Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- 1 The taxing state: an introduction
- 2 ‘The limits of our taxable capacity’: war finance, 1914–1918
- 3 ‘This hideous war memorial’: debt and taxation, 1918–1925
- 4 ‘Adjusting the particular turns of the different screws’: reforming the income tax, 1920–1929
- 5 ‘The great conflict of modern politics’: redistribution, depression and appeasement, 1929–1939
- 6 ‘The exigency of war’: taxation and the Second World War, 1939–1945
- 7 ‘The mortal blows of taxation’: Labour and reconstruction, 1945–1951
- 8 ‘A most injurious disincentive in our economic system’: Conservatives and taxation, 1951–1964
- 9 ‘Modern and dynamic economic policy’: Labour and taxation, 1951–1970
- 10 Rethinking taxation policy: from an opportunity state to an enterprise society, 1964–1979
- 11 ‘Highly defensible ramparts’: the politics of local taxation
- 12 Conclusion
- Appendix: chancellors of the Exchequer and prime ministers, 1908–1983
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - ‘This hideous war memorial’: debt and taxation, 1918–1925
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 December 2009
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- 1 The taxing state: an introduction
- 2 ‘The limits of our taxable capacity’: war finance, 1914–1918
- 3 ‘This hideous war memorial’: debt and taxation, 1918–1925
- 4 ‘Adjusting the particular turns of the different screws’: reforming the income tax, 1920–1929
- 5 ‘The great conflict of modern politics’: redistribution, depression and appeasement, 1929–1939
- 6 ‘The exigency of war’: taxation and the Second World War, 1939–1945
- 7 ‘The mortal blows of taxation’: Labour and reconstruction, 1945–1951
- 8 ‘A most injurious disincentive in our economic system’: Conservatives and taxation, 1951–1964
- 9 ‘Modern and dynamic economic policy’: Labour and taxation, 1951–1970
- 10 Rethinking taxation policy: from an opportunity state to an enterprise society, 1964–1979
- 11 ‘Highly defensible ramparts’: the politics of local taxation
- 12 Conclusion
- Appendix: chancellors of the Exchequer and prime ministers, 1908–1983
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
… debt and taxation lie like a vast wet blanket across the whole process of creating new wealth by new enterprise.
Winston Churchill to Otto Niemeyer, 20 May 1927, in M. Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill, Volume V, Companion Part I, Documents: The Exchequer Years, 1922–29 (London, 1980), p. 997… one of the great constructive tasks in finance … was to wipe off this burden of the War Debt, to abolish this hideous war memorial of capitalist finance and financial jugglery.
Hugh Dalton, Labour Party: Report of the 27th Annual Conference, 1927 (London, 1927), p. 246Debt and taxation were at the heart of postwar politics, placing considerable strain on the fiscal constitution. One of the most pressing political issues after the First World War – as after the Napoleonic wars – was how to deal with the costs of servicing and repaying the immense burden of debt without alienating taxpayers and threatening the legitimacy of the state (see table 3.1). At the end of the Napoleonic wars, taxpayers were alienated and the legitimacy of the state was threatened. These problems were overcome in the mid-Victorian period, and by the late nineteenth century, the national debt was transformed into a symbol of British financial probity, a guarantee of British liberty by allowing the government to obtain large sums of money at short notice in order to defend the country from danger.
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Just TaxesThe Politics of Taxation in Britain, 1914–1979, pp. 60 - 102Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2002
Accessibility standard: Unknown
Why this information is here
This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.Accessibility Information
Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this chapter is currently unknown
and may be updated in the future.