Commentary parliamentary Speech

Commentary Parlemtary Speech

        The victory of the Liberal Party in 1906 over social promises, pushes the British government to develop social measures. Despite opposition from the conservatives, the liberals aspired a more interventionist state where taxes on the richest made possible aids to the poorest.

        In 1908, David Lloyd George became Chancellor of the Exchequer. He will carry out social reforms to set up pensions to fight poverty. His fight the same to raise the country's taxes - this in the face of stiff opposition from the conservative House of Lords. He strongly denounces the aristocracy and the wealthy landowners in their behaviour.

        Llyod Georges must however find 16 million pounds per year to finance his social reforms and for investment in naval warships. His “People's Budget”: requires anyone with an income over £ 3,000 to pay more taxes and even more for those earning over £ 5,000 a year. He also wants to increase taxes levied on income from property and the sale of property. But the Conservatives in the House of Lords concerned by these taxes are against this project.

        The text proposed for our study is a speech by Llyod George, delivered on July 30, 1909 in front of a large crowd. The Minister responds to his detractors and their attacks on the "People's Budget".

        How does Lloyd George's speech on the Budget, shows a minister which want to satisfy the working classes in a context of rivalry with the Labour Party while its reform is considered artificial and that it is preparing heavy military investments with the money?

I. The fight against poverty as a justification for raising taxes

        A. Fertile taxes serving the poorest

        B. The stark contrast of poverty in the richest country in the world

        C. The creation of pension funds and social assistance

II. Criticism of the country's economic and land elites

        A The response to its frontal political opponents and his detractors

        B. Stingy elites, careless of the people …

        C. … who does not owe his wealth to his work

III. The blind spots of Lloyd George's speech

A. Military investments in the naval rivalry with Germany

B. Tax increases that are more symbolic than essential

C. The budget voting deadlock

        To conclude, Lloyd George's speech bears witness to his fight against poverty in the United Kingdom. This desire, not for all that interested, is to be understood in several issues: that of the growing rivalry with the Labor Party for the workers' vote, the deadline for the budget vote and the military rivalry with Germany. His speech tries to put pressure on the House of Lords to have his speech accepted - notably by criticizing its members. Tensions between the two chambers end in a constitutional debacle, where the House of Lords broke the convention that the Lords should not interfere with “money bills” by vetoed the Budget. The Liberal government was left with no legal authority to collect taxes.

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