"After his defeat in 1846 he made a bold attempt to prove that he had been a consistent Free Trader since 1841. And it is not surprising that this attempt to throw the responsibility of defection upon his Cabinet should have failed. If ever a statesman were pledged to a policy, Peel was pledged to the protection of the agricultural interest. "I believe that the abolition of the Corn Laws," said Peel in 1844, "would produce great confusion and distress"; and again, "I can say with truth I have not contemplated and do not contemplate an alteration in the present Corn Laws." Politicians have short memories; and not merely did Peel contemplate in 1845 the change that he had never contemplated in 1844, but in 1848, after the episode was closed, he asserted in a certain letter that the measures taken by his Cabinet in 1842 were preparatory to and intended to lead up to the Repeal of the Corn Laws."
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Prime Ministers of the United KingdomPoliticians from EnglandAcademics from the United KingdomConservative Party (UK) politiciansPeople from Manchester
Original Language: English
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Sources
Charles Whibley, 'Introduction', in Benjamin Disraeli, Lord George Bentinck: A Political Biography (1905), pp. xix-xx
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Peel
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Robert Peel
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850) was a British Conservative statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846) simultaneously serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834-1835) and twice as Home Secretary (1822–1827 and 1828–1830). He is regarded as the father of modern English policing, owing to hi
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