Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the
Summary
The board was first established as a temporary committee of England's Privy Council to advise on colonial (
Following the
This department was merged with the
Formation and early history
In 1622, at the end of the Dutch
In 1634, Charles I appointed a new commission for regulating plantations.[10] It was headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury with its primary goals to increase royal authority and the influence of the Church of England in the colonies, particularly with the great influx of Puritans to the New World. Soon after, the English Civil Wars erupted and initiated a long period of political instability in England and the resultant loss of productivity for these committees.[2] Between 1643 and 1648 the Long Parliament would establish a parliamentary Commission for Plantations to take the lead in colonial and commercial affairs.[9] This period also saw the first regulation of royal tonnage and poundage and begin the modernization of customs and excise as growing sources of government revenue.
During the Interregnum and Commonwealth three acts of the Rump Parliament in 1650 and 1651 are notable in the historical development of England's commercial and colonial programs. These include the first Commission of Trade to be established by an Act of Parliament on 1 August 1650.[11] The instructions to the named commissioners, headed by Henry Vane the Younger, included consideration of both domestic and foreign trade, the trading companies, manufactures, free ports, customs, excise, statistics, coinage and exchange, and fisheries, as well as the plantations and the best means of promoting their welfare and rendering them useful to England. The act's statesmanlike and comprehensive instructions, along with an October act prohibiting trade with pro-royalist colonies and the Navigation Act of October 1651, formed the first definitive expression of England's commercial policy. They represent the first attempt to establish a legitimate control of commercial and colonial affairs, and the instructions indicate the beginnings of a policy which had the prosperity and wealth of England exclusively at heart.[12]
It was the
In 1696,
Reestablishment 1784
William Pitt the Younger re-established the committee in 1784, and an Order in Council of 23 August 1786 provided the formal basis that still remains in force. A secretariat was established which included the president, vice president and board members. By 1793, the board still remained in its old structure, with 20 members including the Archbishop of Canterbury.[14] After 1820 the board ceased to meet regularly and the business was carried out entirely by the secretariat. The short name of "Board of Trade" was formalised in 1861.[15]
In the 19th century the board had an advisory function on economic activity in the UK and its empire. During the second half of the 19th century it also dealt with legislation for patents, designs and trademarks, company regulation, labour and factories, merchant shipping, agriculture, transport, power etc. Colonial matters passed to the Colonial Office and other functions were devolved to newly created departments, a process that continued for much of the 20th century.
The original commission comprised the seven (later eight)
Liberal reforms
Lloyd George as President of the Board of Trade (1905–1908)
In 1905, David Lloyd George entered the new Liberal Cabinet of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman as President of the Board of Trade.[16]: 63
The first priority on taking office was the repeal of the 1902 Education Act. Lloyd George took the lead along with Augustine Birrell, President of the Board of Education. Lloyd George was the dominant figure on the committee drawing up the bill in its later stages and insisted that the bill create a separate education committee for Wales.[17]: 74–77 The bill passed the House of Commons greatly amended but was completely mangled by the House of Lords. No compromise was possible and the bill was abandoned, allowing the 1902 Act to continue in effect.[18] Nonconformists were bitterly upset by the failure of the Liberal Party to reform the 1902 Education Act, its most important promise to them, and over time their support for the Liberal Party slowly fell away.[19]
According to Martin Roberts, Lloyd George headed a department of 750 experts that was responsible for supervising British industry, commerce and transportation. Using their pool of expertise, he initiated a series of reforms that were quickly endorsed by the Liberal Parliament.[20] One of the first actions was the Census of Production Act 1906, which generated a Survey of production—an up-to-date compendium of detailed statistics necessary for regulating specific industries. In 1906, the Merchant Shipping Act upgraded the minimum working conditions, and the safety protections for both British sailors, and crews of foreign ships that used British ports.[21] In 1907, the Patents and Design Act gave financial protection to British designs to stop unfair foreign copies. In the long term, his most important innovation was creating the Port of London Authority in 1908. It merged numerous inefficient and overlapping private companies and gave unified supervision to Britain's most important port. That enabled London to compete more effectively with Hamburg and Rotterdam.[22]
