Parliament at War | What role did Parliament play in the Second World War?

for over 800 years Parliament has been a place where history is made and decisions taken that affect the lives of everyone made up of the House of Commons and the House of Lords the UK Parliament debates makes laws and challenges and checks the work of the government it was in Parliament that MPs called for the Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain just stand with Poland after it been invaded by Nazi Germany it was in Parliament after a bruising House of Commons debate on the 7th and 8th of May 1940 that Chamberlain was forced to resign as Prime Minister this paved the way for the formation of a coalition government led by Winston Churchill and it was in Parliament after the fall of France in June 1940 and the evacuation of Allied forces from Dunkirk that Churchill promised which will fight on the beaches we shall fight on the landing grounds we shall fight in the fields and in the streets we shall fight in the Hills we shall never surrender [Music] Parliament passed the laws which prepared Britain for the demands of total war including for some conscription into the Armed Forces however everyone felt the effects of the sweeping changes the war effort demanded including the introduction of rationing blackout and air-raid procedures and the evacuation of children from cities across Britain now one of the key roles of parliament is to hold the government to account but what happens when the three main parties are in coalition together as MPs and members of the House of Lords from across the political parties became ministers and Churchill's government they were required to support the government line so how did this affect Parliament's ability to provide a cheque and challenge to the government did this mean that Parliament was irrelevant during the second world war far from it Parliament continued to play an important role as well as enabling the government to pass the necessary legislation to deal with the war it also allowed for MPs and members of the House of Lords to raise concerns and challenged the decisions of the government in the House of Lords Baron Wedgwood called upon the government to admit every refugee fleeing Nazi persecution and George Bell the Bishop of Chester condemned the policy known as area bombing the area bombing directive instructed rural airforce raids to target not just military targets but industrial centers along with their civilian population meanwhile in the House of Commons at low points in the war debates could be bitter with pointed criticism of Churchill's leadership in July 1942 there was a vote on whether the house had confidence in the central direction of the war Churchill won the motion by 475 votes to 25 but not before Nyhan had wounded the prime minister with the remark that he wins debate after debate that loses battle after battle Parliament not only shaped the conduct of the war but also directly felt its effects MPs and members of the House of Lords served in the Armed Forces and Parliament even had its own Home Guard unit made up of MPs and staff of both houses this undertook fire watching duties and manned a gun at the exit to Westminster underground station as the Blitz bombing campaign escalated across the UK striking major ports industrial towns and cities the Palace of Westminster also came under fire and was damaged by air raids on 14 different occasions the greatest damage occurred during the night of the 10th and 11th of May 1941 at the end of the Blitz when the Commons chamber was hit by bombs and the roof of Westminster Hall was set on fire firefighters told the senior MP present that it'd be impossible to save both the chamber and the hall and so the decision was made to save the hall and it's 14th century real the fear of Parliament being bombed while MPs and Lords were sitting also led to both houses meeting in nearby church house between 1940 and June 1941 at the end of the Blitz members returned to Westminster with the Commons meeting in the Lord's chamber and the Lord's meeting in the robing room clearance of the bomb damage to Parliament began in May 1945 at church was request the Commons chamber was rebuilt to its original design but one part still bearing its wartime scars is the arch between members Lobby in the Commons rebuilt using bomb damaged stones as a permanent reminder of parliament of war memorial shields in the House of Commons serve as a further reminder of the MPs killed in the war and members of the House of Lords who gave their lives are commemorated in a memorial in the Royal gallery the war in Europe finally came to an end on the 8th of May 1945 of the surrender of Nazi Germany though fighting continued in the Far East against Japan until 15th of August 1945 [Music] just as Parliament was being rebuilt so too was the country during the war the Archbishop of Canterbury William temple called for the creation of a welfare state to combat the five giant evils of squalor ignorance want idleness and disease to the poverty of the 1930s had been added the strains of wartime with many British cities heavily bombed and millions of homes destroyed even though fighting continued against Japan for further free months the conservative and labor parties agreed that the coalition government should not be extended beyond the course of the war with Germany and so an election was held in July in 1945 while Churchill had spoken in 1940 of ensuring that the privileges previously enjoyed by the few shall be far more widely shared by the many it was the Labour Party led by Clement Attlee there seized on this program at Lee's labour party won a landslide victory securing 390 free seats to the Conservatives 213 with this majority legislation was passed that not only helped to rebuild Britain but also created the welfare state including the National Health Service Parliament emerged from the war with its reputation at new heights the parliamentary system of government had endured the trials of wartime unseated Chamberlain checked Churchill and passed legislation that made fight in the war possible and helped secure a people's peace [Music] you [Music]