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 ; chair: Malcolm vanity, for example in the cor- ner 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 – the . 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, , 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. In the 1920s, Hob- … it means the devil’. and proponent of the temperance Stuart Mill, house criticised Green and explic- Meanwhile, whilst he identi- movement in the mid-Victorian L. T. Hob- itly referred to his work as being fied ‘Want’ as one of society’s great period (he lived between 1836 and unpatriotic. Nonetheless, in the domestic social ills – along with 1882). A leading figure in the ‘Brit- house, John era of coalition, when the strains of disease, ignorance and squalor – ish Idealist’ movement and influ- government have encouraged cer- he specified idleness as the great- enced by continental thinkers such Maynard tain wings of the party to express est evil: ‘idleness alone will suffer as Hegel, Green has grown in rec- themselves more than in former want’. It was this belief that drove ognition in very recent years, and Keynes, Wil- times of placidity, Pugh felt that him to focus on the importance of is sometimes seen as a precursor of Green was an increasingly impor- tackling unemployment: though the ‘social liberal’ strand of thought liam Bev- tant symbol of the social liberal he favoured countercyclical or within the Liberal Democrats. roots within the party, albeit one ‘Keynesian’ economic policy, he Pugh outlined the seeming eridge, and that provided a sympathetic juxta- regarded it as a tool for encouraging irony of the contrast between position to the great J. S. Mill. people to make the most of their Green’s apparently established Eng- many more. Baroness Liz Barker followed as capabilities, rather than out of a lish life and academic background, the third speaker on the panel by more doctrinaire conception of the and the thinkers that had influenced highlighting the influence of Mill’s state’s leadership in the economy. him most in terms of his broader spouse, Harriet Taylor Mill. As Despite the tumultuous times of philosophical approach. In the mid- Barker explained, the early roots his own political career, Beveridge’s nineteenth century, Green was a of their relationship were contro- politics are undoubtedly contempo- leading disciple of enlightenment versial and – by the standards of the rary and relevant. Beith made clear thinkers Hegel and Kant. In Pugh’s time – scandalous. Their liaison had that he was a passionate internation- mind, this gave Green the necessary begun several years before Harriet’s alist, and would have been exercised latitude to critique not just David first marriage had ended, and had by the dangerous eccentricity of the Hume but even the man voted been tacitly accepted by her then modern Tory attitude to Europe. by the Liberal Democrat History husband, John Taylor, so long as he Domestically, he was also a great Group in 2007 to be the greatest and his wife could maintain super- believer in housing construction as Liberal in history, John Stuart Mill. ficial unity. Mill went on to marry a means of supporting people’s liv- According to Pugh, Green took Harriet in 1851, two years after ing standards and opportunities: in issue with Mill’s philosophy of gov- Taylor’s death. the 1930s he moved to the north- ernment outlined in On Liberty. In Despite their contravention of east, to live in a housing project he this, as Pugh put it, the latter con- Victorian mores, the strength of had helped bring forward, as he felt ceived of ‘government as a thing their marriage and the endurance of it was important to show that it was which occurs as ringmaster; as long their mutual affection were felt by good enough to be lived in. He was as people don’t hurt each other, that most who knew them – including also a great supporter of education is fine’ – falling in line with the Thomas Carlyle – to be a reflection,

