Liberal Thinkers

REPOrt – liBERAL thiNKERS Was such ‘pre-membering’ public Liberal Thinkers adoration, politics or ego? While Bounous conceded that there may Conference fringe meeting, 5 October 2014, with Alan have been an element of personal Beith, John Pugh, Liz Barker and Mark Pack; chair: Malcolm vanity, for example in the corner stone of the Council House, Bruce the timing of the monuments was Report by Douglas Oliver much more suggestive of politically motivated public demonstration. The clock tower in the Jewellery he Liberal Democrat His- twentieth century: Foreign Sec- Quarter was timed in relation to tory Group met on the retary Edward Grey and the man his resignation from government TSunday night of the Octo- often credited with designing the and renewed his links to small busi- ber Federal Conference to dis- modern welfare state, Sir William nessmen. ‘Old Joe’, the tower at the cuss ‘Liberal Thinkers’ in an event Beveridge. Beith recalled that when university of which Chamberlain scheduled to tie in with the pam- he arrived in the area in the early was a principal sponsor, served to phlet of the same name released for 1970s, Beveridge’s ‘first-principles’ distract from the Boer War but also the first time in Glasgow. approach and reflective poise was reminded the community of his Musing upon his long involve- still widely remembered by locals commitment to promoting educa- ment with the party, the discus- in their mutual corner of north-east tion. There are more – and more In his book sion’s chair Malcolm Bruce – the England. Beveridge was known in prominent – monuments to Cham- outgoing MP for Gordon, appear- the area for his sometimes philo- berlain than to John Bright or Tory of essays, ing at his last autumn conference sophical village hall discursives; hero Colonel Burnaby, each popu- as a Westminster representative and whilst he did occasionally lar in his time. Great Con- before his scheduled 2015 retire- contribute to canvassing and leaf- The second day also included ment – remarked that he was both leting efforts locally, he was unen- a short film covering Chamber- temporaries, an aficionado of liberal history as thusiastic about the micro-level of lain’s career and an introduction to well as a living example of it. The politics, which likely contributed some of the library’s Chamberlain Winston fact that the Great Welsh Wizard, to his electoral defeat to the Con- archives, including correspond- David Lloyd George, had lived for a servatives in May 1945. Given his ence, photographs, posters and the Churchill few months after he was born was a deeply academic and cerebral out- local architect’s original plans for useful reminder to himself that the look, Beveridge was best suited to Highbury. It ended with a tour of portrayed present and past ultimately always looking at the big issues of poli- Birmingham’s magnificent Council fade in to one. tics: Beith’s agent in the 1970s, Mrs House led by some of the leading Joseph The Liberal Democrat His- Gregson, reported that Beveridge members of the current administra- Chamberlain tory Group is always proud to laud had confided in her, ‘If they want tion who showed some of the relics the august partisan history of the to know what I think, they should and artwork associated with Cham- as a politi- Whig and Liberal Party, but also read my books.’ berlain and the council chamber in seeks, more widely, to highlight the His most famous publication, which he established his reputation. cal weather breadth of thought and ideas rep- Social Insurance and Allied Services, In his book of essays, Great Con- resented by political thinkers of a better known as 1942’s ‘Beveridge temporaries, Winston Churchill maker, a man liberal or liberal-minded disposi- Report’, is often considered the portrayed Joseph Chamberlain as tion throughout time. With this in blueprint for the welfare state, an a political weather maker, a man who created mind, Liberal Thinkers was conceived assessment that Beith resiled from who created the agenda with which as a pamphlet intended to provide because of its simplicity. Whilst allies and foes were forced to com- the agenda an accessible introduction to writ- Beveridge’s ideas had been appro- ply – and this was the verdict most ers including John Locke, Adam priated by social democrats and frequently repeated during the with which Smith, Mary Wollstonecraft, Rich- socialists, the man himself was conference. Where delegates prof- ard Cobden, John Stuart Mill, L. T. definitively a liberal, being a prag- ited was in a greater understand- allies and Hobhouse, John Maynard Keynes, matist with an aversion to a top- ing of the entrepreneurial spirit he William Beveridge, and many more. down command structures. The employed to achieve his ends and foes were The four speakers introduced by Beveridge version of welfare, Beith the political culture of