upport women’s suffrage because it was hard to know whom women would vote for. Between 1911 and 1914 the Suffragettes became increasingly militant as the Liberals refused to find parliamentary time to debate the question. The party claimed the issue was ‘a constitutional not a moral question’. The suffragette issue damaged the Liberals as their evident reluctance to treat it as a matter of belief weakened their moral standing. Their failure to resolve the issue proved to be a political embarrassment.Between 1908 and 1914 the position of Trade Unions legally improved, but these years also saw the most active period of Trade Union action. This included industrial unrest and much strike action. Two reasons have been given to justify this industrial unrest: syndicalism or a response to the current social and economic conditions. However, it is possible that the Liberal government were to blame for this industrial unrest. They were accused of not taking quick enough action to reverse the Osbourne judgement (where Trade Unions could not ask for a political levy) which was a great embarrassment to them. The political levy was declared illegal in 1909 after a union used part of the fees to fund the Labour Party. There was then a feeling that Liberals were determined to undermine the Labour Party. The Liberals at times appeared uncertain in situations and heavy handed in its response. However, the party had legislation to have a minimum wage and a limit on the number of working hours. Also mechanisms to settle industrial disputes such as an industrial council were introduced. Claims that either the Labour or the Liberals were to blame showed that out of the two it was the Liberals. Even though Labour was seen as the junior party of the Liberals and was not in a position to make spectacular progress in Parliament, the party was able to maintain its level of support, in comparison to the Liberals who were not.The c...
