Philip Snowden: The First Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer

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Tony Benn contrasted Gaitskell's stand on the Suez Crisis to that of the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair on the war in Iraq. It was during that year he had prostate gland surgery, following which his health and mobility declined. At Newcastle, with a general election clearly imminent, Gaitskell pledged that Labour's spending plans would not require him to raise income tax, for which he was attacked by the Tories for supposed irresponsibility. His first speech on Suez (2 August 1956) attacked Nasser and was welcomed by many Conservatives, and implied that he would support the use of force, but in Brivati's view did not give enough emphasis to his stipulation that it be done through the United Nations.

Through times of struggle, of conflict, of economic depression, it has been Labour that has fought for working people here and around the world. At the second meeting, Gaitskell threatened to resign, but quietly and without a public fuss, if he did not have the backing of the Cabinet; the resignation of the Chancellor on the eve of the budget would have caused a political crisis. Cripps was seriously unwell and had to go to Switzerland to convalesce on 18 July; Attlee announced that he was taking over Cripps' responsibilities with three young, financially able, ministers to advise him. Correspondence flowed between the General Secretary of the ILP, Francis Johnson and the Blackburn agent George Eddie and also that of Philip Snowden who indicated his desire to do what was best for the local party. After the PLP voted 188–51 to ban such groups Bevan insisted, over the wishes of Foot and Crossman, that the Bevanite group be disbanded.The shock of Gaitskell's death was comparable to that of the sudden death of the later Labour Party leader John Smith, in May 1994, when he too seemed to be on the threshold of 10 Downing Street. Gaitskell passionately condemned the eventual Anglo-French military intervention to secure the Suez Canal, supposedly launched to enforce international law and to separate the Egyptian and Israeli combatants; the Israeli attack had in fact been launched in collusion with the British and French to supply a pretext for the invasion. He attempted to resign in the summer but was dissuaded by Gaitskell and Plowden because of the outbreak of the Korean War.

He had died from complications following a sudden flare-up of lupus, an autoimmune disease which had affected his heart and kidneys.He was the first Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, a position he held in 1924 and again between 1929 and 1931. This view was not shared by Gaitskell himself, and after Butler's emergency "Pots and Pans" budget in October 1955, in which he reversed tax cuts made prior to the Conservatives' re-election at the general election earlier that year, he attacked him strongly for allegedly having misled the electorate. A very angry Bevan saw the charges as a blow to the principle of a free health service, telling a heckler whilst he was making a speech in Bermondsey (3 April 1951) that he would resign rather than accept health charges.

Moreover, by the end of 1959 Bevan was seriously unwell; he withdrew from the public eye and died in July 1960. The object of Socialism is not to render the individual capable of living on his personal resources. Dalton helped him to be selected as candidate for South Leeds in 1937, and had it not been for the war, he would very likely have become an MP by 1940. The need for the breaking down of trade restrictions, which took various forms, was universally recognized even by those who were unable to throw off those shackles.It was difficult for the Treasury to take tough measures given the government's small majority and the likelihood of another election soon. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Gaitskell very likely might have become Prime Minister had he lived; however, he left no lasting monument other than "the fading memory of promise unfulfilled". He supported his wife's ideals, and he became a noted speaker at suffragist meetings and other public meetings. Gaitskell took on Frank Cousins and wanted to show that Labour were a party of government, not just of opposition.

Dora Frost (née Creditor), who came out to join him in Vienna for the latter part of his stay there. Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, PC ( / ˈ s n oʊ d ən/; 18 July 1864 [ citation needed] – 15 May 1937) was a British politician. However, Dell comments that he often went into excessive detail, including personally overseeing economic forecasts, and held excessively long meetings. In his budget, Snowden lowered the duties on tea, coffee, cocoa, chicory and sugar; reduced spending on armaments; and provided money for council housing. Besides repudiating the unquestioned commitment to public ownership of the means of production, now seen as merely one of numerous useful devices, he emphasised the goals of personal liberty, social welfare and above all social equality.Upon Ramsay MacDonald's appointment as Prime Minister in January 1924, Snowden was appointed as the Labour Party's first ever Chancellor of the Exchequer [7] and sworn of the Privy Council. Many of the younger CDS members would later be among the founding members of the breakaway Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981. By 1902, he had moved his base to Leeds and toured Britain as a lecturer on politics and corruption, with his own syndicated column and short essays in numerous working class outlets. He accepted the need for spending cuts to help make devaluation work and keep to keep the Americans happy, and thought former chancellor Dalton "rather dishonest" for arguing at the Economic Policy Committee that cuts were not necessary.