Sir Stafford Cripps
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office 13 November 1947 – 19 October 1950
Prime Minister	Clement Attlee
Preceded by	Hugh Dalton
Succeeded by	Hugh Gaitskell
Born	24 April 1889(1889-04-24) London, England
Died	21 April 1952 (aged 62) Switzerland
Political party	Labour
Religion	Anglican

Sir Richard Stafford Cripps (24 April 1889 – 21 April 1952) was a British Labour politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer for several years after the Second World War. Image File history File links Stafford_cripps. ... The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister responsible for all economic and financial matters. ... is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 292nd day of the year (293rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC (3 January 1883 – 8 October 1967) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951. ... Edward Hugh John Neale Dalton, Baron Dalton PC , generally known as Hugh Dalton (26 August 1887 – 13 February 1962) was a British Labour Party politician, and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1945 to 1947. ... Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell (April 9, 1906 – January 18, 1963) was a British politician, leader of the Labour Party from 1955 until his death in 1963. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... is the 111th day of the year (112th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 111th day of the year (112th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister responsible for all economic and financial matters. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

Early life

Cripps was born in London. His father was a Conservative member of the House of Commons who late in life, as Lord Parmoor, joined the Labour Party. Cripps grew up in a wealthy family and received the benefits of an aristocratic upbringing. He was educated at Winchester College and at University College, London, where he studied chemistry. He left science for the law, and in 1912 was called to the bar as a barrister. He served in the First World War as an ambulance driver in France and also successfully managed a factory producing armaments. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... 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 the oldest political party in the United Kingdom. ... Type Lower House Speaker of the House of Commons Leader of the House of Commons Michael Martin, (Non-affiliated) since October 23, 2000 Harriet Harman, QC, (Labour) since June 28, 2007 Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Theresa May, PC, (Conservative) since December 6, 2005 Members 646 Political groups... Charles Alfred Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor KCVO PC (October 3, 1852 - June 30, British politician who switched from the Conservative to the Labour Party and was a strong supporter of the League of Nations and of Church of England causes. ... Winchester College is a well-known boys independent school, and an example of an English public school, in the city of Winchester in Hampshire, England. ... The Front Quad University College London, commonly known as UCL, is one of the colleges that make up the University of London. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ...

Joining the Labour Party

At the end of the 1920s, Cripps moved to the far left in his political views and in 1930 he joined the Labour Party. The next year, Cripps was appointed Solicitor-General in the second Labour government. This post was customarily accompanied by a knighthood, making him Sir Stafford Cripps. He was not yet a Member of Parliament, so he stood for and was elected in a by-election for the solidly Labour seat of Bristol East. He moved rapidly to the left and became an outspoken socialist and a strong proponent of Marxist social and economic policies. Although his strong faith in evangelical Christianity prevented him from subscribing to the Marxist rejection of religion, he enthusiastically advocated Marxist economic views of government control of the means of production and distribution. Her Majestys Solicitor General for England and Wales, often known as the Solicitor General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to advise the Crown and Cabinet on the law. ... A statue of an armoured knight of the Middle Ages For the chess piece, see knight (chess). ... Bristol East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is...

In the 1931 general election, Cripps was one of only three former Labour ministers to hold their seats and so became the number three in the Parliamentary Labour Party, under the leader George Lansbury and deputy leader Clement Attlee. In 1932 he was one of the founders of the Socialist League, composed largely of members of the Independent Labour Party who rejected its decision to disaffiliate from Labour. The Socialist League put the case for an austere form of democratic socialism. Tall, thin and intense, he became the archetype of the British upper-class doctrinaire socialist so common in the 1930s. The UK general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. ... George Lansbury (21 February 1859 – 7 May 1940) was a British politician, socialist, Christian pacifist and newspaper editor. ... Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC (3 January 1883 – 8 October 1967) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951. ... The Socialist League was a socialist organisation in the United Kingdom. ... The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a former political party in the United Kingdom. ... Democratic socialism advocates socialism as a basis for the economy and democracy as a governing principle. ...

