Editing Barbara Castle (section)

===Return to Cabinet===
====Secretary of State for Social Services, 1974–1976====
Despite having been on the Labour back benches since 1972 and not part of the shadow cabinet, in 1974, following [[Harold Wilson]]'s defeat of [[Edward Heath]], Castle became [[Secretary of State for Social Services]]. While serving in this position, Castle introduced a wide range of innovative welfare reforms, including the introduction of the mobility allowance, the [[Invalid Care Allowance]] (July 1976) for single women and others who give up their jobs to care for severely disabled relatives, the introduction of a non-contributory invalidity pension for disabled persons who had not qualified for invalidity pension, reforms in child allowances, and the linking of most social security benefits to earnings rather than prices.<ref>[[Anthony Seldon]] and Kevin Hickson (eds), ''New Labour, Old Labour: The Wilson and Callaghan Governments, 1974–79''.</ref> She sought to remove private "pay beds" from the NHS, in conflict with the British Medical Association.<ref>{{Cite web|title=National Health Service (Private Practice) – Monday 8 July 1974 – Hansard – UK Parliament|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1974-07-08/debates/8c957739-b545-405b-990f-0d6393a2a3e6/NationalHealthService(PrivatePractice)|access-date=2021-04-18|website=hansard.parliament.uk|language=en}}</ref>

In the [[1975 United Kingdom European Communities membership referendum|1975 referendum debate]] she took a [[Eurosceptic]] stance. During a debate with Liberal leader [[Jeremy Thorpe]] he asked her whether, if the vote would be yes, she would stay on as a minister. To this she replied: "If the vote is yes my country will need me to save it."<ref>{{YouTube|Nj0u_pnAw_s|Barbara Castle Labour's Greatest Woman, video}}</ref> Despite her views she later became a [[Member of the European Parliament]] (1979–1989). Her public support of leaving the EEC infuriated Wilson. Castle recorded in her diary and in her subsequent autobiography that Wilson summoned her to Downing Street where he angrily accused her of disloyalty and that, as he had brought her back into the cabinet against others' wishes and advice, he deserved better from her. Castle claimed she offered to resign, but Wilson calmed down and she continued to campaign for leaving in the referendum.<ref name="Castle, Barbara 1976">Castle, Barbara. The Castle Diaries 1964–1976. Macmillan (Abridged version 11 Jun. 1993). {{ISBN|978-0333499498}}</ref><ref name="Castle, Barbara 1994">Castle, Barbara. Fighting All The Way. Pan; Main Market Edition (9 Sept. 1994). {{ISBN|978-0330328869}}</ref>

[[File:James Callaghan.JPG|thumb|right|200px|James Callaghan removed Castle from his Cabinet]]In 1975, Castle introduced the Child Benefit Act, superseding the [[Family Allowances Act 1945]].<ref name="BBCchildbenefit">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11465116|title=Q&A: Child benefit changes|date=13 January 2012|access-date=3 September 2018|work=[[The Guardian]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023071617/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11465116|archive-date=23 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The act provided new support for families' first child, unlike the previous system in place, which provided benefit for second and subsequent children.<ref name="BBCchildbenefit"/> Castle also ensured [[Child benefits in the United Kingdom|child benefit]] would be paid directly to mothers, not fathers, unlike Family Allowance, the previous system in place.<ref name="RedQueenPink">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1999/sep/25/1|title=Red queen in the pink|first=Anne|last=Perkins|date=25 September 1999|access-date=3 September 2018|work=[[The Guardian]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903082119/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1999/sep/25/1|archive-date=3 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The legislation faced opposition from unions whose male members would receive less take-home pay with the loss of Family Allowance.<ref name="RedQueenPink"/>

Castle remained in cabinet until Wilson's resignation in March 1976. The head of the [[Downing Street policy unit]], [[Bernard Donoughue]], records in his diary that he warned Wilson that Castle's dogged pursuit of personal policy stances on public health would "wreck the NHS". Donoughue claims that Wilson agreed, but admitted he would leave it to his successor to resolve.<ref>''Downing Street Diary: with Harold Wilson at no.10''. Jonathan Cape, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-224-04022-8}}.</ref>

Castle lost her place as a Cabinet minister when her bitter political enemy [[James Callaghan]] succeeded Wilson as prime minister following a [[1976 Labour Party leadership election|leadership election]]. Although he left Wilson's Cabinet virtually unchanged, he dismissed Castle almost immediately upon taking office, in the midst of a complex health bill that she was steering through the House of Commons at the time.<ref name="CallaghanObit">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/1486556/Lord-Callaghan-of-Cardiff.html|title=Lord Callaghan of Cardiff|date=28 March 2005|access-date=3 September 2018|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903082058/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/1486556/Lord-Callaghan-of-Cardiff.html|archive-date=3 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Although he had not yet decided on her successor at the time he fired her, Callaghan removed her under the pretext he wanted to lower the average age of his Cabinet,<ref name="WashingtonPost">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2002/05/06/barbara-castle-91/7ad94886-d4c5-4d59-b33c-c82257653aa0|title=Barbara Castle, 91|first=Richard|last=Pearson|date=6 May 2002|access-date=3 September 2018|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903114826/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2002/05/06/barbara-castle-91/7ad94886-d4c5-4d59-b33c-c82257653aa0/|archive-date=3 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> which she regarded as a "phoney reason".<ref name="BBC2000">{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/946997.stm|title=Barbara Castle: Scaling the ramparts|first=Chris|last=Jones|date=29 September 2000|access-date=3 September 2018|work=[[BBC]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031101163008/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/946997.stm|archive-date=1 November 2003|url-status=live}}</ref> In an interview years later, she remarked that perhaps the most restrained thing she had ever achieved in her life was not to reply with "Then why not start with yourself, Jim?" (Callaghan was four years older than Wilson, the man he was replacing, and less than 18 months younger than Castle). Castle was angry to discover that Wilson had broken a private confidence in informing Callaghan that she had intended to retire from the cabinet before the next election.<ref name="Castle, Barbara 1976"/><ref name="Castle, Barbara 1994"/>