Red Clydeside: A history of the labour movement in Glasgow 1910-1932

Events

Instances of increased rents wanted, 20 Feb 1915

This article in Forward requests the newspapers readership to forward any instances and details of recent increases in rentals to the secretary of the Labour Party Housing Committee in Glasgow. These examples of rental increases were then forwarded to the Labour MP George Barnes and presented to the Prime Minister Herbert Asquith as examples of war time profiteering by Glasgow landlords.

As this article shows, the Labour press in Glasgow and especially the ILP newspaper 'Forward' were deployed very early on to lead a concerted campaign against the unpatriotic actions of the landlords and to highlight the more extreme instances of landlord injustices against working class tenants.

Ultimately the landlords push for higher rents was resisted within the effected communities and through the determination of local women and the solidarity and organisation of the workers on the Clyde the government was left with little option but to introduce the Rent Restrictions Act in 1916.

Source: Gallacher Memorial Library, Glasgow Caledonian University Special Collections and Archives