Rise of Neville Chamberlain the job, with responsibility for co-ordinating conscription and ensuring that essential war industries were able to function with sufficient workforces. Though reluctant to leave his post in Birmingham, Chamberlain accepted and resigned as Lord Mayor. To a great extent Chamberlain's actual responsibilities were left vague by Lloyd George. On his appointment Lloyd George implied in the House of Commons that "compulsion" (the industrial equivalent of conscription) was to be extended to industry and that Chamberlain would soon produce a system of industrial enrolment. But Chamberlain found his work to be handicapped by the Prime Minister's political manoeuvres. As Chamberlain sought
Rise of Neville Chamberlain Conference, Chamberlain presented his first budget, in April 1932. The gold standard had been abandoned in the early days of the National Government; the Bank of England sought its restoration. Chamberlain, on advice from his officials, declined to restore the gold standard, realising that a devalued pound would improve the balance of trade. Otherwise, Chamberlain maintained the severe budget cuts that had been agreed to at the inception of the National Government: Chamberlain cut means-tested benefits and public sector wages, which proved to be an unpopular move. He also cut interest rates, which led to a house-building boom in the