Explain How Successful Was The Liberal Government In Dealing With The Constitutional Crisis 1909-11

How Successful was the Liberal government in dealing with the constitutional crisis of 1909-11?

In 1909 Lloyd George needed to find £15 million of extra revenue to provide for the new social services and for the construction of naval warships, to do this the budget had to be passed. It was not easy for Lloyd George to finance social reforms because OAPs which were introduced in 1908, cost £2m p.a., more than had been estimated. Also there was a trade recession and rising unemployment, so government revenues were falling as fewer taxes were being paid. Britain had to build more dreadnoughts as the naval arms race with Germany was intensifying, and fears grew that the German Navy would overtake the Royal Navy. Conservative opposition called
The government could not fumction without money so the issue was put to the voters to decide. The Conservatives had to win a large number of seats in order to justify their rejection of the budget, however they did not and ithe election was therefore a defeat for the Conservatives. However, the Liberals no longer had an overall majority in the commons so they could only get their bills passed if they got the support of the Labour party and Irish Nationalists. The Irish Nationalists would only give their support in return for granting of Home Rule for Ireland, so the Liberal party had to include Home Rule in their policy. The Liberals were reliant on the Labour Party as Labour would only support them in return for favourable legislation for trade unions, assistance for working class candidates to become MPs. This allowed the Labour Party to develop links with uniona and allowed them to field more candidates at future elections, enabling them to challenge the Liberal Party; weakening the Liberals. After the election the budget was re-introduced into parliament and was passed by both
They wasnted the Lords to never again block a measure passed by the House of Commons. Therefore in 1990 they drew up a bill to curb the power of the House of Lords by taking away the power to veto. Reform of the Lords was vital as the Conservatives were strongly opposed to Home Rule for Ireland, and would vote against any Home Rule Bill in the Lords. This was necessary as the Liberals had promised Home Rule to the Irish Nationalists, in return for their support, so reform of the Lords had to take place before Home Rule could be brought in. The 1910 Parliament Bill proposed that the House of Lords was to have the power to amend or reject those bills the speaker of the Commons certifies to be true money Bills. The Lords veto was abolished, but could delay it for no longer than two years. Also the maximum period between general elections was to be reduced from seven years to five to make parliament more accountable to electors. Although the Bill was not as radical as it could have been because it did not alter the composition of the Lord. The Bill would easily pass through the House of Commons but to curb the Lords’ power would have to be passed by the Lords themselves. Asquith planned to ask King Edward Vll to create 570 new peers, who would be willing to outvote the Conservative Lords and therefore ensure the parliament bill