This article deals with the effects of the Great Depression of the 1930s on the United Kingdom - also known as the Great Slump. The Great Depression was a time of economic down turn, which started after the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday. ... Face The 1930s (years from 1930–1939) were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression, also known in Europe as the World Depression. ...

Background

The Great Depression of 1929-33 broke out at a time when Britain was still far from having recovered from the effects of the First World War more than a decade earlier. Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ...

A major cause of financial instability, which preceded and accompanied the Great Depression, was the debt which many European countries had accumulated to pay for their involvement in the war. This debt destabilised many European economies as they tried to rebuild during the 1920s. The 1920s is a decade that is sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ...

Britain had largely avoided this trap by financing her war effort largely through sales of foreign assets. Britain had a net loss of £300 million of foreign investments, under two years investment on a pre-1914 average.^[1] The largest material loss during the war was in the British Merchant Navy which lost 40 percent of its fleet to the U-boat attacks (however this was replaced soon after the war).^[2] Along with loss of assets through enemy action, such divestiture reduced British investments abroad by around 20% by 1918. The British Red Ensign. ... U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ...

The resulting loss of foreign earnings left the British economy more dependent upon exports, and more vulnerable to any downturn in world markets. But the war had permanently eroded Britain's trading position in world markets through disruptions to trade and losses of shipping. Overseas customers for British produce had been lost, especially in traditional industries such as textiles, steel and coal mining.

The 1920s saw the development of new industries such as the motor industry and the electrical industry, but British products in these fields were not usually sufficiently advanced to compete in world markets against foreign competitors possessing more up-to-date plants, and so British products largely served the domestic market.

The traditional industries which formed the bedrock of Britain's export trade (such as coalmining, shipbuilding and steel) were heavily concentrated in certain areas of Britain, such as the north of England, south Wales and central Scotland, while the newer industries were heavily concentrated in southern and central England. Coal has been used for centuries, in many parts of the world. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 967 AD  Area  -  Total 130,395 km²  50,346 sq mi  Population  -  2007 estimate... This article is about the country. ... Motto (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity Cha togar mfhearg gun dioladh (Scottish Gaelic)1 Wha daur meddle wi me?(Scots)1 Anthem (Multiple unofficial anthems) Scotlands location in Europe Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II...

Altogether, British industrial output during the 1920s ran at about 80-100%, and exports at about 80% of their pre-war levels, so there was little chance of Britain being able to amass enough capital to restore her overseas investment position.

The Gold Standard

From about 1921, Britain had started a slow economic recovery from the war and the subsequent slump. But in April 1925 the Conservative Chancellor, Winston Churchill, on advice from the Bank of England, restored the Pound Sterling to the gold standard at its prewar exchange rate of 4.86 US dollars. The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is the second largest political party in the United Kingdom in terms of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), the largest in terms of public membership, and is the second oldest extant political party in the world. ... The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British cabinet minister responsible for all financial matters. ... Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can) (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was an English statesman, soldier and author. ... Headquarters London Governor Mervyn King Central Bank of United Kingdom Currency Pound Sterling ISO 4217 Code GBP Base borrowing rate 5. ... ISO 4217 Code GBP User(s) United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies Inflation 2. ... The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic measure of value is gold, and the currencies which are used as units of account are specified as a weight of gold, ideally fixed and not subject to change, and where all currency issuance is to one degree...

This made the pound convertible to its value in gold, but at a level which made British exports more expensive on world markets. The economic recovery was immediately slowed. To offset the effects of the high exchange rate, the export industries tried to cut costs by lowering workers' wages, provoking the General Strike of May 1926. The UK General Strike of 1926 lasted nine days, from 3 May to 12 May 1926, and was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the government to act to prevent wage reduction and worsening conditions for coal miners. ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ...

The industrial areas of Britain spent the rest of the 1920s in recession, and these industries received little investment or modernisation. Throughout the 1920s unemployment stayed at a steady one million. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

It shook Britain's confidence and middle class looked to labor party and conservative party known as the National Government.

