Neville Chamberlain

The Right Honourable Arthur Neville Chamberlain (18 March 1869–9 November, 1940) was a British politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937–1940.

Domestic policy

Chamberlain's domestic policy, which receives little attention from historians today, was considered highly significant and radical at the time. Achievements included the Factory Act 1937, which consolidated and tightened many existing measures and sought to improve working conditions by limiting the number of hours that minors and women could work and setting workplace regulation standards. The Housing Act 1938 provided subsidies that encouraged slum clearance and the relief of overcrowding, as well as maintaining rent controls for cheap housing. The Physical Training Act 1937 promoted exercise and good dieting and aimed for a compulsory medical inspection of the population. The Coal Act 1938 nationalised mining royalties and allowed for the voluntary amalgamation of industries. Passenger air services were made into a public corporation in 1939. The Holidays with Pay Act 1938 gave paid holidays to over eleven million workers and empowered the Agricultural Wages Boards and Trade Boards to ensure that holidays were fixed with pay. In many of these measures Chamberlain took a strong personal interest. One of his first actions as Prime Minister was to request two year plans from every single department, and during his premiership he would make many contributions.

Related Topics:
Factory Act 1937 - Housing Act 1938 - Physical Training Act 1937 - Coal Act 1938 - 1939 - Holidays with Pay Act 1938

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Few aspects of domestic policy gave Chamberlain more trouble than agriculture. For years, British farming had been a depressed industry; vast sections of land went uncultivated while the country became increasingly dependent upon cheap foreign imports. These concerns were brought to the forefront by the National Farmers Union, which had considerable influence on MPs with rural constituencies. The union called for better protection of tariffs, for trade agreements to be made with the consent of the industry, and for the government to guarantee prices for producers. In support, Lord Beaverbrook's Daily Express launched a major campaign for the country to "Grow More Food," highlighting the "idle acres" that could be used. In 1938, Chamberlain gave a speech at Kettering in which he dismissed the Beaverbrook campaign, provoking an adverse reaction from farmers and his parliamentary supporters.

Related Topics:
National Farmers Union - 1938 - Kettering

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In late 1938, Chamberlain and his Minister of Agriculture William Shepherd Morrison proposed a Milk Industry Bill that would set up ten trial areas with district monopolies of milk distribution, create a Milk Commission, cut or reduce subsidies for quality milk, butter, and cheese, and grant local authorities the power to enforce pasteurisation. Politicians and the milk industry reacted unfavorably to the bill, fearing the level of state control involved and the possible impact on small dairies and individual retailers. The Milk Marketing Board declared in favour of amendments to the Bill, a rare move; at the start of December, the government agreed to so radically redraft the Bill as to make it a different measure. Early in 1939, Chamberlain moved Morrison away from the Ministry of Agriculture and appointed as his successor Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, MP for Petersfield and a former president of the National Farmers Union. Dorman-Smith was hailed as bringing greater expertise to the role, but developments were slow; after war had broken out, there were many who still felt the country was not producing sufficient food to overcome the problems of restricted supplies.

Related Topics:
Minister of Agriculture - William Shepherd Morrison - Pasteurisation - Milk Marketing Board - 1939 - Reginald Dorman-Smith - Petersfield

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Other proposed domestic reforms were cancelled outright when the war began, such as the raising of the school leaving age to 15, which would have otherwise commenced on September 1, 1939 were it not for the outbreak of World War II. The Home Secretary, Sir Samuel Hoare, proposed a radical reform of the criminal justice system, including the abolition of flogging, which was also put on hold. Had peace continued and a general election been fought in 1939 or 1940, it seems likely that the government would have sought to radically extend the provision of pensions and health insurance while introducing family allowances.

Related Topics:
September 1 - 1939 - World War II - Home Secretary - Sir Samuel Hoare - 1940

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