WORKING

BRITAIN

CONTENT
1.

2.
3.
4.
5.

Economic history of the United

Kingdom: - The Industrial Revolution;
- Second Industrial
Revolution;
History of labour law in the United
Kingdom;
The financial sector;
The Energy Industries;
Bank of England;

1. Economic history of the

U.K.
Theeconomic history of the United
Kingdomdeals with theeconomic historyof
Britainafter1700.
Britain led theindustrial revolutionand
dominated the European and world economy
during the 19th century. It was the major
innovator in machinery such as steam engines
(for pumps, factories, railway locomotives and
steamships),textileequipment,andtool-making.
It invented the railway system and built
muchoftheequipmentusedbyothernations.

After 1840 it abandoned mercantilism and practised

"freetrade,"withnotariffsorquotasorrestrictions.
Between1870and2000,economicoutputperheadof
populationinBritainroseby500percent,generating
a significant rise in living standards. However, from
the late 19th century onwards Britain experienced
arelativeeconomic decline as other nations such as
the United States and Germany caught up. In 1870,
Britain'soutputperheadwasthesecondhighestinthe
world afterAustralia. By 1914, it was fourth highest.
In 1950, British output per head was still 30 per cent
ahead of the six founder members of theEEC, but
within 50 years it had been overtaken by many
EuropeanandseveralAsiancountries.

The Industrial Revolution

In a period loosely dated from the 1770sto the
1820s,Britainexperiencedanacceleratedprocessof
economicchangethattransformedalargelyagrarian
economy into the world's first industrial economy.
This phenomenon is known as the "industrial
revolution", since the changes were all embracing
andpermanent.
Great Britain provided the legal and cultural
foundations that enabled entrepreneurs to pioneer
theindustrialrevolution.Startinginthelaterpartof
the18thcentury,therebeganatransitioninpartsof
GreatBritain'spreviouslymanuallabouranddraftanimalbased economy towards machine-based
manufacturing.

Itstartedwiththemechanisationofthetextile
industries,
the
development
ofironmakingtechniques and the increased use
ofrefined coal. Trade expansion was enabled
by the introduction ofcanals,improved
roadsandrailways.Factoriespulledthousands
from low productivity work in agriculture to
highproductivityurbanjobs.
The introduction ofsteam powerfuelled
primarily by coal, wider utilisation ofwater
wheelsand powered machinery (mainly
intextile manufacturing) underpinned the
dramaticincreasesinproductioncapacity.The
development of all-metalmachine toolsin the
firsttwodecadesofthe19thcenturyfacilitated
the manufacture of more production machines
for manufacturing in other industries. The
effectsspreadthroughoutWesternEuropeand
North America during the 19th century,
eventually affecting most of the world, a
processthatcontinuesasindustrialisation.

Second Industrial
Revolution
DuringtheFirstIndustrialRevolution,theindustrialist
replaced the merchant as the dominant figure in the
capitalistsystem.Inthelatterdecadesofthe19thcentury,
when the ultimate control and direction oflarge industry
came into the hands of financiers, industrial capitalism
gavewaytofinancialcapitalismandthecorporation.The
establishment of behemoth industrial empires, whose
assets were controlled and managed by men divorced
from production, was a dominant feature of this third
phase.

New products and services were also

introduced which greatly increased
international
trade.
Improvements
insteam enginedesign and the wide
availabilityofcheapiron(andafter1870
steel)meantthatslow,sailingshipscould
be replaced withsteamships, such
asBrunel'sSS Great Western. Electricity
andchemicalindustriesalsomovedtothe
forefront. In many of these sectors
Britainhadfarlessofanedgethanother
powers such as Germany and the United
States, which both rose to equal Britain;
the U.S. took the lead in world industry
inthe1890s.
Bythe1870s,financialhousesinLondon
had achieved an unprecedented level of
controloverindustry.Thiscontributedto
increasingconcernsamongpolicymakers
overtheprotectionofBritishinvestments
overseas particularly those in the
securities of foreign governments and in
foreign-government-backed development
activities,suchasrailways

History of labour law in the U.K.

Labour law in its modern form is primarily a
creationofthelastthreedecadesofthe 20thcentury.
However, as a system of regulating the employment
relationship, labour law has existed since people
worked.InfeudalEngland,thefirstsignificantlabour
lawsfollowedtheBlackDeath.Giventheshortageof
workers and consequent price rises theOrdinance of
Labourers 1349and theStatute of Labourers
1351attempted to suppress sources of wage inflation
bybanningworkersorganisation,creatingoffencesfor
any able-bodied person that did not work, and fixing
wagesatpre-plaguelevels.

