Labour’s ultimate purpose was the establishment of a Socialist Commonwealth of Great Britain. Can the achievements of the Attlee years be regarded as a significant step in that direction?
(2 paragraphs from a recent essay)
By studying the nature of the Attlee governments’ election manifestos and deciding the extent to which these were acted upon, it is possible to discern how far these governments’ ideals were grounded in socialism. Labour’s 1945 election manifesto Let Us Face the Future was strongly socialist in nature. The Fabian Society was focussed on achieving socialism through gradual democratic means, with an emphasis upon a strong economy. In terms of socialism more broadly, Brian Abel-Smith argues that the focus of socialist policy must be ‘to build a consensus for a comprehensive war against poverty… a return to high levels of employment.’ Let Us Face the Future and British socialism at the time were strongly idealist and entirely concurrent with the Fabian Society’s gradualist approach to socialism. Economically, Let Us Face the Future argued for full employment, higher taxes for the rich and decent wages, ensuring constant economic stimulation. It argued for public ownership of key industries including fuel and power, inland transport, iron and steel and the Bank of England. Socially, the manifesto discussed free education and the establishment of the National Health Service (NHS). As these promises were firmly socialist, the obvious assumption is that successful action towards these promises would constitute a movement towards socialism.
Significant progress was made on all key areas detailed in the 1945 manifesto. The obvious examples include the establishment of the NHS, a continuation of full employment and the nationalisation of these major industries. The establishment of the NHS is almost universally agreed to have been an enormous achievement of the Attlee governments. Not only was the sheer scale of the operation impressive, but it was seen by many as unlikely to have come into fruition, especially as this socialist initiative was being undertaken in such a conservative industry as medicine. The programme of nationalisation can be regarded as successful as by 1949, Labour had brought under national control the Bank of England, most inland transport, coal, electricity, iron and steel. Some examples of nationalisation such as the steel industry can be regarded as especially significant as they were particularly lucrative for the private sector, and their nationalisation faced huge opposition. By 1950 about twenty per cent of Britain’s economic structures were nationalised. All of this illustrates the high degree to which the Attlee governments’ foundations were socialist and that they acted on their proposed claims.
