ABSTRACT
The 1948 solution The Labour Party which came to power in 1945 had, of course, been part of the war-time coalition and was party to the decisions made by that government concerning postwar reconstruction. Being a Labour government it was also committed to a considerable expansion of the social services. It was the first Labour government with an overall majority in the House of Commons and it was therefore in a position to implement its own policies. It was also in charge of the highly developed and efficient system of physical controls that had been developed during the war, and of a rationing system that was accepted as being on the whole both effective and fair, which to some extent reduced the importance of poverty as a social problem during the war years.
