The Corn Laws were a series of trade restrictions and tariffs on imported grain (wheat, oats, barley and rye – not corn) that were in effect in the UK from 1815 to 1846. The Passed by Prime Minister Lord Liverpool in response to a strained post-war economy, they were intended to favour domestic agriculture by making it more difficult to import grain. Campaigning on the laws focused on the Manchester-based Anti-Corn Law League. The goal of the League was the ‘immediate and total abolition’ of the Corn Laws, the wording deliberately echoing the successful anti-slavery agitations, but the broader aim was to promote global free trade. Free traders used abstract reasoning to argue that their policy was in the national interest. They also used masive public petitions. One further outcome of the campaign was the founding of The Economist magazine.

Our guest in this episode is Dr Henry Miller, Vice Chancellor's Fellow, Northumbria University. He is an academic historian researching and teaching on modern Britain and is an expert on the Corn Laws and the Anti-Corn Law League. Henry offers some interesting and surprising observations and lessons for current campaigners from the League's operations nearly 200 years ago.

Image courtesy of East Lothian Museums / Creative Commons.

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