Legislation and Hansard

Find out about reporters working in the Chamber during the war.

Hansard is a no-fail operation: come rain or shine, reports of debates in the Chamber and Committees are always published. In the second world war, that commitment was tested to the limit.

By the start of the Second World War in 1939, considerable spending on increasing Britain's military capacity had already taken place. The rearmament programme, which had begun in the mid-1920s, was costing £197 million by 1937.

During the two world wars many of those not enlisted with the fighting forces were involved in other ways as civilians.

Explore the extraordinary legislation introduced during World War II to help with the war effort.

Plans for limited conscription applying to single men aged between 20 and 22 were given parliamentary approval in the Military Training Act in May 1939.