Lloyd George also turned his attention to strikes and industrial disputes in shipyards. He was instrumental in settling the serious threat of a national railway strike in 1907. While almost all the rail companies refused to recognise the unions, he persuaded them to recognise elected representatives of the workers who sat with the company representatives on conciliation boards—one for each company. If those boards failed to agree then an arbitrator would be called upon.[17]: 69–73 [23]
Churchill as President of the Board of Trade: 1908–1910
H. H. Asquith succeeded the terminally ill prime minister on 8 April 1908 and, four days later, Winston Churchill was appointed President of the Board of Trade, succeeding Lloyd George who became Chancellor of the Exchequer. He continued the reform impulse Lloyd George had launched.[24] One of Churchill's first tasks was to arbitrate in an industrial dispute among ship-workers and employers on the River Tyne. He afterwards established a Standing Court of Arbitration to deal with future industrial disputes, establishing a reputation as a conciliator. In Cabinet, he worked with Lloyd George to champion social reform.[25] He promoted what he called a "network of State intervention and regulation" akin to that in Germany.[26]
Churchill's main achievements came in 1909. First was the
Sydney Buxton served as president between 1910 and 1914. His main role was passage of numerous specific trade and commerce laws.
Since 1973
From 1973, international trade policy of the United Kingdom was a competence of the European Economic Community, and later of the European Union. The board was reconstituted in October 2017, after the UK had voted to leave the European Union in June 2016.[30] In its most recent iteration in 2017, only privy counsellors can be actual members of the board, while others are appointed as advisers.[31]
Members
There is only one standing member in the Board, who is its President.[32]
Ministers
The Board is held accountable to Parliament through ministers attached to the Board, who are not necessarily members.
- President of the Board of Trade
- Vice-President of the Board of Trade
- Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade
Current advisers
Advisers to the Board appointed in September 2020 or sitting ex officio.[31]
- Secretary of State for Scotland
- Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
- Secretary of State for Wales
- Minister for Trade Policy(invited when relevant to Ministerial portfolio)
- Minister for Investment (invited when relevant to Ministerial portfolio)
- Minister for Exports (invited when relevant to Ministerial portfolio)
- Minister for International Trade (invited when relevant to Ministerial portfolio)
- The Hon Tony Abbott, AC
- Karen Betts
- Libby Hart, CEO Libby London
- Anya Hindmarch
- Ruth Chapman
- Anne Boden, MBE
- Lord Hannan of Kingsclere
- The Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt
- Emma Howard Boyd [33]
- Michael Liebreich
- William Russell, Lord Mayor of London
- Dr Linda Yueh
See also
- President of the Board of Trade, complete list and links
- Imperial Lighthouse Service
Footnotes
- ^ Secretary of State (England) (to 1660), Secretary of State for the Southern Department (1660-1768), Secretary of State for the Colonies (1768-1782)
References
- ^ "Definition of Board of Trade". Lexico. Archived from the original on 22 September 2019.
- ^ Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
- ^ "Board of Trade and Secretaries of State: America and West Indies, Original Correspondence". The National Archives.
- ^ "American and West Indian colonies before 1782". The National Archives.
- ^ Sainty, John C., ed. (1974). "Council of trade and plantations 1696-1782". Officials of the Boards of Trade 1660-1870. Office-Holders in Modern Britain. Vol. 3. London: University of London. pp. 28–37 – via British History Online.
- ^ "Records of the Board of Trade and of successor and related bodies". The National Archives. Department code BT. Archived from the original on 15 September 2010.
- GOV.UK.
- ^ Anderson, Adam (1787). An historical and chronological deduction of the origin of commerce: from the earliest accounts. Containing an history of the great commercial interests of the British Empire... Vol. 2. pp. 294–297.
- ^ Andrews, Charles M. (1908). British Committees, Commissions and Councils of Trade and Plantations 1622-1675. Johns Hopkins University Press.