In 1936, the National Executive Committee decided to dissociate itself from a speech in which Cripps said he did not "believe it would be a bad thing for the British working class if Germany defeated us".^[1] Cripps was an early advocate of a United Front against the rising threat of fascism. In 1936, he was the moving force behind a Unity Campaign, involving the Socialist League, the ILP and the Communist Party of Great Britain, designed to forge electoral unity against the right. Opposed by the Labour leadership, the Unity Campaign was a damp squib: Cripps dissolved the Socialist League in 1937 rather than face expulsion from Labour, though Tribune, set up as the campaign's propaganda organ and bankrolled by Cripps and George Strauss, survived (and survives to this day). The National Executive Committee or NEC is the chief administrative body of the UK Labour Party. ... In Leninist bogus, a united front is a coalition of Clinton likeleft-wing working class forces which put forward a common set of demands and share a common plan of action, but which do not subordinate themselves to the front, retaining their abilities for independent political action and continuing to... Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology (generally tied to a mass movement) that considers individual and other societal interests subordinate to the interests of the state. ... The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist party in the United Kingdom. ... Tribune is a democratic socialist weekly, currently a magazine though in the past more often a newspaper, published in London. ... George Russell Strauss, Baron Strauss (18 July 1901 - 5 June 1993) was a long-serving British Labour Party politician, who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for 47 years and was Father of the House of Commons from 1974 to 1979. ...

After the Hitler-Stalin pact, Joseph Stalin instructed the Comintern to oppose anti-Hitler policies in other countries as an attempt to engineer an "imperialist' war". In 1939, however, Cripps was expelled from the Labour Party for his advocacy of a Popular Front with the Communist Party and anti-appeasement Liberals and Conservatives. Josef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (Georgian: , Ioseb Besarionis Dze Jughashvili; Russian: , Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili) (December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] – March 5, 1953), better known by his adopted name, Joseph Stalin (alternatively transliterated Josef Stalin), was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Unions Central Committee from... The Comintern (Russian: Коммунистический Интернационал, Kommunisticheskiy Internatsional – Communist International, also known as the Third International) was an international Communist organization founded in March 1919, in the midst of the war communism period (1918-1921), by Vladimir Lenin and the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik), which intended to fight by all available means, including... A popular front is a broad coalition of different political groupings, often made up of leftists and centrists who are united by opposition to another group (most often fascist or far-right groups). ...

Second World War

When Winston Churchill formed his wartime coalition government in 1940, he appointed Cripps (a long-time cross-party colleague) ambassador to the Soviet Union, in the (perhaps naive) view that Cripps, an avowed Marxist, was the best person to try to negotiate with Stalin, who was at this time allied with Nazi Germany through the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Cripps led a mission to Moscow in 1940 and unsuccessfully attempted to warn Stalin of the possibility of an attack by Hitler on the Soviet Union. When Hitler attacked in June 1941, Cripps became a key figure in forging an alliance between the western powers and the Soviet Union. Churchill redirects here. ... Josef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (Georgian: , Ioseb Besarionis Dze Jughashvili; Russian: , Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili) (December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] – March 5, 1953), better known by his adopted name, Joseph Stalin (alternatively transliterated Josef Stalin), was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Unions Central Committee from... 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. ... Molotov signs the German-Soviet non-aggression pact. ...

