ABSTRACT
Churchill had been regarded by many in Roosevelt's administration as a reactionary. Some thought it would be easier for Labour to obtain financial help from Washington. Attlee's chief negotiator, Lord Keynes, was optimistic about the chances of getting renewed US help. Other Americans viewed Attlee's government with suspicion, as it called itself 'Socialist'. If unemployment, public ownership and social security had been key domestic issues for the pre-war Labour movement, housing and education had never been far behind them. Yet in these last two areas Attlee's government had less that was new to offer. Attlee brought in constitutional reform, which many thought was long overdue and some thought did not go far enough. Opposition to Attlee's colonial policies within the armed forces erupted at a time when the Communists still endorsed his government and it was as much about dissatisfaction with service conditions and the pace of demobilization as it was about political issues.
