In 1215 Magna Carta determined freedom from executive oppression, or liberty, as the essential principle of the English Constitution and parliament as the bulwark against executive attempts to diminish the liberty of individuals. This constitutional precedence of liberty was confirmed after the...

The Liberal Governments that took office in the years immediately before World War I pursued a policy which sought the radical transformation of British society by establishing the foundations of the modern welfare state. Liberal beliefs required that the funding for this would have to be...