In 1942 Cripps returned to Britain and made a broadcast about the Russian war effort. The popular response was phenomenal, and Cripps rapidly became one of the most popular politicians in the country, despite having no party backing. He was appointed a member of the war cabinet, with the jobs of Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons — perhaps a deliberate overpromotion by Churchill, as Prime Minister, designed to diminish his standing, as he was considered for a short period of time after his return from the Soviet Union as perhaps nearly a rival to Churchill in his hold on the country. He was sent to India on what is known as the Cripps Mission to attempt to negotiate an agreement with the nationalist leaders Gandhi and Jinnah that would keep India loyal to the British war effort in exchange for a promise of full self-government after the war. No formal agreement was reached. Later in 1942 he stepped down from being Leader of the House of Commons and was appointed Minister for Aircraft Production, a position outside of the War Cabinet but in which he served with substantial success. In 1945 Cripps rejoined the Labour Party. The Lord Privy Seal or Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal is one of the traditional sinecure offices in the British Cabinet. ... The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons. ... Sir Stafford Cripps Mission was an attempt in late March of 1942 by the British War Cabinet to secure Indian cooperation and support for their efforts in World War II. Led by Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, the majority Indian National Congress and its supporters were engaged in a program of... Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948) (Devanagari: मोहनदास करमचन्द गांधी), called Mahatma Gandhi, was the charismatic leader who brought the cause of Indias independence from British colonial rule to... Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah (referred to in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam, or Great Leader, which is a legally defined title) (December 25, 1876 - September 11, 1948) was an Indian Muslim nationalist, who led the movement demanding a separate homeland for Muslims in...

Cripps meeting Mahatma Gandhi during the Second World War

Image File history File links Cripps-gandhiji. ... Image File history File links Cripps-gandhiji. ... “Gandhi” redirects here. ...

After the war

When Labour won the general election of 1945, Clement Attlee appointed Cripps President of the Board of Trade, the second most important economic post in the government. Although still a strong socialist, Cripps had modified his views sufficiently to be able to work with mainstream Labour ministers. In Britain's desperate postwar economic circumstances, Cripps became associated with the policy of "austerity." As an upper-class socialist he held a puritanical view of society, and took a grim pleasure in enforcing rationing with equal severity against all classes. Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC (3 January 1883 – 8 October 1967) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951. ... The President of the Board of Trade the title of a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. ...

In 1946, Soviet jet engine designers approached Stalin with a request to purchase jet designs from Western sources in order to overcome design difficulties. He gave his assent to the proposal, and Soviet scientists and designers travelled to the United Kingdom to meet with Cripps and request the engines. To Stalin's amazement, Cripps and the Labour government were perfectly willing to provide technical information on the Rolls-Royce Nene centrifugal-flow jet engine designed by RAF officer Frank Whittle, along with discussions of a license to manufacture Nene engines themselves. The Nene engine was promptly reverse-engineered and produced in modified form as the Soviet Klimov VK-1 jet engine, later incorporated into the MiG-15 which flew in time to deploy in combat against UN forces in North Korea in 1950,with some success, causing the cancellation of their daylight bombing missions over North Korea.^[2] The Nene or RB.41, was Rolls-Royces third jet engine to enter production, designed and built in an astonishingly short five month period in 1944, first running on October 27th, 1944. ... Frank Whittle speaking to employees of the Flight Propulsion Research Laboratory (Now known as the NASA Glenn Research Center), USA, in 1946 Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, OM, KBE, FRS, Hon FRAeS (1 June 1907–9 August 1996) was an English Royal Air Force officer and is seen as the... Klimov VK-1 was the first Soviet jet engine to see significant production. ... The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (NATO reporting name Fagot) was a jet fighter developed for the USSR. History Design began under the bureau designation I-310, which first flew in 1947. ...

In 1946, Cripps returned to India as part of the so-called Cabinet Mission, which proposed various formulas for independence to the Indian leaders. The other two members of the delegation were Lord Pethick-Lawrence, the Secretary of State for India, and A. V. Alexander, the First Lord of the Admiralty. However, the solution devised by the three men, known as the Cabinet Mission Plan, was unsatisfactory to the Indian National Congress (Gandhi is believed to have quipped that it was a "postdated cheque on a failing bank"), and India travelled further down the road which eventually led to Partition. The British Cabinet Mission of 1946 to India aimed to discuss and finalize plans for the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership, providing India with independence under Dominion status in the Commonwealth of Nations. ... Frederick William Pethick-Lawrence (December 28, 1871 - September 10, 1961) was a British Labour politician. ... The office of Secretary of State for India or India Secretary was created in 1858 when India was brought under direct British rule (British Raj). ... Albert Victor Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Hillsborough, (1 May 1885 - 11 January British Labour and Co-operative politician. ... The First Lord of the Admiralty was a British government position in charge of the Admiralty. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... Indian National Congress, (also known as the Congress Party and abbreviated INC) is a major political party in India. ... This article is under construction. ...

