Legislative successes and failures (1910s) thumb|right|An 1871 American advertisement promoting temperance, styled as a fictitious railroad advertisement A favorite goal of the British Temperance movement was sharply to reduce heavy drinking by closing as many pubs as possible. Advocates were Protestant nonconformists who played a major role in the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party adopted temperance platforms focused on local option. In 1908, Prime Minister H.H. Asquith—although a heavy drinker himself—took the lead by proposing to close about a third of the 100,000 pubs in England and Wales, with the owners compensated through a new tax on surviving pubs. The brewers controlled the pubs and organized a stiff resistance, supported by the Conservatives, who repeatedly defeated the proposal in the House of Lords. However, the People's Tax of 1910 included a stiff tax on pubs.
Legislative successes and failures (1910s) thumb|right|An 1871 American advertisement promoting temperance styled as a fictitious railroad advertisement A favorite goal of the British Temperance movement was sharply to reduce heavy drinking by closing as many pubs as possible Advocates were Protestant nonconformists who played a major role in the Liberal Party The Liberal Party adopted temperance platforms focused on local option In 1908 Prime Minister HH Asquith—although a heavy drinker himself—took the lead by proposing to close about a third of the 100000 pubs in England and Wales with the owners compensated through a new tax on surviving pubs The brewers controlled the pubs and organized a stiff resistance supported by the Conservatives who repeatedly defeated the proposal in the House of Lords However the People's Tax of 1910 included a stiff tax on pubs