The Budget Protest League was a British

pressure group Advocacy groups, also known as lobby groups, interest groups, special interest groups, pressure groups, or public associations, use various forms of advocacy or lobbying to influence public opinion and ultimately public policy. They play an impor ...

formed in June 1909 and led by Walter Long to oppose

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

's "

People's Budget The 1909/1910 People's Budget was a proposal of the Liberal government that introduced unprecedented taxes on the lands and incomes of Britain's wealthy to fund new social welfare programmes, such as non-contributary old age pensions under Ol ...

" outside of

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. The League attacked the Budget's Finance (1909-10) Act 1910 as

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

because of its

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

rises, increased

death duties International tax law distinguishes between an estate tax and an inheritance tax. An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and prop ...

, and a

land value tax A land value tax (LVT) is a levy on the value of land (economics), land without regard to buildings, personal property and other land improvement, improvements upon it. Some economists favor LVT, arguing it does not cause economic efficiency, ec ...

in order to redistribute this to old age

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

s. It was not linked to

tariff reform Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

. It produced posters outlining its opposition to Lloyd George and the Budget. In a letter to ''The Times'' announcing the formation of the Budget Protest League, Long said:

It is unconstitutional to endeavour to secure, under cover of a Finance Bill, the acceptance by Parliament of legislative proposals very similar to, if not identical with, those which were rejected by the House of Lords last year...it is generally recognized by Socialists themselves that it embodies principles which are frankly Socialistic. Moreover, the increased expenditure upon naval construction is wholly inadequate to meet the requirements of the situation. Never during my Parliamentary career have I known such strong and general feelings of hostility to any financial proposals, and a desire is expressed on all sides, and by men of all classes, that the Budget should be rejected...it is impossible to exaggerate the gravity of the consequences which must follow in our country districts if the new taxation is allowed to pass. There are many owners of land who are only able with the utmost difficulty to maintain existing payments in connexion with their property. If these are called upon to pay heavy additional taxation it is inevitable that in many cases they will be compelled to resort to a reduction of the labour bill on their estates—a form of economy which in almost all cases they have in the past made sacrifices to avoid.''The Times'' (14 June 1909), p. 7.

In reaction to the formation of this League there was formed a Budget League—chaired by

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

—to promote the "People's Budget".

Notes

External links

League poster attacking Lloyd George
Political history of the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1909 1909 establishments in the United Kingdom History of the Conservative Party (UK) Conservative political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom {{UK-poli-stub