William Beveridge -

The Beveridge Report

William Beveridge dared to imagine a Britain where social security acts as a safety net, catching people before they fall into despair. The report became an instant best-seller in an era before the creation of the paperback, more than 600,000 official copies of the full report and its summaries were sold by February 1944. Parliament debated it. Politicians and newspapers pored over it. 1000s queued to buy it. Beveridge addressed a series of packed meetings across Britain and on tour of North America. An interview with the BBC was broadcast round the clock in 22 different languages. Copies circulated in the resistance movements of occupied Europe and assessments of it were found in Hitler's bunker in 1945. The share price of commercial insurance companies in Britain slumped. Beveridge ignited hope for a better future, and became an unlikely public hero.

"Now, when the war is abolishing landmarks of every kind, is the opportunity for using experience in a clear field. A revolutionary moment in the world's history is a time for revolutions, not for patching." He wrote.

When the report was debated in parliament in February 1943, the Labour Party declared itself strongly in favour, while the Conservatives were deeply divided. Churchill deferred its implementation until after the war, fearing that the public would be deceived by “false hopes and

airy visions”. Disappointed by the government’s lukewarm response, Beveridge began work on recommendations for achieving full employment: Full Employment in a Free Society was published in 1944. In the same year, he turned to politics and was elected Liberal MP for Berwick Upon Tweed only to lose his seat in the 1945 general election.

His mantra throughout the report was 'Abolition of Want'.

The Welfare State - Key Legislation.