42 Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15 report – liberal thinkers above all, of their shared sense that a precise delineation of Har- Democrats: and of intellectual respect. As Barker riet’s work within the scope of . Fox’s reputation was noted, the two first met at a dis- Mill’s broader opus was impossible. associated with ardent support cussion on the rights of women in Nonetheless, their collective impact for civil liberties in the face of the society. Whilst the besotted Mill was huge, and their relevance and harsh conservatism represented declared Harriet a critical influence impact endures in a very potent by those, like his rival Pitt, who on all of his later work, including manner and neither’s legacy can be would exploit domestic fear of for- On Liberty, the impact that Harriet understood without the other. eign spectres such as Robespierre had on his work was perhaps most Mill’s legacy is often considered to reduce individual liberty on the clear with regards to his deeply in Westminster today, but Barker British side of the Channel; the influential contribution to the felt that this influence extends also comparison with New Labour’s fledging feminist movement. to his spouse. Barker felt that, were exploitation of the image of Mill credited Harriet as co- she alive today, Harriet Taylor Mill Saddam Hussein is clear. author of his seminal 1869 pub- would have been very proud of the Whilst this, combined with his lication, The Subjection of Women, party’s stance on gay marriage and famous proclivity for alcohol con- which showed remarkable simi- its very obvious derivation from sumption, might encourage com- larities to and bore the influence of Millian liberal first principles. parisons with Kennedy, Pack also her 1851 work, The Enfranchisement Meanwhile, Barker concluded, highlighted the similarity of his of Women. Their work in this area Harriet would have been a power- controversial 1783 pact with the showed that they were particularly ful critic of contemporary global Conservative Lord North, with the exercised by the effect of mid-Vic- religions and their attitude to mar- position and principle of the cur- torian marriage arrangements on riage and individual rights, as rent leader of the Liberal Demo- the curtailment of female liberty; well as also having a view of indi- crats, Nick Clegg. Like Clegg, Fox however, their work was of partic- vidual responsibility within such put aside his own animosity to a ular importance and inspiration to arrangements. Conservative foe in the name of a the incipient suffragist movement. The final member of the panel broader political goal and national Whilst Mill is most remembered to draw inspiration from the pam- good. In the case of Fox, however, for his work on personal liberty phlet was Liberal Democrat blog- his unlikely coalition was aimed at in general, he was a supporter of ger and author, Mark Pack. Whilst reducing the harm to the political female suffrage and, as an MP, pro- cognisant of the paradox of choice, system caused by a volatile king and posed votes for women in 1867 as an Pack decided to focus on two fig- the attempted restriction of habeas amendment to the Second Reform ures above all other because of corpus. Whilst Clegg’s position Act. When women first won the their enduring legacy for the Lib- might seem sui generis, together vote in 1918, the first act of Mili- eral Democrats: Charles James Fox with the example of Fox it illus- cent Fawcett and the NUWSS was and, like Alan Beith, Sir William trates, in Pack’s opinion, the nim- to convene in celebration at Mill’s Beveridge. bleness of liberal politics to face up statue in Temple Gardens. For Pack, smilarities can be to practical circumstances, uncon- In response to a question from drawn between and Fox and strained by the straitjacket of the the audience, Barker did accept two recent leaders of the Liberal left–right dogma of other parties. Liberal Thinkers Liberalism has been built on more than three centuries’ work of political thinkers and writers, and the aspirations of countless human beings who have fought for freedom, democracy, the rule of law and open and tolerant societies. This booklet is an accessible guide to the key thinkers associated with British Liberalism –including John Locke, Adam Smith, Mary Wollstonecraft, Richard Cobden, John Stuart Mill, L. T. Hobhouse, John Maynard Keynes, William Beveridge and many more. Essential reading for every thinking Liberal. Liberal Thinkers is available at a special discounted price for subscribers to the Journal of Liberal History: £5 instead of the normal £6.00. To order, please send a cheque (made out to ‘Liberal Democrat History Group’) to LDHG, 54 Midmoor Road, London SW12 0EN. Postage and packing is included.

Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15 43 report – liberal thinkers

Pack pointed out that, despite Malcolm than the circumstances of serving liberalism was one of the nation’s only brief stints in government, MPs, bogged down with constitu- most potent and valuable gifts to Fox was notable not only as the per- Bruce fin- ency casework and the demands wider humanity – with British lib- son who created the role of leader of an active media. Nonetheless, eral principles recited frequently of the Opposition, but also as the ished the Barker felt there was a potential for from North America, to South first ever Foreign Secretary. Mean- synthesis between data and inno- Africa to Hong Kong. Nonethe- while, from a position outside of meeting vative political thought which had less, at home as well as abroad, lib- government, his strong personal- as yet remained unexploited and eralism is still worth defending as ity and eloquence helped crystallise with a reflec- which would be an emerging chal- a partisan as well as a philosophical liberalism and Whiggery in British lenge and area of interest. concept: the other two parties have politics. Whilst, before, liberalism tion that Pack said that he was encour- not absorbed it simply because they had only been nebulously associ- liberalism aged by the work of thinkers like cannot. For this reason, Bruce con- ated with opposition to such forces the occupational psychologist cluded with the hope that there will as the monarchy, under his leader- was one of John Seddon, who had come to not too many people in the party ship, they gained a wider appeal prominence through ideas such with time left for political philoso- linked to a clear delineation of prin- the nation’s as the notion of ‘failure demand’. phy in the autumn of 2015, because ciple, which proved enduring. However, Pack felt that he also they will instead be actively legis- Nonetheless, upon summation, most potent sometimes lacks the necessary com- lating for it within Westminster. Pack emphasised that Fox’s career municative power to disseminate should be judged a failure in a polit- and valuable his ideas more widely into broader Douglas Oliver is Secretary of the Lib- ical sense, because he spent such a political life. eral Democrat History Group. tiny proportion of it in a position gifts to wider Malcolm Bruce finished the to exert direct influence over peo- meeting with a reflection that ple’s lives in government. In this humanity – context, Pack compared Fox to William Beveridge. Echoing many with British of the initial points made by Alan Beith, Pack emphasised Beveridge’s liberal prin- heterodox and flexible approach, which could only be understood ciples recited within the liberal tradition and was Reviews not recognisable in the way social- frequently ists and the modern Labour Party from North built the welfare state. However, ‘Unquestionably a remarkable woman’1 Beveridge was not a political victor America, to and this affected his ability to dis- Janet Hilderley, Mrs Catherine Gladstone (The Alpha Press, seminate his principle further. South Africa Whilst Fox was a great person- 2013) ality, rhetorician and bon vivant of to Hong Review by Tony Little his age, Beveridge was a considered thinker who left a great legacy of Kong. thought. Fox was not original but he Suffragettes – and the voters to campaigning for property he was a good adaptor of other peo- Pankhursts, in particular – rights or against state regulation of ple’s thoughts and this was a very Thave much to answer for. prostitution. important political skill. None- Not only have they helped estab- Consequently, it is important to theless in Pack’s view, the lack of lish the myth that their early-twen- be reminded that behind the stereo- political success that both experi- tieth-century campaign with its types were real people with their enced was a reminder that, without petty violence was responsible for own personalities and idiosyncra- campaigning nous and consequent women gaining the vote, but also sies, with their own achievements political success, it is difficult for that until that event in 1918 women and errors. Liberals in particular Liberals to improve people’s lives – were not involved in politics. Not need to rescue the positive role although this is ultimately the pur- only have they eclipsed the role of played by women associated with pose of the creed. the constitutional suffragists but by the party, since some of the men The discussion concluded with a contrast have reinforced the view in the Edwardian Liberal Party, question from an audience member that Victorian women were sub- such as Asquith, have been estab- asking whether it was possible for missive, confined to home man- lished as the chief obstacle to female an active political personality in the agement and therefore without progress. modern age to devote the necessary involvement in public affairs. Catherine Gladstone was the intellectual effort to bring forward In reality, Victorian women wife of William Ewart Gladstone. advances in philosophical or politi- were involved in politics at all lev- Their marriage lasted well beyond cal thought. els: from working-class participa- its golden anniversary and for vir- Barker felt that the rise of social tion in Chartist demonstrations to tually the whole of that time Glad- enterprise organisations like Nesta elite participation in the formation stone was a frontbench spokesman, was exciting and provided a more of Cabinets and the details of for- party leader, Prime Minister or likely avenue for emerging thought eign policy; from the canvassing of Chancellor of the Exchequer. On

44 Journal of Liberal History 85 Winter 2014–15