PhDThe thesis presents an analysis of the process by which the Wolfenden
tstrategy' of separating sin from the ambit of the criminal law translated into
legislative change under a Labour Government wedded to a broad philosophy of
legal and social reform.
It examines in turn the reform of the laws governing homosexuality, abortion,
theatre censorship and divorce, which were passed during the first Wilson
administration, and the attempts to reform the laws governing Sunday
entertainments.
It is based on extensive archival research including much previously unused
material, and analyses the key influences on the reform process - the Cabinet,
Whitehall, the Labour Party, MPs, the House of Lords, the Churches, the press,
pressure groups and public opinion - to establish their attitudes and influence
on the debates.
The thesis begins with a reassessment of the continuing debate about
isp ermissiveness" and, the significance of "permissive" reform in the
historiography of the 1960s and the Wilson Governments. It then examines the
underlying causes of evolving social and moral attitudes in post-war Britain,
particularly secularisation, the disruption of the Second World War and
increasing economic affluence form the mid-1 950s onwards.
Chapters three to seven look at each reform, or "Conscience Bill" as they were
termed in Whitehall, including a comparison with their treatment by the
preceding Conservative administration, particularly after the publication of the
Wolfenden Report.
4
5
Chapter 8 analyses the relationship between the Government, publicly neutral
but privately sympathetic on the issues involved, and the tortuous procedures
which Private Members' Bills faced in becoming law, even in such a hospitable
atmosphere
