so they introduced the same reforms such as the old age pensions to make sure they got the vote from those groups.

Rise of the Labour Party - K (2)

By 1917 the Liberals had lost three by-elections to Labour and some Liberal politicians believed that if they introduced reforms this was a way off 'heading off socialism'

Rise of the Labour Party - A (2)

This factor is important because the Liberals wanted to be the strongest party and stay in government they recognised they needed to support society's poorest and introduce reforms as a way of stopping socialism and the Labour Party taking over.

Rise of the Labour Party - limitation

However, the Liberals still had 398 seats compared to Labour's 32 seats. This factor is limited because it suggests that Labour is not a threat as it it no competition for the Liberals strong majority meaning that they were not convinced to pass reforms.

New Liberalism - K (1)

A new generation of Liberals including Lloyd George and Churchill were made leaders in the party, and genuinely believed that the government had a responsibility to help the poor to create a minimum standard of living for all citizens.

New Liberalism - A (1)

This was a reason why the Liberals introduced reforms because they are convinced to help the poorest in their own society by supporting people financially which would be done by introducing reforms to ensure they were fulfilling that responsibility.

New Liberalism - K (2)

Lloyd George and Churchill were influenced by New LIberal Philosophers T H Green and J A Hobson who argued for state action to ensure a minimum standard of living for all citizens. They maintained that reforms could be financed by taxing land which had risen in value and by sorts of unearned income.

New Liberalism - A (2)

This was a reason why the Liberals introduced reforms because the Philosophers were creating the views and theories for change which the Liberals would then implement by reforms which would help the poorest people of Britain.

New Liberalism - limitation

However, philosophical thinking doesn't have much of an impact without evidence to back up their theories. This factor is limited because the government may not believe the philosophers theories as they don't have any evidence to back their ideas up therefore the government would not be convinced to pass the Liberal reforms as they don't want to take a risk by acting on theories.

Municipal Socialism - K (1)

The Liberal Mayor in Birmingham made improvements to the city paid for by local taxation, such as buying the waterworks and gas works in Birmingham to ensure people had a ready supply of both.

Municipal Socialism - A (1)

This was a reason why the Liberals introduced reforms because the government saw evidence of the success of local taxation on Birmingham which raised the possibility that it could work on a larger, national scale.

Municipal Socialism - K (2)

There was a push for improved regulation of sanitary conditions in order to clean up the city, and the 1866 City Improvement Act was introduced to bring clean water supply into Glasgow. The success of this led to the introduction of gas and electricity systems.

Municipal Socialism - A (2)

This was a reason why the Liberals introduced reforms because the government were seeing the positives that the improvements to cities were having and were encouraged to continue doing reforms which would help out Britain as a whole.

Municipal Socialism - limitation

However, small city based reforms didn't prove that this would work nationally as each set of reforms was specific to the cities needs. This factor is limited because the government were not convinced that reforms on a national level would work as they would be very complicated to do and it was unknown whether these reforms would work and it would be a risk to introduce them.

Conclusion - first line

Fears over national security was not the most important reason for the introduction of the Liberal Social Welfare Reforms, as the surveys of Booth and Rowentree was the most important, therefore the view is not valid.

Conclusion - summary of isolated factor (fears over national security)

Fears over national security were somewhat important as a reason for the introduction of Liberal Reforms as it showed the government the extreme vulnerability the country would be in if it went to war as the army was very weak therefore they were convinced to pass reforms to strengthen the nation and ensure a stronger future army. However Booth and Rowentrees survey was the most important because it showed the government the exact amount of money that people would need to be lifted out of poverty which helped convince them to pass reforms to give people financial support which would lift them out of poverty.

Conclusion - summary of another factor (rise of the Labour Party)

Rise of Labour was another somewhat important reason for the introduction of Liberal Reforms as the Liberals were convinced to pass reforms as they wanted to be the strongest party and stay in government so they recognised they needed to help society's poorest and passing these reforms stopped the Labour party taking over. However Booth and Rowentrees survey was the most important as the studies were drawn from statistical evidence which was very hard for the Liberal government to ignore and resulted in the Liberals introducing their reforms.

Conclusion - last line

Overall the surveys of Booth and Rowentree was the most important as they showed that poverty was not the fault of the individual and the government would need to step in to support the large population in poverty as it was such a serious problem in Britain and future governments would continue supporting people in poverty by introducing further reforms.