The Beliefs of the Parties in the 1940s

Beliefs of the Conservatives

Parties at this time stood for broad principles - not just specific policies. At the start of Peel's Conservative ministry these were:

1. Monarchy was important in the British political system. Conservatives believed that the Monarch should be allowed to exert real power when it was appropriate. Queen Victoria should be entitled to select her own ministers and the government belonged to her.
2. Conservatives had a high regard for the traditional British constitution. They regretted passing the 1832 Reform bill, but they were prepared to accept necessary changes.
3. They believed that the landowning aristocracy were the given rulers of the country, and they deserved that role due to the background, education and wealth. The stability of the country depended upon a landowning class that had a sufficient stake in the system to act in it's best interests. In contrast to the French revolution that was going on at the same time, the British aristocracy were not opposed to a political role for the wealthy middle classes. This was shown when Peel favored free trade.
4. The Conservatives believed that the Church of England was the keystone of the social system. The monarch was the head of the Church and the bishops were often members of the House of Lords.

Beliefs of the Liberals

1. The liberals had a much greater acceptance of reform and change. For example, in 1832 Earl Grey (PM) said "the reform act was the most aristocratic measure ever put before parliament."
2. They were more suspicious of the powers that the Monarch had. They restricted a monarch's rights in the Bill of Rights of 1689. They believed in the Rule of Law, which meant that everyone regardless of their status or position must keep to the laws of the land.
3. Liberals were happy to allow the middle class into the heart of the political framework. This was shown when they allowed the £10 householder the vote in the 1832 reform act.
4. They weren't too concerned about the Church of England, but instead wanted more religious liberty. Liberals often showed sympathy to non-conformists. They wanted to use the Church's powers for things like education.
5. Liberals were keen on the government having a lower role, and influencing the economy less, for example by having lower taxation. This is very similar to what Conservative Margaret Thatcher wanted and Nobel prize winning economist Hayek.

Standard Chartered - The tip of an Iceberg?

Standard Chartered - The tip of an Iceberg? 

August this year, the UK based bank Standard Chartered was accused of illegally scheming with Iran to launder money by a young aspiring regulator from New York. Of course the bank denied the bulk of the charges, (they admitted of hiding $14m of transactions, not the alleged $250bn.) Yet I will not be focusing on the relatively minor misdemeanours of the bank but instead what the allegations really mean and entail.
In order to do this, we are going to need to zoom out of the bank accusations and look at the bigger picture. In the US there is a large Jewish lobby who have influence over politics and other important areas of the country. Recently the Americans have been pressured by the lobby to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon. However, rather than straight out going to war with Iran, America is imposing economic sanctions to persuade Iran to stop.
In order for this method to work, America wants all countries to obey the sanctions. They went about this by asking at the UN for others to follow. Both China and Russia disagreed and would not comply - why should they agree? However, due to our long-standing relationship with the US, Britain agreed to the sanctions.
Now that we have had a glimpse of the big picture, we can zoom back in and have a closer look the bank. According the the BBC, British bankers are saying that this is looking increasingly like an assault on the city of London by the US authorities. So, could it be that some Americans are misusing Britain’s compliance with the economic sanctions against Iran to bring business from London to New York? Some politicians have spoken of a perceived “anti-British” bias in Washington designed to weaken London as a financial center, even more so as the accusers threaten to revoke Standard Chartered’s New York trading license.
On one hand, these accusations may only be to bring business to New York, but on the other hand by looking at the bigger picture we can that ultimately Iran only want a Nuclear weapon to assure their own security, as the Isrealis have one which the Americans have them.
In conclusion, with no recognition of the offence this causes to the Palestines and the Arab world, along with increasing tension, this could spark into a devastating conflict.