UK National Health Insurance - 100 years ago

In the midst of the highly-charged political debate over “Obama Care” (or the Affordable Care Act, if you prefer), it is interesting/ironic to note that the UK’s National Insurance Act of 1911 went into effect on July 15, 1912 – 100 years ago today.  This measure gave the British working classes the first contributory system of insurance against illness and unemployment and is often regarded as one of the foundations of modern social welfare in the United Kingdom.  Aside from the remarkable coincidence in dates, the other truly fascinating aspect of this era in British history is its imperfect parallel with Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society efforts in his 1965 – 1969 Presidential term.

The Liberal Party won a landslide victory in the election of 1906, after the Conservative Party split over the issue of tariffs.  A large segment of the Conservatives, abandoning a century of free trade dogma, wanted protective tariffs to insulate British merchants from the rising tide of competition from America, Germany and others.  This became a class issue, as the poor understood that tariffs could lead to higher food prices.

It is important to understand that “Liberal” in this sense means largely upper and upper-middle class Britons who were for the most part dedicated to the social status quo.  The “liberals” in the modern sense were actually the Labor party, which didn’t fully come into its own until after World War II.

The Liberal government’s extensive social welfare proposals were driven by David Lloyd George (Chancellor of the Exchequer), Winston Churchill (President of the Board of Trade) and others.  Perhaps not surprisingly, the program was controversial, and the fight with the Conservatives reached its climax over the 1909 “Peoples Budget.”  This intentionally confrontational funding plan, described as among the most controversial in British history, systematically raised taxes on the rich, especially the landowners, to pay for the welfare programs (and, incidentally, naval expansion).  In the end, the budget passed and was the tool that the Liberals used to finally break the power of the conservative House of Lords.

As a footnote, 1906 was the last election won by the Liberal Party.  That is not, however, a pro-Conservative judgment against social reform, as the Liberal’s place was taken by the Labor Party which continues to this day to be one of the two major British political parties.

As noted above, there is something of a parallel with the Great Society efforts of the mid-1960s.  Note particularly the lopsided electoral mandate for social change (although not, of course, the only election issue in either case), followed by sweeping, class-based enactments that fundamentally altered the social and political landscapes of each country.  For a very readable account of this dramatic era in British history, you may want to check out Barbara Tuchman’s The Proud Tower, which is an entertaining summary of some of the major world trends and events between 1895 and 1914.