UltimatelythisledtothePeasants'Revoltof1381,which
was in turn suppressed and followed up with theStatute
ofCambridge1388,whichbannedworkersfrommoving
around the country. Yet conditions were improving as
serfdomwasbreakingdown.
In1772slaverywasdeclaredtobeillegalinR v Knowles,
ex parte Somersett,and the subsequentSlave Trade Act
1807andSlavery Abolition Act 1833 enforced
prohibition throughout theBritish Empire.The turn into
the 19th century coincided with the start of the massive
boom in production. Gradually people's relationship to
their employers moved from one of status - formal
subordinationanddeference-tocontractwherebypeople
were
formally
free
to
choose
their
work.However,freedom of contractdid not, as the
economist Adam Smithobserved, change a worker's
factualdependencyonemployers.

WatTyler,leaderofthePeasants'
RevoltiskilledinfrontofKing
RichardII.

Menleavingthepit,before
thestartoftheGreatWar.

TheUKminers'strike(19841985)wasabitter
confrontationbetweentheThatchergovernment
andcoalmineworkers.

The financial sector

TheUKfinancialservicesindustryaddedgrossvalue
of 116,363million to the UK economy in 2011.The
UK's exports of financial and business services make a
significant positive contribution towards the
country'sbalanceofpayments.
London is a major centre forinternational
businessandcommerceandisoneofthethree"command
centres" ofthe global economy (alongsideNew York
CityandTokyo).Thereareover500bankswithofficesin
London, and it is the leading international centre for
banking,
insurance,
Eurobonds,
foreign
exchangetradingandenergyfutures

London's financial services

industryisprimarilybasedintheCity
of LondonandCanary Wharf. The
City houses theLondon Stock
Exchange, theLondon International
Financial Futures and Options
Exchange,
theLondon
Metal
Exchange,Lloyds of London, and
theBank of England. Canary Wharf
began development in the 1980s and
is now home to major financial
institutions
such
asBarclays
Bank,CitigroupandHSBC,aswellas
the UKFinancial Services Authority.
Londonisalsoamajorcentrefor
other business and professional
services, and four of the six largest
law firms in the world are
headquarteredthere.

The energy industries

During 2008, the total energy consumed in the
United Kingdom was 234.439 milliontonnes of oil
equivalent.
Concerns overpeak oilhave been raised by highprofile voices in the United Kingdom such asSir
DavidKingandtheIndustryTask-ForceonPeakOil
and Energy Security.The latter's 2010 report states
that "The next five years will see us face another
crunch - the oil crunch. This time, we do have the
chance to prepare.The challenge is to use that time
well."(SirRichardBransonandIanMarchant).

UnitedKingdomproduced60%ofitsconsumednatural
gasin 2010. In five years the United Kingdom moved
from almost gas self-sufficient to 40% gas import in
2010. Gas was almost 40% of total primary energy
supply(TPES)andelectricitymorethan45%in2010.
Underground storage was about 5% of annual demand
and more than 10% of net imports. There is an
alternativefuelobligationintheUnitedKingdom.
Gasfields
includeAmethyst
gasfield,Armada
gasfield,Easington
Catchment
Area,East
Knapton,EverestgasfieldandRhumgasfield.
A gas leak occurred in March 2012 at theElginFranklin fields, where about 200,000 cubic metres of
gas was escaping everyday.Totalmissedoutonabout
83mofpotentialincome.

At the beginning of March 2012, the installed

capacity ofwind power in the United Kingdomwas
6,580megawatts(MW), with 333 operationalwind
farmsand 3,506wind turbinesin the United
Kingdom.The country is ranked as the world's eighth
largest producer of wind power. 2012 was expected to
beasignificantyearfortheoffshorewindindustrywith
potentially 5farms becoming operational with over
1,300MWofgeneratingcapability.

TheformerBattersea
PowerStation

Bank of England
The Bank of England was founded in 1694 to act
as the Government's banker and debt-manager. Since
thenitsrolehasdevelopedandevolved,centredonthe
managementofthenation'scurrencyanditspositionat
thecentreoftheUK'sfinancialsystem.
ThehistoryoftheBankisnaturallyoneofinterest,
butalsoofcontinuingrelevancetotheBanktoday.

Fromthemiddleofthe17thcentury,Englandand
London in particular, buzzed with ideas - indeed the
era has been dubbed 'the age of projects' - but one
which kept coming to the fore was the notion of a
nationalbank.Peoplesensedthatthecountrywason
thebrinkofatremendousexpansionoftrade,butone
vital element was lacking: what was needed was a
bankor"fundofmoney"-moreliquidity,inmodern
parlance - to drive the trade of the country. They
lookedwithsomeenvyacrosstothecontinentatthe
exampleoftheDutchwhowerethenpre-eminentin
Europe.

Buildings and Architects

1732-1734 George
Sampson

1765-1788 Sir Robert

Taylor

1788-1833 Sir John

Soane

1925-1939
Sir Herbert
Baker