1912

• britain was largely capitalist and conservative
• there were acts introduced in early 20th century to support working classes (1909 wage councils, 1906 children given free school meals, 1911 sickness benefits for workers)
• marginal improvements (acts) made when liberal party came into power in 1905 - liberals supported by labour party who favoured a more socialist approach - they were more aligned with liberation of working classes, opposed to conservatives
• despite liberals supporting ideas of personal liberty and social reform, they favoured a laissez-faire approach within economy
• laissez-faire approach created optimum environment for capitalist business owners as they had free reign to decide the prices on their goods and simultaneously exploit their workers - despite there now being some support for working classes, this was not enough to prevent their exploitation
• laissez-faire = idea that government should have minimal intervention within economy. trade is unrestricted and price of goods is decided largely on business owners
• link to play

  capitalism personified through mr birling - he would have been a member of society who would have strongly favoured the laissez-faire approach as this meant he could exploit his workers for extra profit