Postwar British MPs from all parties pledged massive state housing

Evidence

Th e parliamentary debate around the housing bill in April 1919 demonstrated the determination and infl uence of the reconstructionists in British government. Liberal MP James Gilbert spoke for all: “It is very necessary that these houses should be built as soon as possible, because not only myself but every Member of this House is pledged to housing up to the hilt … this will mark a new era for the working classes of this country” (James Gilbert, HC Deb 7 April 1919, vol. 114, cc 1763). — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 290

Categorization

• XREF: Shows the pre-austerity consensus Mattei argues the 1921 Geddes Axe and 1922 Harcourt committee then broke, connecting to her core claim that austerity was a reversal of this pledge. — connects to: Postwar housing shortage and popular pressure drove Britain’s ambitious Housing Acts — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 437; Housing pledges held until the postwar boom collapsed and labor weakened — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 1694; Postwar British reconstructionists gave political goals priority over economic cost — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention, 181

Broader Connections

• Postwar housing shortage and popular pressure drove Britain’s ambitious Housing Acts #corroborates (0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 437
• Housing pledges held until the postwar boom collapsed and labor weakened #qualifies (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1694
• Postwar British reconstructionists gave political goals priority over economic cost #corroborates (0.70) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 181