Even while Askwith was in the thick of the transport workers' strikes, plans for bringing the Industrial Council into being were proceeding apace. Public concern over the extent and violence of the disturbances also helped to force the government's hand. In Charles Macara's view, it was to be a supreme tribunal to which all serious disputes could be referred.

Askwith was in direct communication with the Prime Minister about the Council. Ellen noted that on 15 August ‘George [went] to see the Prime Minister with employers & workmen at 11 on Macara's scheme very important’, and a few days later he dined with Asquith. In his memoirs, Askwith stated more precisely that the interview was ‘for the purpose of an informal exchange of views as to the present state of unrest in the labour world, and the possibility of improving the means available for preventing or shortening industrial wars’. What Askwith himself felt about the scheme at the time we do not know, but the chance of promotion cannot have been unwelcome. He was now almost at the peak of his career, constantly featuring in the press – his name, in connection with the strikes, was becoming a household word. He was the subject of many cartoons and caricatures. The Vanity Fair Spy cartoon featured here is one of them (see Figure 10.1).

The pressure on Askwith at this time was intense, and a further restructuring of his corner of the Board of Trade was needed.