Economic Crisis and the Labour government 1929-1931

In May 1929 a minority Labour government headed by Ramsay MacDonald came to office with Liberal support. This was only the second time a Labour government had been in office (they had briefly been in office in 1924), and few of the government's members had any deep knowledge of economics or experience of running the economy. MacDonald's Labour Party was not radical in economic thinking, and was wedded to the orthodoxy of Victorian classical economics, with its emphasis on maintaining a balanced budget at any cost. Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Labour Party is a centre-left or social democratic political party in Britain (see British politics), and one of the United Kingdoms three main political parties. ... James Ramsay MacDonald (12 October 1866 – 9 November 1937) was a British politician and three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ... The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party to form a new party which would become known as... Queen Victoria (shown here on the morning of her Ascension to the Throne, 20 June 1837) gave her name to the historic era The Victorian era of the United Kingdom marked the height of the British Industrial Revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ... Classical economics is widely regarded as the first modern school of economic thought. ...

In October 1929 the Stock Market Crash in New York heralded the Great Depression. The ensuing American economic collapse caused a tsunami effect across the world. World trade contracted, prices fell and governments faced financial crisis as the supply of American credit dried up. Many countries adopted an emergency response to the crisis by erecting trade barriers and tariffs, which worsened the crisis by further hindering global trade. The 1929 stock market crash devastated economies worldwide The Wall Street Crash refers to the stock market crash that occurred on October 29, 1929, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange collapsed, leading eventually to the Great Depression. ... The Great Depression was a time of economic down turn, which started after the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday. ... A tariff is a tax on foreign goods. ...

The effects on the industrial areas of Britain were immediate and devastating, as demand for British products collapsed. By the end of 1930 unemployment had more than doubled from 1 million to 2.5 million (20% of the insured workforce), and exports had fallen in value by 50%. Government revenues contracted as national income fell, while the cost of assisting the jobless rose. The industrial areas were hardest hit, along with the coal mining districts. London and the southeast were relatively less hurt. In 1933, 30% of Glaswegians were unemployed due to severe decline in the heavy industry. Glaswegian redirects here. ...

Under pressure from its Liberal allies as well as the Conservative opposition, the Labour government appointed a committee to review the state of public finances. The May Report of July 1931 urged public-sector wage cuts and large cuts in public spending (notably in payments to the unemployed) to avoid incurring a budget deficit.

This proposal proved deeply unpopular within the Labour Party and among its main supporters, the trade unions, which along with several government ministers refused to support any such measures. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Snowden, insisted that the Report's recommendations must be adopted to avoid incurring a budget deficit. A trade union or labor union is a continuous association of wage-earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment. ... The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British cabinet minister responsible for all financial matters. ... Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden (July 18, 1864 - May 15, 1937) was a British politician, and the first Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer. ...

In a memorandum in January 1930, one junior government minister, Oswald Mosley, proposed that the government should take control of banking and exports, as well as increase pensions to boost purchasing power. When his ideas were turned down, he resigned. He soon left Labour to form the New Party, and later the British Union of Fascists. Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (November 16, 1896 – December 3, 1980), was a British politician known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists. ... The New Party were a political party briefly active in the United Kingdom in the early 1930s. ... The flag of the British Union of Fascists showing the Flash and Circle symbolic of action within unity The British Union of Fascists (BUF) was a political party of the 1930s in the United Kingdom. ...

The approach of the British Labour Party to the economic crisis was in stark contrast to that adopted in Sweden by the Swedish Social Democratic Party, which took an approach similar to Keynesian economics, and initiated government-funded public works programmes to ease unemployment and boost the economy. The Social Democratic Labour Party of Sweden (Sveriges Socialdemokratiska Arbetareparti or SAP), is a one of the main political parties in Sweden. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ...

The National Government

The dispute over spending and wage cuts split the Labour government: as it turned out, beyond recovery. And the resulting political deadlock caused investors to take fright, and a flight of capital and gold further de-stabilised the economy. In response, MacDonald, who on the urging of King George V, decided to form a "National Government" with the Conservatives and the Liberals. George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 - 20 January 1936) was the first British monarch belonging to the House of Windsor, as a result of his creating it from the British branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. ... The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is the second largest political party in the United Kingdom in terms of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), the largest in terms of public membership, and is the second oldest extant political party in the world. ... The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party to form a new party which would become known as...

On August 24 MacDonald submitted the resignation of his ministers and led his senior colleagues in forming a "National Government", with the other parties. MacDonald and his supporters were expelled from the Labour Party and adopted the label "National Labour". The Labour Party and some Liberals, led by David Lloyd George, went into opposition. The Labour Party denounced MacDonald as a "traitor" and a "rat" for what they saw as his betrayal. August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ... In the United Kingdom the term National Government is in an abstract sense used to refer to a coalition of some or all UK major political parties. ... David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor, OM, PC (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was a British statesman who guided Britain and the British Empire through World War I and the postwar settlement as the Liberal Party Prime Minister, 1916-1922. ...

