ABSTRACT
The General Federation of Trade Unions intended to stay out of politics, but political issues were difficult to ignore. The first ten years of the federation’s existence saw momentous changes in the position of labour in British society, which brought social and industrial questions right into the centre of government policy and public debate and made it impossible for any national trade union organisation to avoid the political arena altogether. The General Federation closed the argument as far as it was concerned in the pages of its tenth quarterly report. In a way, its statement summed up what has been a guiding principle throughout its history. The General Federation of Trade Unions did not number the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants among its members, but it hoped to do so and its interest in the implications of Taff Vale for other unions could not be doubted.
