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In September 1931, as part of its attempts to deal with the Great Depression in the United Kingdom, the new National Government launched swingeing cuts to public spending. The recommended cuts in spending on the navy were translated into a 10% pay cut (matching 10% cuts across the board for public sector workers) for officers and NCOs, and for all ratings on the "new rate" of pay (introduced for new entrants from 1925). A 10% cut would cause great hardship to the already poorly-paid ratings. Those ratings below Petty Officer who had joined before 1925, would also have their pay reduced to the new rate; this amounted to a cut of 25%. On top of this, many working-class sailors shared the sense of betrayal felt in the labour movement, at Ramsay Macdonald's split with the Labour Party and his formation of a new government with the ConservativesThe Conservative Party is the largest centre right political party in the United Kingdom. It is descended from the Tory Party and its members are still commonly referred to as Tories''. It votes with the European People's Party bloc in the European Parlia.
Sailors of the Atlantic Fleet, arriving at Invergordon, on the Cromarty Firthoil rigs in Cromarty Firth. Cromarty Firth forms an arm of the North Sea in Scotland. From where it joins Moray Firth, Cromarty Firth extends inland in a westerly and then south-westerly direction for a distance of 19 miles (30. 6 kilometres). Excepting a in ScotlandScotland or in Scottish Gaelic, Alba is a country and former independent kingdom of northwest Europe, and one of the four nations comprising the United Kingdom. Scotland occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Scotland took part in a p, in the afternoon of Friday 11th September, learnt about the cuts from newspaper reports; some reports implied that a 25% cut would be imposed on all ratings. The shock of this news had a palpable effect. On 12th September, orders were received from the Admiralty confirming the pay cuts. On the evening of the 13th September, by which time sailors had already started agitating, Rear AdmiralThe term Rear Admiral originated from the days of Naval Sailing Squadrons, and is most directly associated with the British Royal Navy. Each Naval Squadron would be assigned an Admiral as its head, who would command from the center vessel and direct the a Wilfrid Tomkinson (in temporary command of the fleet whilst AdmiralThe word admiral comes from the Arabic term amir-al-bahr meaning "commander of the seas. Crusaders learned the term during their encounters with the Arabs, perhaps as early as the 11th century. The Sicilians and later Genoese took the first two parts of t Sir Michael Hodges was in hospital) received a letter from the Admiralty dated 10th September. This letter stated the reasons for the reduction in pay and the principles on which it had been based. The following morning, Tomkinson ordered the commanders of all ships present to read sections of the Admiralty letter out to their officers and crew. However, several ships had not received copies of the letter and some were unable to pass the information on to their companies until the next day. By that time, the mood for a strike had taken hold in many crews.