Labour's century. One hundred years of solicitude

The Labour Party made few policy statements on health before the First World War. Its only election pledge was to oppose compulsory vaccination in 1900. Growing awareness of North-South inequalities in health, and disparities in nutrition, prompted a greater interest in health services in the 1930s. Aspects of the NHS came under fire from within the Labour Party soon after 1948. Promises of extra spending in the 1960s and 1970s were inhibited by economic problems.