Victorian Bruce were asked not only to dis- felt, included a flavour of the mixed Birmingham which both shaped forced to cuss the works of the thinkers from economy, as well as provision for and sustained his endeavours. the pamphlet that they found most input from the voluntary sector and comply – and impressive, but also to highlight friendly societies. The late twen- Tony Little is the Chair of the Liberal this was the the enduring legacy of the cho- tieth-century welfare system that Democrat History Group. sen writers’ work and to delineate the Labour government designed verdict most their relevance to liberalism and the was less diverse in approach, and 1 Peter Marsh’s speech is available at domestic and international political was consequently more prone to http://www.newman.ac.uk/files/ frequently struggle of today. bureaucracy and sclerosis. w3/media-centre/pdf/Peter%20 Inspired by his own long service The key hallmark of Beveridge’s Marsh.pdf?q=95 repeated as MP for Berwick Upon Tweed, method was, according to Beith, 2 Available at http://www.newman. the opening speaker, Alan Beith, careful study and empirical analy- ac.uk/media-centre/3596/confer- during the noted two other illustrious Liberals sis. If Beveridge had reflected today ence-joseph-chamberlain-imperial- who had represented the constitu- on such issues as the controversial standard-bearer-national-leader-lo conference. ency at Westminster within the ‘Bedroom Tax’, he would have Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15 41 REPOrt – liBERAL thiNKERS felt it necessary to study its costs and, in this light, it was no coinci- Liberal Think- famous ‘harm principle’. Accord- and benefits before deciding on dence that he spent so much of his ing to Green though, and Pugh, an approach, as opposed to being life as an advocate for it in his role ers was con- government cannot view human tied to dogma. In his own time, as director of the LSE. Meanwhile, activity with complete detachment. for instance, Beveridge was will- although he was an instinctive civil ceived as a Occasionally, though not necessar- ing to accept private relationship of libertarian, Beveridge was nuanced ily often, it must act and Green felt GPs to the NHS, because it seemed enough to appreciate the potent pamphlet that consequently certain points like an effective way to deliver threat that crime could inflict on made by Mill about human conduct results, rather than because of any personal freedom. intended to were left unresolved. rigid position. Beith remarked, in Beveridge remarked on his Nonetheless, Green was often a response to the audience, that it deathbed in 1963 that he had ‘still provide an ambivalent in his approach to the is likely that Beveridge would feel so much to do’ and would doubtless accessible state and so, in Pugh’s mind, should today that the twenty-first-century have been fascinated as well as tor- be considered ‘liberal’ in his flex- NHS – afflicted by all the con- tured by the problems of the mod- introduc- ibility. Green felt the state should straints of an ageing population – ern day. With that in mind, Beith be circumspect about exerting should, in turn, evolve to survive. believed the lessons of Beveridge’s tion to writ- any influence which might upset Whilst Beveridge sought to con- life and thought – that an actively the rights of individuals; he felt sider issues on a case-by-case basis, developed state can play a useful ers including government power should only he was adamant about the need to role in preserving and enhancing be deployed when clear threats to defend liberal principles when they individual freedom, though only John Locke, human liberty were apparent. were clearly under threat. Though when public policy is rationally Pugh explained that, for much he was a close friend and associ- conceived and dextrously imple- Adam Smith, of the twentieth century, Green ate of Beatrice and Sidney Webb, mented – were useful for the party was an unpopular figure and that and saw some common cause with in coalition and beyond. Mary Wol- this was due to the central Euro- a centrist Fabian approach to public Liberal Democrat MP for South- pean flavour of his work. Though policy, he was appalled by their dal- port, John Pugh, followed Beith lstonecraft, Green was famous during his life- liance with the Soviet Union and with a discussion of Thomas Hill time and even to the end of the Vic- Stalin in the latter part of the 1930s. Green, who had been important Richard Cob- torian era, his recognition faded He felt the threat of Communism figure in his own political develop- as the First World War made the to individual freedom to be clear ment. A Balliol academic, Green den, John central-European tenor of his work and visceral: ‘it represents savagery was a leading radical reformer unfashionable.

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