| Sir Stafford Cripps | |
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| In office 13 November 1947 – 19 October 1950 |
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| Prime Minister | Clement Attlee |
| Preceded by | Hugh Dalton |
| Succeeded by | Hugh Gaitskell |
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| Born | 24 April 1889 London, England |
| Died | 21 April 1952 (aged 62) Switzerland |
| Political party | Labour |
| Religion | Anglican |
Sir Richard Stafford Cripps (24 April 1889 – 21 April 1952) was a British Labour politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer from November 1947 to October 1950. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all Economic and Financial Events 1002 - English king Ethelred orders the killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 202 BCE - The Battle of Zama results in the defeat of Carthage and Hannibal. Year 1950 ( MCML) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Clement Richard Attlee 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC ( 3 January 1883 &ndash 8 October 1967 Edward Hugh John Neale Dalton Baron Dalton PC, generally known as Hugh Dalton ( 26 August 1887 &ndash 13 February 1962 Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell ( 9 April 1906 &ndash 18 January 1963) was a British politician leader of the Labour Party from 1955 Events 1479 BC - Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to Year 1889 ( MDCCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date) Year 1952 ( MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the Anglicanism is a tradition of Christian faith Churches in this tradition either have historical connections to the Church of England or have similar beliefs Events 1479 BC - Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to Year 1889 ( MDCCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date) Year 1952 ( MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all Economic and Financial
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Early life
Cripps was born in London. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. His father was a Conservative member of the House of Commons who late in life, as Lord Parmoor, joined the Labour Party. The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is a Political party in the United Kingdom. The House of Commons' is the Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords Charles Alfred Cripps 1st Baron Parmoor KCVO, QC, PC ( 3 October 1852 &ndash 30 June 1941) was a British Cripps grew up in a wealthy family and received the benefits of an aristocratic upbringing. He was educated at Winchester College and at University College London, where he studied chemistry. Winchester College is a well-known boys' Independent school, and an example of an English Public school, in the city of Winchester in Hampshire University College London ( UCL) is a multi-faculty university institution based in the United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London He left science for the law, and in 1912 was called to the bar as a barrister. He served in the First World War as an ambulance driver in France and also successfully managed a factory producing armaments. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics.
Joining the Labour Party
At the end of the 1920s, Cripps moved to the far left in his political views and in 1930 he joined the Labour Party. The next year, Cripps was appointed Solicitor-General in the second Labour government. Her Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, often known as the Solicitor General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Attorney This post was customarily accompanied by a knighthood, making him Sir Stafford Cripps. Knight is the English term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. He was not yet a Member of Parliament, so he stood for and was elected in a by-election for the solidly Labour seat of Bristol East. Bristol East is a Constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. He moved rapidly to the left and became an outspoken socialist and a strong proponent of Marxist social and economic policies. Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution Although his strong faith in evangelical Christianity prevented him from subscribing to the Marxist rejection of religion, he enthusiastically advocated Marxist economic views of government control of the means of production and distribution. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings
In the 1931 general election, Cripps was one of only three former Labour ministers to hold their seats and so became the number three in the Parliamentary Labour Party, under the leader George Lansbury and deputy leader Clement Attlee. The UK general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday George Lansbury ( 21 February 1859 &ndash 7 May 1940) was a British Politician, socialist, Christian pacifist Clement Richard Attlee 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC ( 3 January 1883 &ndash 8 October 1967 In 1932 he was one of the founders of the Socialist League, composed largely of members of the Independent Labour Party who rejected its decision to disaffiliate from Labour. The Socialist League was a socialist organisation in the United Kingdom. See Independent Labor Party for the Political party in Burundi, Independent Labour Group for the Irish party and Labour candidates The Socialist League put the case for an austere form of democratic socialism. Democratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements tendencies and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation Tall, thin and intense, he became the archetype of the British upper-class doctrinaire socialist so common in the 1930s.
In 1936, the National Executive Committee decided to dissociate itself from a speech in which Cripps said he did not "believe it would be a bad thing for the British working class if Germany defeated us". The National Executive Committee or NEC is the chief administrative body of the UK Labour Party. [1] Cripps was an early advocate of a United Front against the rising threat of fascism. Fascism is a totalitarian nationalist and corporatist ideology In 1936, he was the moving force behind a Unity Campaign, involving the Socialist League, the ILP and the Communist Party of Great Britain, designed to forge electoral unity against the right. The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB was the largest Communist party in the United Kingdom, though it never became a mass party like the Communist parties of Opposed by the Labour leadership, the Unity Campaign was a damp squib: Cripps dissolved the Socialist League in 1937 rather than face expulsion from Labour, though Tribune, set up as the campaign's propaganda organ and bankrolled by Cripps and George Strauss, survived (and survives to this day). Tribune is a Democratic socialist weekly currently a magazine though in the past more often a newspaper published in London. George Russell Strauss Baron Strauss PC ( 18 July 1901 - 5 June 1993) was a long-serving British Labour Party
In early 1939, however, Cripps was finally expelled from the Labour Party for his advocacy of a Popular Front with the Communist Party and anti-appeasement Liberals and Conservatives. A popular front is a broad Coalition of different political groupings often made up of leftists and centrists who are united by opposition to another group After the Hitler-Stalin pact, Joseph Stalin instructed the Comintern to oppose anti-Hitler policies in other countries as an attempt to engineer an "imperialist' war". Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party The Comintern ( Com munist Intern ational also known as the Third International) was an international Communist organisation founded in Moscow
Second World War
When Winston Churchill formed his wartime coalition government in 1940, he appointed Cripps (a long-time cross-party colleague) ambassador to the Soviet Union, in the (perhaps naive) view that Cripps, an avowed Marxist, was the best person to try to negotiate with Stalin, who was at this time allied with Nazi Germany through the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC, PC (Can ( 30 November 1874 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Cripps led a mission to Moscow in 1940 and unsuccessfully attempted to warn Stalin of the possibility of an attack by Hitler on the Soviet Union. When Hitler attacked in June 1941, Cripps became a key figure in forging an alliance between the western powers and the Soviet Union.