- ^ "Royal Commission for Regulating Plantations; April 28, 1634". Avalon Project. Yale Law School.
- ^ "August 1650: An Act for the Advancing and Regulating of the Trade of this Commonwealth". British History Online.
- Andrews, Charles M. (1908). "Control of Trade and Plantations During the Interregnum". British Committees, Commissions and Councils of Trade and Plantations 1622-1675. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 24.
- ISBN 9780300000047.
- ^ Emsley (1979), p. 9
- ^ "Harbours and Passing Tolls, &c. Act 1861". legislation.gov.uk.
- ISBN 9781780764856.
- ^ ISBN 9781780764856.
- ^ Neil D. Daglish, "Lloyd George's Education Bill? Planning the 1906 Education Bill". History of Education (1994). 23#4: 375–384. doi:10.1080/0046760940230403.
- S2CID 145486496.
- ^ Roberts, Martin (2001). Britain: 1846-1964, The Challenge of Change. Oxford University Press. p. 147.
- ^ Gilbert, Bentley Brinkerhoff (1987). David Lloyd George: A Political Life: Architect of Change, 1863-1912. pp. 325–327.
- ^ Gilbert, Bentley Brinkerhoff (1987). David Lloyd George: A Political Life: Architect of Change, 1863-1912. pp. 327–328.
- ^ Gilbert, Bentley Brinkerhoff (1987). David Lloyd George: A Political Life: Architect of Change, 1863-1912. pp. 314–319.
- ^ Jenkins, Roy (2012). Churchill: A biography. Pan Macmillan. pp. 142–166.
- ^ Jenkins (2012), p. 143.
- ^ Churchill, Randolph S. (1967). Winston S. Churchill. Vol. 2 1901-1914 Young Statesman. Houghton Mifflin company Boston. pp. 267–304.
- ^ Jenkins (2012), pp. 150–151.
- ^ Roberts, Andrew (2018). "Churchill: Walking with destiny". pp. 128–129.
- ^ Jenkins (2012), p. 150.
- ^ Pollock, Ian (12 October 2017). "Board of Trade revived by government". BBC News.
- ^ GOV.UK. 4 September 2020.
- ^ "Board of Trade: Membership". UK Parliament. 8 June 2020.
- ^ www.gov.uk
Further reading and works cited
- Basye, Arthur Herbert. The Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, commonly known as the Board of Trade, 1748-1782 (Yale University Press, 1925) online.
- Black, Alistair, and Christopher Murphy. "Information, Intelligence, and Trade: The Library and the Commercial Intelligence Branch of the British Board of Trade, 1834–1914." Library & Information History 28.3 (2012): 186-201.
- Brown, Lucy M. The Board of Trade and the free-trade movement, 1830-42 (Clarendon Press, 1958).
- ]
- Dickerson, Oliver Morton. American colonial government 1696-1765: A study of the British Board of Trade in its relation to the American colonies, political, industrial, administrative (1912) online.
- Gilbert, Bentley B. David Lloyd George: A Political Life: vol 1 The Architect of Change 1863-1912 (1987) pp 285–334.
- Olson, Alison G. "The board of trade and London‐American interest groups in the eighteenth century." Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 8.2 (1980): 33-50.
- Rosevear, Stephen. "Balancing business and the regions: British distribution of industry policy and the Board of Trade, 1945–51." Business History 40.1 (1998): 77-99.
- JSTOR 1837684.
- Smith, Hubert Llewellyn. The Board of Trade (1928) a major history, 288pp online; also see online review
- Steele, Ian Kenneth. Politics of Colonial Policy: The Board of Trade in Colonial Administration 1696-1720 (Clarendon Press, 1968).
External links
- "History of the Board of Trade". Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. Archived from the original on 9 June 2009.
- "Board of Trade". GOV.UK.
- Works by Board of Trade at Project Gutenberg
- *Sainty, John C., ed. (1974). "Officials of the Boards of Trade 1660-1870". Office-Holders in Modern Britain. London: University of London – via British History Online.