British Parliamentary Debates on the Global Financial Crisis (1929-1933) and its Impact on Political and Social Life

Abstract

After the Great Depression occurred in the United States on October 24، 1929، due to the collapse of the Wall Street stock exchange in New York with its stocks and bonds، and the intense demand for gold، whose prices rose especially with the difficulty of obtaining it and the scarcity of its production، As a result، economic disasters occurred in the rest of the world، including Britain، in whose banks the majority of the world’s countries had deposited their deposits، When the crisis occurred، those countries wanted to get their deposits back، so Britain decided to offer goods instead of gold and money، As a result of rising prices for British goods، depositary governments demanded that debts be repaid in gold، so gold began to leave Britain in large quantities. The economic crisis also affected production sectors and banking and financial institutions in the first half of 1930 and reached its peak in the spring of 1932.

      Heated parliamentary debates took place among members of the English Parliament to address this problem، in which they obliged the government to pay attention to national resources and the need to implement firm and urgent economic measures، and to work on enacting the Colonial Development Act of 1929 with the aim of accelerating the extraction of resources in the colonies to enhance the welfare of workers and the competitiveness of British industries، In particular، the discussions that took place between British MPs such as Lloyd George، the Liberal representative، and Philip Snowden، the Labour government representative، and the call by some Lords such as Lord Arnold and Passfield to alleviate the burden of unemployment on the working classes، This resulted in several pieces of legislation، including the Suspension of the Gold Standard Act، the Westminster Bill of 1931، and other legislation in the same context، which greatly reduced the financial crisis.