The Success of the First Two Labour Governments was Outweighed by the Failures in Britain

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The Success of the First Two Labour Governments was Outweighed by the

Failures in Britain

The success of Labour's governments during its two terms in power, in

the 1920's easily outweighed its failures and shortcomings, in

Britain. This was a Labour government that introduced the idea of free

mass secondary education, built over half a million houses, and

through Labour established Britain as a major player in European and

World politics. The Labour government were in power at the time of the

Great Depression, and their failure to address the serious economic

crisis bought about as a result of an economic downturn, following the

short boom after the war, may be seen as a severe weakness in the

second government. However, these flaws may be seen as a small aspect

of the overall policy of the Labour government, and cannot out-way the

long-term success of their social and political policy plans.

When Labour first came in to power in 1924 they introduced many new

policies, which were definite achievements, one such example, would be

'John Wheatley's Housing Act', which provided £9 million p.a. for

local councils to build new homes. By 1933 well over 500,000 houses

had been built, providing much needed shelter and accommodation for

the poor and homeless. Some other imported achievement by the Labour

government, were the rising of pensions and unemployment benefit. In

addition the gap between the 2, 16-week periods of unemployment

benefit was abolished. This meant that the unemployed could stay of

work for up to 32 weeks consecutively in a single year, giving them a

much needed income. However, many still felt that the number of 32

we...

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... the disagreement of the Liberals and the Tory party. The second term

in power, was unduly hard due to the Wall Street Crash, happening in

an already crumbling economy. It is therefore necessary to look at the

achievements introduced by the Labour government, the way in which

they affected Britain. The government improved working conditions, and

education for the poorer people of Britain, and it implemented many

housing laws, which housed near to a million families, therefore I

believe that for the era, with an unchanging Conservative party who

were happy with things being left as it was, and a disputing Liberal

Party, Labour were as good a choice as any other party, and probably

did more for the poorer echelons of British society than the other

parties would have, at a time when the poor were particularly

vulnerable.

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