Editing Corn Laws (section)

==Prelude to repeal==
In February 1844, the [[Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond|Duke of Richmond]] initiated the [[Central Agricultural Protection Society]] (CAPS, commonly known as the "Anti-League") to campaign in favour of the Corn Laws.

In 1844, the agitation subsided as there were fruitful harvests. The situation changed in late 1845 with poor harvests and the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] in Ireland; Britain experienced scarcity and Ireland starvation.<ref>Hirst, p. 33.</ref> Nevertheless, Ireland continued to [[Great Famine (Ireland)#Food exports during Famine|export substantial quantities of food]] to Great Britain despite its domestic privations. The problem in Ireland was not lack of food, but the price of it, which was beyond the reach of the poor.{{sfn|Woodham-Smith|1991|p=165}} Peel argued in [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] that tariffs on grain should be rescinded by [[Order in Council]] until [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] assembled to repeal the Corn Laws. His colleagues resisted this. On 22 November 1845 the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]] [[Lord John Russell]] announced in an open letter to the electors in the [[City of London (UK Parliament constituency)|City of London]] his support for immediate Corn Law repeal and called upon the government to take urgent action to avert famine.<ref>''The Times'' (27 November 1845), p. 5.</ref><ref name="Morley, p. 344">Morley, p. 344.</ref>

The appearance of Russell's letter spurred Peel and the free-traders in his cabinet to press ahead with repeal measures over the objections of their protectionist colleagues.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pearce |first=Edward |title=The Diaries of Charles Greville |year=2000 |pages=237–238 |location=London |publisher=Pimlico }}</ref> On 4 December 1845, an announcement appeared in ''[[The Times]]'' that the government had decided to recall Parliament in January 1846 to repeal the Corn Laws. [[Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby|Lord Stanley]] resigned from the Cabinet in protest. It quickly became clear to Peel that he would not be able to bring most of his own party with him in support of repeal and so on 11 December he resigned as Prime Minister in frustration. The [[Queen Victoria|Queen]] sent for Russell to form a government but, with the Whigs a minority in the Commons, he struggled to assemble the necessary support. Russell offered Cobden the post of [[Vice-President of the Board of Trade]] but he refused, preferring to remain an advocate of free trade outside the government.<ref name="Morley, p. 344"/> On 21 December Russell informed the Queen that he was unable to accept office. Later that same day Peel agreed to carry on as Prime Minister but, with the majority of his own party opposing his proposals, he was now dependent on the backing of the Whigs to carry repeal.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pearce |first=Edward |title=The Diaries of Charles Greville |year=2000 |pages=238–240 |location=London |publisher=Pimlico }}</ref>

After Parliament was recalled the CAPS started a campaign of resistance. In the rural [[Counties of the United Kingdom|counties]] the CAPS was practically supplanting the local Conservative associations and in many areas the independent [[Freehold (English law)|free holding]] farmers were resisting the most fiercely.<ref>Coleman, p. 134.</ref>