January 1910 Labour Party General Election Manifesto

A general election has been forced upon the country by the action of the House of Lords rejecting the Budget. The great question you are to decide is whether the Peers or the people are to rule this country.

Each Session since the last general election important Bills, upon which the House of Commons had spent much time, have been mutiliated or destroyed by the House of Lords, an irresponsible body which represents nothing but its own class interests. Not content with this, they now claim the right to decide what taxes shall be paid, upon whom they shall be levied, and for what purpose they shall be spent. They also claim to dictate the date at which Parliament shall be dissolved. The time has come to put an end to their power to override the will of the Commons.

The country has allowed landowners to pocket millions of pounds every year in the share of unearned increment, and yet they object to pay a small tax upon what, in justice, should belong to the State. They wish at all costs to preserve their power to plunder the people.

The Labour party welcomes this opportunity to prove that the feudal age is past and that the people are no longer willing to live on the sufferance of the Lords.

The issues you have to decide are simple. Our present system of land ownership has devastated our countryside, has imposed heavy burdens upon our industries, has cramped the development of our towns, and has crippled capital and impoverished labour.

The Lords must go

At this crisis the Labour party mertis your support. It comes with great achievements and with a determination to do much more.

In 1906 it pledged itself to restore to trade unions the same liberty as capital enjoyed during trade disputes.
THAT PLEDGE HAS BEEN FULFILLED

It pledged itself to insist upon old-age pension.
THAT PLEDGE HAS BEEN FULFILLED

It pledged itself to help drastic housing reform.
THAT PLEDGE HAS BEEN FULFILLED

It pledged itself to work for the relief of the burdens on persons of small or moderate means by the taxation of unearned incomes and land values.
THAT PLEDGE HAS BEEN FULFILLED

It pledged itself to pay special attention to the unemployed, and to compel any and every Government to contribute to the solution of this problem.
THAT PLEDGE HAS BEEN FULFILLED

The experience of the last four years has demonstrated the value of the Labour Party acting on independent lines. There still remain many problems to be solved.

• The right to work has still to be won, but is now well within the range of practical politics.
• The Poor Law must be broken up and pauperism abolished.
• Old-age pensions must be extended and increased on their present non-contributory basis.
• Restrictions upon the franchise, including the sex bar, must be swept away.

The working and middle classes are still overburdened with rates and taxes. All these problems will demand the attention of an active, determined, and independent party, drawn from the people and in touch with the people. The Labour Party, therefore, appeals to you to renew your confidence in it, to add to its ranks, and increase its power. Vote for the Labour candidates. The land for the people. The wealth for the wealth producers. Down with privilege. Up with the people.