Soon after this, a General Election was called. The election resulted in a Conservative landslide victory, with the now leaderless Labour Party winning only 46 seats in Parliament. Although MacDonald continued as Prime Minister until 1935, after the 1931 election the national government was Conservative dominated. A general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election. ... The UK general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. ... A prime minister is the most senior minister of a cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Emergency measures

The new national government, with the Conservative Neville Chamberlain as Chancellor, immediately instituted a draconian round of public spending and wage cuts. Public sector wages and unemployment pay were cut by 10%, and income tax was raised from 4s 6d to 5s in the pound^[3] (from 22.5% to 25%). But these measures merely reduced purchasing power in the economy, and worsened the situation, and by the end of 1931 unemployment had reached 3 million. Arthur Neville Chamberlain (18 March 1869 – 9 November 1940), known as Neville Chamberlain, was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940. ... An income tax is a tax levied on the financial income of persons, corporations, or other legal entities. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Because of the gold standard there was nothing to stop a flight of gold. At first the government tried to stop the flight by introducing punitive interest rates. But in late 1931 the government was finally forced to abandon the gold standard, and immediately the exchange rate of the pound fell by 25%, from $4.86 to $3.40. This eased the pressure on exporters, and laid the ground for a gradual economic recovery. Also, in 1932 Chamberlain introduced tariffs on imports at a rate of 10% on all imports except those from the countries of the British Empire. An interest rate is the rental price of money. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... ISO 4217 Code GBP User(s) United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies Inflation 2. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ...

Britain in the 1930s: a nation divided

Although the overall picture for the British economy in the 1930s was bleak, the effects of the depression were uneven. Some parts of the country, and some industries, fared better than others. Some parts of the country, such as south Wales, experienced mass unemployment and poverty, while some areas in the south did not. This article is about the country. ...

The South and the Midlands

Although in London and the south east of England unemployment was initially as high as 15%, the later 1930s were a prosperous time in these areas, as a house building boom was fuelled by the low interest rates which followed the abolition of the gold standard, and as London's growing population buoyed up the economy of the south east. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... South East England is one of the nine official regions of England. ...

The south was also the home of new developing industries such as the electrical industry, which prospered from the large-scale electrification of housing and industry. Mass production methods brought new products such as electrical cookers, washing machines and radios into the reach of the middle classes, and the industries which produced these prospered. Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardised products on production lines. ...

Another industry which prospered during the 1930s was the motor industry. For cities which had a developed motor industry such as Birmingham, Coventry and Oxford, the 1930s were a boom time. Manufacturers such as Austin, Morris and Ford dominated the motor industry during the 1930s, and the number of cars on British roads doubled within the decade. Agriculture also flourished in the 1930s. unga bunga This article is about the English city. ... The Precinct in Coventry city centre. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Austin Motor Company was a British manufacturer of automobiles that rose to be a major motorcar brand, the dominant partner after merger with Morris in 1952 but declining after absorption into the British Leyland Motor Corporation, and its subsequent troubles. ... Morris Motor logo, from a UK Royal Mail van 1927 Morris Cowley 1928 Morris Minor Saloon 1946 Morris Ten Series M 1953 Morris Minor Series 2 1971 Morris 1000 Traveller The Morris Motor Company was a former British car manufacturing company. ... Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation and the worlds third largest automaker after Toyota and General Motors, based on worldwide vehicle sales. ...

The North and other industrial areas

The north of England however was a quite different matter. The north of England was the home of most of Britain's traditional industries such as coalmining, shipbuilding, steel and textiles. The north bore the brunt of the depression, and the '30s were the most difficult time in living memory for people in these areas. The north was hit so hard in the Great Depression because of the structural decline in British industry. Staple industries such as Coal, Steel and shipbuilding were smaller, less modern and efficient and over-staffed compared to continental rivals.