In 1942 Cripps returned to Britain and made a broadcast about the Russian war effort. The popular response was phenomenal, and Cripps rapidly became one of the most popular politicians in the country, despite having no party backing. He was appointed a member of the war cabinet, with the jobs of Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons — perhaps a deliberate overpromotion by Churchill, as Prime Minister, designed to diminish his standing, as he was considered for a short period of time after his return from the Soviet Union as perhaps nearly a rival to Churchill in his hold on the country. The Lord Privy Seal or Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom ranking beneath the The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons Indeed, the London bureau chief of the Associated Press reported in American newspapers in early March 1942 the prediction by "an extremely well-placed and reliable political source . . . that there was every likelihood" that Cripps would soon unseat Churchill as prime minister. [2] Instead, Churchill sent Cripps to India on what is known as the Cripps Mission to attempt to negotiate an agreement with the nationalist leaders Gandhi and Jinnah that would keep India loyal to the British war effort in exchange for a promise of full self-government after the war. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The Cripps mission was an attempt in late March of 1942 by the British government to secure Indian cooperation and support for their efforts in World War II. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi ( Gujarati: મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી moɦən̪d̪äs kəɾəmʧən̪d̪ gän̪d̪ʱi (2 October 1869 – 30 January Muhammad Ali Jinnah Urdu: (December 25 1876 – September 11 1948 was a Pakistani politician and leader of the All India Muslim League who founded Pakistan No formal agreement was reached. For Churchill, the purpose of the trip was propaganda. Churchill intended Cripps to fail and blocked his efforts to give the Indians a role in the leadership of the war with the help of Linlithgow (William Roger Louis, "Ends of British Imperialism: the Scramble for Empire, Suez and Decolonization", Page 399). Later in 1942 he stepped down from being Leader of the House of Commons and was appointed Minister for Aircraft Production, a position outside of the War Cabinet but in which he served with substantial success. In 1945 Cripps rejoined the Labour Party.
After the war
When Labour won the general election of 1945, Clement Attlee appointed Cripps President of the Board of Trade, the second most important economic post in the government. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi ( Gujarati: મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી moɦən̪d̪äs kəɾəmʧən̪d̪ gän̪d̪ʱi (2 October 1869 – 30 January Clement Richard Attlee 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC ( 3 January 1883 &ndash 8 October 1967 The Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry before the June 28, 2007 Although still a strong socialist, Cripps had modified his views sufficiently to be able to work with mainstream Labour ministers. In Britain's desperate postwar economic circumstances, Cripps became associated with the policy of "austerity. " As an upper-class socialist he held a puritanical view of society, and took a grim pleasure in enforcing rationing with equal severity against all classes.
