In
January 1941 Tom Hopkinson, the editor
of Picture Post, published his
Plan for Britain. This included minimum
wages throughout industry, full employment, child allowances, a national
health service, the planned use of land and a complete overhaul of
education. This document led to discussions about post-war Britain
and was the forerunner of the Beveridge
Report that was published in December 1943.
Later that
year Hopkinson helped establish the1941
Committee. He later claimed that the motive force was the
belief that if the Second World War was to be
won "a much more coordinated effort would be needed, with stricter
planning of the economy and greater use of scientific know-how, particularly
in the field of war production."
The chairman
of the 1941 Committee was J.
B. Priestley and other members included Edward
G. Hulton,
Kingsley Martin,
Richard
Acland,
Michael Foot, Peter
Thorneycroft, Thomas Balogh, Richie
Calder, Tom
Winteringham, Vernon Bartlett,
Violet Bonham Carter, Konni
Zilliacus, Victor Gollancz, Storm
Jameson and David Low.
In December
1941 the committee published a report that called for public control
of the railways, mines and docks and a national wages policy. A further
report in May 1942 called for works councils and the publication of
"postwar plans for the provision of full and free education,
employment and a civilized standard of living for everyone."
(1)
Tom
Hopkinson, Of This
Our Time (1982)
In publishing
our 'Plan for Britain' so early in the war, Picture Post was
taking the lead in what was to become one of the most controversial
issues over the next years - that of war aims. Churchill himself was
strongly against any discussion of war aims: Britain, he declared,
had only one war aim, to defeat Hitler - and his position was understandable.
He led a motley coalition; most of his ministers came from the Conservative
ranks - in which at this time he himself had no secure roots - but
there were also Labour and Liberal members of his cabinet. Winning
the war appeared to him the only issue on which all could remain united;
over discussion as to what Britain should be like when the war ended
they would quite certainly fall apart. But though this might be a
good reason for the government to keep silent about the future, it
did not stop ordinary men and women - particularly those in the forces
with time on their hands - from thinking and talking about it a great
deal.
The result
of our special issue, therefore, was twofold. It intensified support
among readers, who looked upon the magazine as their mouthpiece, almost
indeed as their own property, and it increased the antagonism felt
in certain
government departments, above all in the Ministry of Information.
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