In the north east (the areas around Newcastle-upon-Tyne) this was especially so. The north east was traditionally a major centre of the shipbuilding industry. The Depression caused a collapse in demand for ships. Between 1929 and 1932 ship production declined by 90%, and this in turn affected all the supply industries such as steel and coal. In some towns and cities in the north east, unemployment reached as high as 70%. Among the worst affected towns was Jarrow, where unemployment led to the famous Jarrow March, in which unemployed workers marched 300 miles to London to protest against unemployment. North-East England is one of the nine official regions of England and comprises the combined area of Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear and a small part of North Yorkshire. ... Newcastle upon Tyne (usually shortened to Newcastle) is a large city in Tyne and Wear, England. ... Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... Map sources for Jarrow at grid reference NZ3465 Jarrow is a town on the River Tyne, England with a population around 27,000 (2001 Census). ... During the Great Depression in the United Kingdom, the people of the North East England, many of whom were miners and shipworkers, suffered even more than the rest of the country from the prevailing unemployment and poverty. ...

The north west, a traditional centre of the textile industries, was also hard hit, with places such as Manchester and Lancashire suffering a slump. South Wales, a centre of the coalmining and steel industries, was also devastated by the depression. Towns such as Merthyr Tydfil and Swansea had unemployment rates reaching above 25% at certain times. The industrial belt of central Scotland, also a major shipbuilding centre, was also hard hit by the slump. North West England is one of the nine regions of England. ... This article is about the City of Manchester in England. ... Lancashire is a county in North West England, bounded to the west by the Irish Sea. ... This article is about the country. ... Merthyr Tydfil (Welsh: ) is a town and county borough in Wales, with a population of about 55,000. ... For other places with the same name, see Swansea (disambiguation). ... Motto (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity Cha togar mfhearg gun dioladh (Scottish Gaelic)1 Wha daur meddle wi me?(Scots)1 Anthem (Multiple unofficial anthems) Scotlands location in Europe Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II...

In these areas millions of unemployed and their families were left destitute, and queueing at soup kitchens became a way of life. A government report in the mid 1930s estimated that around 25% of the UK's population existed on a subsistence diet. In his book The Road to Wigan Pier, George Orwell described life for the unemployed in northern England during the depression: "Several hundred men risk their lives and several hundred women scrabble in the mud for hours... searching eagerly for tiny chips of coal in slagheaps so they could heat their homes. For them, this arduously-gained 'free' coal was more important almost than food." The following is a list of subsistence techniques: Hunting and Gathering, also known as Foraging freeganism involves gathering of discarded food in the context of an urban environment gleaning involves the gathering of food that traditional farmers have left behind in their fields Cultivation Horticulture - plant cultivation, based on the... The Road to Wigan Pier was written by George Orwell and published in 1937. ... Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903[1][2] – 21 January 1950), better known by the pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist. ...

The welfare state during the 1930s

In the 1930s Britain had a relatively advanced welfare system compared to many of the industrialised countries. In 1911 a compulsory national unemployment and health insurance scheme had been put in place by the Liberal government of Herbert Henry Asquith. This scheme had been funded through contributions from the government, the employers and the workers. At first the scheme only applied to certain trades but it was gradually expanded in the 1920s. 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... This article is about the historic Liberal Party. ... Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. ...

But the scheme only paid out according to the level of contributions rather than according to need, and was only payable for 26 weeks. Anyone unemployed for longer than that had to rely on relief paid by their local authority. In effect, millions of workers who had been too poorly paid to make contributions, or who had been unemployed, were left destitute by the scheme. With the mass unemployment of the 1930s, contributions to the insurance scheme dried up, which resulted in a funding crisis.

In 1934, the 1911 scheme was replaced by a fully government-funded unemployment benefit system. This system, for the first time, paid out according to need rather than the level of contributions. This unemployment benefit was subject to a strict means test, and anyone applying for unemployment pay had to have an inspection by a government official to make sure that they had no hidden earnings or savings. For many poor people this was a humiliating experience and was much resented. Year 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... The term means test refers to an investigative process undertaken to determine whether or not an individual or family is eligible to receive certain types of benefits from the government. ...

Slow recovery

Following Britain's withdrawal from the gold standard and the devaluation of the pound, interest rates were reduced from 6% to 2%. As a result, British exports became more competitive on world markets than those of countries which remained on the gold standard. This led to a modest economic recovery, and a fall in unemployment from 1933 onwards. Although exports were still a fraction of their pre-depression levels, they staged a modest recovery. 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ...

Unemployment began a modest fall in 1934 and fell further in 1935 and 1936. But the rise in employment levels occurred mostly in the south, where lower interest rates had spurred a house building boom, which in turn spurred a recovery in domestic industry. The north remained severely depressed for most of the decade. Year 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar). ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In severely depressed parts of the country, the government enacted a number of policies to stimulate growth and reduce unemployment, including road building, loans to shipyards and tariffs on steel imports. These policies helped but were not, however, on a sufficiently large scale to make a huge impact on the unemployment levels.

