The Depression had hit the UK in 1931, and had led to a run on the Bank of England in which foreign investors were withdrawing £2.5 million a day in gold.
As most of the Labour party was opposed to the Keynesian ideas proposed by Oswald Mosley, the government was looking for some way to cut public sector spending.
Most economies were recommended to be made in the social services and public work schemes because, the Report argued, if the country survived without them a few years previously then they "cannot be essential".
The two Labour nominees wrote their own Report which blamed the economic difficulties on deflationary policies and accepted limited wage cuts but believed that the "equitable" solution would be to raise taxes on holders of National Debt and other investments with fixed interests.
[6] In response to the Report the Cabinet appointed an economy committee with the Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, Snowden, Foreign Secretary Arthur Henderson, Lord Privy Seal James Henry Thomas and President of the Board of Trade William Graham as its members.