Four spectres haunt the Poor — Old Age, Accident, Sickness and Unemployment. We are going to exorcise them. We are going to drive hunger from the hea… - David Lloyd George

There is no British minister who has ever devoted so much energy, made more liberal provision for the misfortunes of the wage-earning class than I have done.

It would have been an unspeakable crime to divide the nation when even united it could barely be saved from defeat, so formidable was the foe we had challenged. The Conservatives were led by men of high character and capacity whose patriotism was above suspicion—Mr. Bonar Law, Mr. Balfour, Lord Lansdowne, Sir Edward Carson, and Lord Curzon. Such men were much too high minded to desire electoral victory bought at such a cost to their country. Liberals will admit that their actions throughout the War were dictated by the highest motives of patriotism and that during that period they were willing to sink all Party dealing and rivalries and maintain their opponents in full possession of power so long as that power was wielded in the achievement of victory for their country's banner.

Slums must be eliminated. They ought to have no place in modern civilisation. They are an eyesore, a corruption. They putrefy and poison the air. A great Empire like ours ought to be too proud to have them among us, and therefore I put that amongst the first duties of Liberalism—to have a housing policy which will not merely complete the deficiency in the number of houses which are available, but which will eradicate slumdom out of British civilisation, and in order to do that we have to take a bold step forward and to run risks which in the end will be the salvation of the people of this country.