Rearmament and recovery

From 1936 onwards the National Government followed a policy of mass rearmament to counter the threat from Nazi Germany. This "accidental Keynesianism" provided the economic stimulus which finally ended the depression. By 1937 unemployment had fallen to 1.5 million, from where it fell even further. The mobilization of manpower following the outbreak of war in 1939 finally ended unemployment. 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Keynesian economics, or Keynesianism, is an economic theory based on the ideas of John Maynard Keynes, as put forward in his book The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, published in 1936 in response to the Great Depression of the 1930s. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full year calendar). ...

Consequences of the Great Depression

Following the end of World War II, the majority of the British people, and particularly the working class, did not want a return to pre-war Conservative economic policies, which they blamed for the hardship of the 1930s, and there was a mood for widespread social change. At the 1945 general election, to the surprise of many observers, Winston Churchill was defeated by the Labour Party, headed by Clement Attlee. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Clement Attlee Winston Churchill The United Kingdom General Election of 1945 held on 5 July 1945 but not counted and declared until 26 July 1945 (due to the time it took to transport the votes of those serving overseas) was one of the most significant general elections of the 20th... Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can) (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was an English statesman, soldier and author. ... The Labour Party is a centre-left or social democratic political party in Britain (see British politics), and one of the United Kingdoms three main political parties. ... Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC (3 January 1883 – 8 October 1967) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 1945 to 1951. ...

The Labour government presided over the foundation of a comprehensive cradle-to-grave welfare state, and founded a universal, tax funded National Health Service, which gave treatment according to need rather than ability to pay. The Labour government also enacted Keynesian economic policies, to stimulate the economy to create full employment. These policies became known as the "post-war consensus", and were accepted by all major political parties. This post-war consensus lasted until the late 1970s when it came under attack from the Conservatives, led by Margaret Thatcher. There are three main interpretations of the idea of a welfare state: the provision of welfare services by the state. ... , the information in this article describes the current English public health service. ... Keynesian economics, or Keynesianism, is an economic theory based on the ideas of John Maynard Keynes, as put forward in his book The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, published in 1936 in response to the Great Depression of the 1930s. ... In economics, full employment has more than one meaning. ... The post-war consensus was an era in British political history which lasted from the end of World War Two to the election of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1979. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC (born October 13, 1925), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, in office from 1979 to 1990. ...

References

• Aldcroft, D. H. The British Economy. Volume 1: The Years of Turmoil, 1920-1951, Wheatsheaf.(1986)
• Booth, A. and Pack, M. (1985) Employment, Capital and Economic Policy in Great Britain 1918-1939 Blackwell.
• Bowley M. (1947), Housing and the State 1919-1944, Allen & Unwin.
• Broadberry S. N. (1986), The British Economy between the Wars, Basil Blackwell.
• Buxton, N. K. and Aldcroft, D. H. (1979) British Industry between the Wars: Instability and Industrial Development, 1919-1939, Scolar Press.
• S. Constantine, Unemployment in Britain Between the Wars (1980).
• A. Crowther, British Social Policy, 1914-1939 (1988).
• Roderick Floud and Donald McCloskey (eds.), The Economic History of Britain since 1700 Cambridge University Press.
• Garraty, John A., The Great Depression: An Inquiry into the causes, course, and Consequences of the Worldwide Depression of the Nineteen-Thirties, as Seen by Contemporaries and in Light of History (1986)
• George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier (1937).
• Richardson H. W. (1967), Economic Recovery in Britain 1932-39 , Weidenfeld & Nicolson
• Richardson H. W. ( 1962), "'The basis of economic recovery in the 1930s: a review and a new interpretation'", Economic History Review.
• Robbins L. (1934), The Great Depression, Macmillan.
• Skidelsky R. (1967), Politicians and the Slump: The Labour Government of 1929-33 Macmillan.
• J. Stevenson, and C. Cook, The Slump (1977).
• A. J. P. Taylor, English History: 1914-1945 (OUP, 1990)

Notes

1. ^ A. J. P. Taylor, English History: 1914-1945 (OUP, 1990), p. 123.
2. ^ Ibid, p. 122.
3. ^ Taxes raised in the Finance (No. 2) Bill, passed into law in October. See copy of the bill in The Times, September 19, 1931

See also

• UK topics