In 1946, Soviet jet engine designers approached Stalin with a request to purchase jet designs from Western sources in order to overcome design difficulties. Stalin is said to have replied: "What fool will sell us his secrets?" However, he gave his assent to the proposal, and Soviet scientists and designers travelled to the United Kingdom to meet with Cripps and request the engines. To Stalin's amazement, Cripps and the Labour government were perfectly willing to provide technical information on the Rolls-Royce Nene centrifugal-flow jet engine designed by RAF officer Frank Whittle, along with discussions of a license to manufacture Nene engines themselves. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, OM, KBE, FRS, Hon FRAeS (1 June 1907 &ndash 9 August 1996 was an English Royal The Nene engine was promptly reverse-engineered and produced in modified form as the Soviet Klimov VK-1 jet engine, later incorporated into the MiG-15 which flew in time to deploy in combat against UN forces in North Korea in 1950, causing the loss of several B-29 bombers and cancellation of their daylight bombing missions over North Korea. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout North Korea is the commonly used short form name for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (or DPRK) a State located in East Asia, [3]
In 1946, Cripps returned to India as part of the so-called Cabinet Mission, which proposed various formulas for independence to the Indian leaders. The British Cabinet Mission of 1946 to India aimed to discuss and finalize plans for the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership providing The other two members of the delegation were Lord Pethick-Lawrence, the Secretary of State for India, and A. V. Alexander, the First Lord of the Admiralty. Frederick William Pethick-Lawrence 1st Baron Pethick-Lawrence, PC ( 28 December 1871 &ndash 10 September 1961) was a British The office of Secretary of State for India or India Secretary was created in 1858 when Company rule in India ended and India was brought under direct British rule Albert Victor Alexander 1st Earl Alexander of Hillsborough, KG, CH, PC (1 May 1885&ndash11 January 1965 was a British Labour and The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of the Board of Admiralty, which exercised command over the Royal Navy. However, the solution devised by the three men, known as the Cabinet Mission Plan, was unsatisfactory to the Indian National Congress (Gandhi is believed to have quipped that it was a "postdated cheque on a failing bank"), and India travelled further down the road which eventually led to Partition. The British Cabinet Mission of 1946 to India aimed to discuss and finalize plans for the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership providing Indian National Congress-I (also known as the Congress Party and abbreviated INC) is a major Political party in India. The Partition of India was the partition of the British Indian Empire which led to the creation on August 14, 1947 and August 15,
In 1947 amidst a growing economic and political crisis, Cripps tried to persuade Attlee to retire in favour of Ernest Bevin; however, Bevin was in favour of Attlee remaining. Ernest Bevin ( 9 March 1881 - 14 April 1951) was a British labour leader politician and statesman best known for his time as Cripps was instead appointed to the new post of Minister for Economic Affairs. The Secretary of State for Economic Affairs was briefly an office of Her Majesty's government in the United Kingdom. Six weeks later Hugh Dalton resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer and Cripps succeeded him, with the position of Minister for Economic Affairs now merged into the Chancellorship. Edward Hugh John Neale Dalton Baron Dalton PC, generally known as Hugh Dalton ( 26 August 1887 &ndash 13 February 1962 The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all Economic and Financial Cripps laboured tirelessly to rescue Britain from its economic crisis. He increased taxes and forced a reduction in consumption in an effort to boost exports and stabilise the Pound Sterling so that Britain could trade its way out of its crisis. The Pound Sterling ( symbol £; ISO code: GBP) subdivided into 100 pence (singular penny) is the Currency He strongly supported the nationalisation of strategic industries such as coal and steel[4]. Nationalization, also spelled nationalisation, is the act of taking an industry or assets into the Public ownership of a national government
Although Cripps's severe manner and harsh policies made him very unpopular, he won respect for the sincerity of his convictions and his tireless labours for Britain's recovery. His name once induced an infamous Spoonerism when the BBC announcer MacDonald Hobley introduced him as 'Sir Stifford Crapps'. A spoonerism is an error in speech or deliberate play on words in which corresponding Consonants Vowels or Morphemes are switched (see [5]
Personal life
Cripps had suffered for many years from Colitis, inflammation of the lower bowel, a condition aggravated by excessive stress. Colitis is a chronic digestive disease characterized by Inflammation of the colon. In 1950 his health broke down under the strain and he was forced to resign his office in October. He resigned from Parliament the same month, and at the resulting by-election on 30 November he was succeeded as MP for Bristol South East by Tony Benn. Members of Parliament sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are technically forbidden to resign. The Bristol South East by-election 1950 was a By-election held on 30th November 1950 for the British House of Commons constituency Events 1700 - Battle of Narva — A Swedish army of 8500 men under Charles XII defeats Bristol South East was a Borough constituency in the city of Bristol. Anthony "Tony" Neil Wedgwood Benn (born 3 April 1925 formerly 2nd Viscount Stansgate, is a British Socialist Politician. Cripps died two years later while recuperating in Switzerland. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation
Cripps was the nephew of Beatrice Webb. This article is about the socialist politician For the children's author see Beatrix Potter. He was the father of children's author Peggy Cripps - who shocked much British opinion at the time by marrying a black African - and grandfather of her son, philosopher Anthony Appiah. Peggy Cripps Appiah MBE (b May 21 1921 - February 11 2006) was a children's Author, known as well for being the daughter Kwame Anthony Appiah (born 1954 in London) is a Ghanaian Philosopher, cultural theorist, and Novelist whose interests include
Cripps was a vegetarian, certainly for health reasons and possibly also for humanitarian / ethical reasons. "Cripps suffered from recurring illness which was alleviated by nature cure and a vegetarian diet. . . "[6].
References
- ^ Maurice Cowling, The Impact of Hitler. British Politics and British Policies, 1933-1940 (Chicago University Press, 1977), p. 215.
- ^ Drew Middleton, Says Cripps May be New English Prime Minister, Mason City Globe-Gazette, 1942-03-05, at 2, available at NewspaperArchive. com.
- ^ Gordon, Yefim, Mikoyan-Gurevich MIG-15: The Soviet Union's Long-Lived Korean War Fighter Midland Press (2001)
- ^ Cooke, Colin. 1957. The Life of Richard Stafford Cripps
- ^ Anecdotage.Com - Thousands of true funny stories about famous people. Anecdotes from Gates to Yeats
- ^ Twigg, Julia. 1981. The Vegetarian Movement in England, 1847-1981: A Study of the Structure of Its Ideology. PhD Thesis, London School of Economics, p. 247, 292.
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