Arthur Moyle, Baron Moyle

Arthur Moyle, Baron Moyle CBE ( September 25, 1894 - December 23, 1974 ) was a British bricklayer , trade unionist and politician . He was a member of the House of Commons for 19 years and became known as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Prime Minister Clement Attlee .

Early years

Arthur Moyle was born in Cornwall to a stonemason . He grew up in Llanidloes , Montgomeryshire and attended the state school there. He then trained as a bricklayer and worked in Wales . He was a union member and in 1918 became secretary of the Building Trades Federation of Shrewsbury .

Political career

In 1920 Moyle became a functionary of the National Federation of Building Trade Operatives and a member of the Labor Party . In 1924 he was selected as a candidate for the Torquay constituency . Moyle's intervention in a neck-and-neck race between Conservatives and Liberals in a constituency where Labor had not run in the two previous elections was greeted with displeasure by the Liberal Party . Moyle won the constituency by 2,752 votes ahead of the Liberal candidate.

After the merger of several unions, Moyle became a board member of the National Union of Public Employees , the union of employees in the public sector, and was thus responsible for the employees of local government. From 1937 to 1938 he was chairman of the National Joint Council for Local Authorities Non-Trading Services and, in 1937, spokesman for a delegation to the government that called for pensions for blue-collar workers and public employees. In May 1938 he joined a delegation calling for a so-called Whitley Council for nurses to set minimum wages and maximum working hours. During World War II , Moyle served on a committee under Lord Rushcliffe that dealt with the salaries of nurses.

In January 1940, Moyle was run as a Labor candidate for the constituency of Stourbridge . However, the planned general election was canceled due to the outbreak of World War II , so that he could not stand for election until 1945 , which he won with a 16,000 vote lead over his conservative opponent. In Parliament he focused on the affairs of the local authority staff.

In May 1946 Arthur Moyle was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Prime Minister Clement Athlee. This appointment gave him a central role in the relations between Attlee and the MPs, but he hardly made any speeches himself. Attlee had complete confidence in him, involved him in almost all important decisions and respected his advice.

For the general election in 1950 , the electoral districts were redesigned; Moyle ran at Oldbury and Halesowen and was elected. He remained Attle's secretary even when Labor was forced into the opposition after the general election in 1951 . After Attlee's resignation, he was honored with the CBE medal.

Arthur Moyle successfully submitted so-called Private Member Bills - bills by a single MP - on several occasions . In November 1950, for example, he called for the licensing of fireworks to be restricted. His submission went into law. In November 1953 he submitted a bill on the subject of slaughtering horses. His submission was accepted and approved. Four years later he became chairman of the International League for the Protection of Horses .

After Attlee resigned as opposition leader, Moyle's opportunities to get involved in parliament expanded. He dealt with pollution and complained that soot-free gasoline was too expensive and difficult to obtain. He advocated nationalization of companies in order to expand production. During the Suez Crisis , he stated that Britain had lost its moral authority as a result. He called for military courts to consist not only of officers but also of lower-ranking soldiers.

After the general election in 1959 , Arthur Moyle was no longer able to get involved sufficiently in parliament for health reasons. His low attendance was the subject of a broadcast on the BBC in January 1963 in which 13 MPs were named who had not spoken once. Moyle then announced his resignation before the 1964 elections .

House of Lords

On the Queen's 1966 Birthday Honor Roll, Arthur Moyle was named a Life Peer with the title Baron Moyle . After Attlee's death, he was appointed administrator of his written estate. In March 1970 he spoke out in the House of Lords against joining the European Community, arguing that Great Britain had to stand on the side of the United States , since the United States had been in two world wars and continues to do so.

Moyle married in 1921 but had been widowed since 1949. His son, Roland Moyle , was later also a member of the Labor Party .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Devon And Cornwall Contests , The Times , October 20, 1924
2. ^ Pensions For Council Servants , The Times, February 16, 1937
3. ^ TUC Proposals For Nurses , The Times, May 18, 1938
4. ^ The Times , Jan. 4, 1940
5. ^ Mr. Moyle's Appointment , The Times, May 29, 1946
6. ^ Parliamentary Private Secretaries , The Times, Nov. 16, 1951
7. ^ The Resignation Honors , The Times, Nov. 30, 1951
8. ^ Parliament , The Times, November 18, 1950
9. ↑ Private Member's Bill on Humane Slaughter , The Times, November 18, 1953.
10. ^ Protection of Horses , The Times, June 8, 1957.
11. ↑ Plea For Smokeless Fuel Control , The Times, March 7, 1956
12. ^ Parliament , The Times, November 7, 1956
13. ^ Parliament , The Times, May 3, 1957
14. ^ Lord Attlee leaves £ 6,700 , The Times, January 6, 1968
15. ^ Parliament , The Times, March 18, 1970

literature

• M. Stenton, S. Lees: Who's Who of British MPs , Vol. IV. Harvester Press 1981
• WD Rubinstein: The Biographical Dictionary of Life Peers , St. Martin's Press 1991

Web links

• Arthur Moyle at Hansard (English)