Chapter 10: Economic Issues

1913 vs 1926 coal

producing 31mil less coal

motor car industry

growing quickly like many new industries

3x what it had been in 1913

development of central electricity board, 1926

national grid meant more flexible form of power to industry and homes

economic growth between 1923-9

overall faster than before 1914

a million jobs created in the service sector during 20s

macdonald young plan, 1929

established germany as a trading partner to restore their economy

recovered to a large extent due to american loans

british trade revived from the mid-20s

conservatives russia treaty

cancelled it in 1924 as it was 'too soft on communism'

labour's public works programme

aimed to create jobs by public spending on roads, council houses etc

on too small a scale and short a period to have great effects

subsidies extended to imperial airways: new industry in civil aviation encouraged

gold standard, 1925

self-correcting system that 'smoothed out fluctuations' in the economy but britain's return was at too high a level

economists argued post-war economic issues were caused from abandoning GS as sterling used to be the dominant currency and london centre of international banking but now the dollar and new york was

what was the pound restored to?

pre-war parity with the us dollar ($3.4 to $4.86)

benefits of gs

fixed payments worth more money as they were more valuable

negatives of gs

made british exports uncompetitive in staple industries and thus led to unemployment

the miners union (mfgb)

miners consisted of 1mil workers

union was well organised with a tradition of militancy in major strikes (1919 and 1920)

conditions still remained poor and pay low; brief prosperity during ruhr crisis but short-lived

how many miners killed and injured between 1922-24?

3,603 killed

597,158 injured

working days lost 1926

162.2mil

7.2mil the previous year; employers feared a socialist rev

effect of gold standard on miners

made exports more expensive and led to a loss of £2.1mil in the first half of 1925

mine owners' demands

further wage cuts and longer working hours

miners rejected and so the owners threatened a lockout

miners called for railwaymen and dockers' support but baldwin's gov intervened

how did baldwin intevene?

offered subsidies for the miners' wages and owners' profits for 9 months

set up the samuel commission to investigate problems

unions saw this as a victory and nicknamed it red friday (31 july)

samuel commission outcome

disappointing

rejected nationalisation but encouraged mines to be reconstructed with gov help

opposed long hours; wage cuts were essential to save jobs

april/may 1926

subsidies ended and owners declared a lockout from 1 may 1926 unless miners accepted wage cuts and longer hours

miners' stance

'not a penny of the pay, not a second on the day'

tuc called on millions of other trade unions to strike

baldwin's reaction

failed to take measures to prevent a strike; could have pressured owners to compromise/talk with tuc

used 1920 emergency powers act to declare a state of emergency on 1 may

daily mail strike

unofficial; printers striked as daily mail spoke of strikers and tuc unfavourably, hostile and unfair

baldwin said no further talks would be made until the printers ended their strike and tuc persuaded them to end

however, baldwin had gone to sleep and so the strike went ahead as planned 3 may 1926

the failure of the general strike

lasted only 9 days; tuc not organised enough

published the british worker but came out too late to make a difference

tuc reliant on the weight of the general strike threat - thought it would force gov into submission but did not

baldwin's role in overcoming GS

epa allowed baldwin to organised 100,000 volunteer workers to supplement the armed forced in moving essential supplies

b gained public sympathy by arguing the strike was a threat to british constitution: 'who rules britain: the elected government or the tuc'

churchill's role in general strike

fought a relentless campaign in the british gazette to undermine support

exploited post-war wish to avoid violence and disorder

outcome of gs for miners

tuc called off general strike unconditionally as miners refused to compromise

they continued to fight alone but eventually had to accept the wage cuts and longer hours

penalties on strikers

forced to sign settlements that stated they had broken their contracts

some demoted and some lost their jobs as they were filled by volunteers appointed by baldwin under epa

outcome of gs to trade unions

national union of railwaymen and tgwu cost £1m each

in no position to support future strikes

moderate unions leaders e.g. bevin were strengthened as they believed in negotiation - this helped them maintain power and achieving labour victory in 1929

1927 trade disputes act

made sympathetic strikes illegal and required trade union members to pay their political levy to the labour party

trade union membership and working days lost, 1927

dropped below 5m in 1927

1.1mil working days lost

outcome for conservative party

handling of strike praised by middle and upper classes as workers' forced to pay the consequence

working class and unions turned against

outcome for labour party

did not harm the labour party as expected as macdonald refused involvement in the strike

portrayed image of firmness and moderation