Coalition Government begins.
Extract from "A Gathering Storm", George Dangerfield
Published New York 1935
Bonar Law's decision not to try and form a government meant he had clearly discounted any idea of a Coalition with the Liberals. Only a tiny minority of Asquith's party would have countenanced such a deal anyway. Nor, with even fewer votes than the Conservatives, could the Liberal Party sustain a minority government. The only option, bar a fresh election, was to work with Labour. Even that was not enough to give Asquith a majority, but with continued informal support from the Irish Parliamentary Party there would be a working majority on most issues. It would not be easy though. Labour support was conditional on having Ministerial posts and, while the Irish Parliamentary Party refused any active role in government, they still had legislative demands, most notably the return of the Home Rule Bill, but also as it turned out, measures to curb the UVF.
Negotiations with Labour took over a month, not helped by a split over the wisdom of propping up a Liberal Government. The Party Leader, Ramsay Macdonald, refused in the end to take part and his place as leader was taken by Arthur Henderson. The last sticking point was not however resolved until after the so-called Battle of Tilbury, when McKenna agreed to fall on his sword and free the position of Home Secretary for Labour. It was in reality the only one of the great offices of state available. It was inconceivable that the positions of Chancellor of the Exchequer or Foreign Secretary be given to Labour, nor would the present incumbents have gone quietly. Grey in particular had a great deal of support and his demotion could potentially have led to further resignations, bringing down the fragile coalition before it even got started. Even so there was still unrest in the ranks of the Liberal Party that such a critical post at such a critical time should go to Labour.
Prime Minister H H Asquith
Lord Chancellor Viscount Haldane
Lord President of the Council Lord Tweedmouth
Lord Privy Seal Marquess of Crewe
Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George
Home Secretary Arthur Henderson (Labour)
Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey, Bt
Secretary of State for the Colonies James Keir Hardy (Labour)
Secretary of State for War John Seely
Secretary of State for India Earl of Crewe
First Lord of the Admiralty Winston S Churchill
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Charles Hobhouse
President of the Board of Trade J R Clynes (Labour)
Secretary of State for Scotland Thomas McKinnon Wood
Chief Secretary for Ireland Augustine Birrell
President of the Local Government Board Philip Snowden (Labour)
President of the Board of Agriculture Walter Runciman
President of the Board of Education Joseph Pease
Postmaster General Herbert Samuel
First Commissioner of Works George Lansbury (Labour)
Attorney General Sir John Simon
Of the eventual appointments perhaps the most surprising was the appointment of Keir Hardy – surprise that he agreed to serve as much as surprise at the post he was given. It was thought that he would have preferred to be Secretary of State for Scotland, but his known support for Scottish Home Rule made that appointment unacceptable to the Liberals. The real poisoned chalice however was almost certainly the dual appointments of George Lansbury as Home Secretary and J R Clynes at the Board of Trade. To these two would fall the dual problems of policing the industrial unrest and finding a way through it.
It was only after these protracted negotiations that the new Government was able to turn to the question of Ireland or more accurately, how to secure the support of the Irish Parliamentary Party. This proved much more difficult than anyone had anticipated. Labour insisted on being included in any discussions and the negotiations over membership of the group to meet Redmond and others from the IPP were almost as difficult as those on the coalition proper. In the end it was agreed that the negotiating team would comprise Asquith, Viscount Haldane and Birrell for the Conservatives with Henderson and Keir Hardie for Labour.
It was not until November 24th that the first meeting between the two sides took place. In laying out their case Redmond was blunt. The IPP wanted Home Rule for the entire island of Ireland, with full responsibility for all internal affairs to be handed to the new Irish Parliament including
a) a guarantee from the British government to maintain Irish national spending at current levels,
b) the abolition of the Dublin Castle administration and its replacement by one responsible to the new Parliament,
c) No change in the number of Irish MPs in the London Parliament and,
d) Immediate legislation to control the activities of the UVF.
Asquith's negotiating position was immediately undercut by Keir Hardie, who had his own agenda. He demanded that any Home Rule Bill should include provision for Scotland and perhaps Wales, including proposals to disestablish the Scottish and Irish Churches. He supported the controls on the UVF, but wanted them extended to cover similar bodies on the mainland – in other words the Civilian Force. Unfortunately the negotiating team had not met as a group until an hour before the meeting with Redmond. Haldane had refused to talk to Labour at all, and so, without a common position to present to Redmond in response, the meeting broke up after 45 minutes with no agreement except to meet again in three days.
Asquith's post meeting with Haldane and Birrell was to say the least difficult. In a rare display of anger, he berated both Haldane and Birrell for the loss of face, despite being himself complicit in the failure. Henderson and Keir Hardie on the other hand were well pleased. They had gained much by securing Cabinet posts but had little to lose if the government fell. They recognised that they were in most electoral danger if they were seen to be getting too close to the Liberals.
The Cabinet meeting the next day, 25th November, at which Asquith had hoped to present an agreement was equally difficult. He could not admit the problems were caused caused by his failure to agree a position before hand and instead he tried to suggest a breach of faith by Labour. Keir Hardie had however taken the opportunity of talking to Lloyd George on the disestablishment question in advance, so Labour had the pleasure of seeing their Liberal colleagues dissolve into bickering. In the end it was Henderson and Clynes who, supported by Lloyd George, brought the meeting back to the matter in hand. Finally it was agreed to offer the possibility of Home Rule for Ireland, but for it first to be considered by a Constitutional Convention, which would consider the position of all the Home Nations. This would include representatives from all the major parties. On the question of controlling the UVF and like bodies, no agreement was reached, Asquith being aware of what was happening in the Army but reluctant to raise it in front of Labour for fear of giving them an electoral weapon. His position was not helped by news of another confrontation between strikers and a contingent from the Civilian Force, this time in Hull.
The idea of linking movement on an Irish Parliament with similar changes in Scotland and Wales was not well received by Redmond. He presented it as a breach of faith, arguing that Ireland had waited for centuries, that it had reached the current position by its own endeavours and if Scotland for example wanted Home Rule, they should not do so on the back of Irish efforts. This rather ungracious response was bluntly put down by Keir Hardie. It was this or nothing, since without the Labour party the government would fall and the next time they could be facing Bonar Law, with his public support for Unionism and the UVF. Nor would it go down well in Ireland if a firm offer of Home Rule in principle was known to have been rejected because other parties might get it too. Did Redmond want to hand Ireland over to those who would seize power by force, probably leading to Civil War, a War which the Home Rule side was not guaranteed to win? As for Disestablishment, the Irish had secured that in 1871. Was Ireland now going to stand in the way of the same freedom for others? In the end Redmond gave in and it was agreed to call a Constitutional Convention in February 1914 at which representatives of all the Home Nations would be present, covering the full range of views in each country. In return the IPP would not vote against the Coalition without prior notice and in any case not before the Convention had finished its work.