In 1947 amidst a growing economic and political crisis, Cripps tried to persuade Attlee to retire in favour of Ernest Bevin; however, Bevin was in favour of Attlee remaining. Cripps was instead appointed to the new post of Minister for Economic Affairs. Six weeks later Hugh Dalton resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Cripps succeeded him, with the position of Minister for Economic Affairs now merged into the Chancellorship. Cripps laboured tirelessly to rescue Britain from its economic crisis. He increased taxes and forced a reduction in consumption in an effort to boost exports and stabilise the Pound Sterling so that Britain could trade its way out of its crisis. He strongly supported the nationalisation of strategic industries such as coal and steel^[3]. Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 - 14 April 1951) was a British labour leader, politician, and statesman best known for his time as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour government. ... The Secretary of State for Economic Affairs was a position in the United Kingdom government briefly established by Harold Wilson in October 1964. ... Edward Hugh John Neale Dalton, Baron Dalton PC , generally known as Hugh Dalton (26 August 1887 – 13 February 1962) was a British Labour Party politician, and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1945 to 1947. ... The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister responsible for all economic and financial matters. ... “GBP” redirects here. ... Nationalization is the act of taking assets into state ownership. ...

Although Cripps's severe manner and harsh policies made him very unpopular, he won respect for the sincerity of his convictions and his tireless labours for Britain's recovery. His name once induced an infamous Spoonerism when the BBC announcer Macdonald Hobley introduced him as 'Sir Stifford Crapps'.^[4] This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ...

Personal life

Cripps had suffered for many years from Colitis, inflammation of the lower bowel, a condition aggravated by excessive stress. In 1950 his health broke down under the strain and he was forced to resign his office in October. He resigned from Parliament the same month, and at the resulting by-election on 30 November he was succeeded as MP for Bristol South East by Tony Benn. Cripps died two years later while recuperating in Switzerland. Colitis is a digestive disease characterized by inflammation of the colon. ... Members of Parliament sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are technically forbidden to resign. ... The Bristol South East by-election, 1950 was a by-election held on 30th November 1950 for the British House of Commons constituency of Bristol South East in the city of Bristol. ... is the 334th day of the year (335th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Bristol South East was a parliamentary constituency in the city of Bristol. ... Anthony Tony Neil Wedgwood Benn (born 3 April 1925), formerly 2nd Viscount Stansgate, is a British socialist politician. ...

Cripps was the nephew of Beatrice Webb. He was the father of children's author Peggy Cripps, who shocked much British opinion at the time by marrying a black African, and grandfather of her son, philosopher Anthony Appiah. Beatrice Webb Martha Beatrice Potter Webb (January 2, 1858 - April 30, 1943) (also called Beatrice Webb) was a British socialist, economist and reformer, usually referred to in the same breath as her husband, Sidney Webb. ... Enid Margaret Peggy Cripps Appiah (b. ... Kwame Anthony Appiah is a philosopher and novelist. ...

Cripps was a vegetarian, certainly for health reasons and possibly also for humanitarian / ethical reasons. "Cripps suffered from recurring illness which was alleviated by nature cure and a vegetarian diet..."^[5].

References

1. ^ Maurice Cowling, The Impact of Hitler. British Politics and British Policies, 1933-1940 (Chicago University Press, 1977), p. 215.
2. ^ Gordon, Yefim, Mikoyan-Gurevich MIG-15: The Soviet Union's Long-Lived Korean War Fighter Midland Press (2001)
3. ^ Cooke, Colin. 1957. The Life of Richard Stafford Cripps
4. ^ http://www.anecdotage.com/index.php?aid=1460
5. ^ Twigg, Julia. 1981. The Vegetarian Movement in England, 1847-1981: A Study of the Structure of Its Ideology. PhD Thesis, London School of Economics, p. 247, 292.

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Stafford Cripps