Another councils bill was suggested, it proposed a representative Irish council to deal with some aspects of Irish internal affairs. This was rejected by Redmond and the Irish nationalists, this showed the Liberals that half measures would not suffice. The Liberal party had a massive majority, the Irish nationalists had little influence, and most of the Liberals time was spent on radical social welfare. Asquith did not feel that home rule was the most important or popular issue, the retirement of Gladstone also meant that there was no longer a leader who's most important mission was to pacify Ireland. However Redmond had little choice but to stick with the Liberals, he believed that they offered the best hope for home rule.
The situation for the Irish nationalists changed after the defeat of the Peoples Budget, by the House of Lords in 1909. The budget would have introduced super taxes and taxes on land values, the Lords in an act of suicidal folly' rejected the budget. This was not the first of the liberal bills to be rejected; it had now lead to the build up of liberal frustration over the Lords blatantly partisan behaviour. The main issue at the next election in 1910 was about ending the absolute veto of the House of Lords over legislation, this election gave Redmond and the Irish nationalists hope, as ending the House of Lords power would mean there was no longer an obstacle for home rule. The outcome of the election was a disappointment for the Liberals as their majority was wiped out and the held an equal amount of seats to the Conservatives. This gave the Irish Nationalists the chance to hold the balance of power and pressure them into passing home rule. Redmond wrote to Asquith that unless an official declaration on the question of home rule be made . it (would) be impossible to support liberal candidates. As a result Asquith made a definite commitment to home rule, and the Irish nationalists supported the Liberals to help them pass the parliament bill which meant that the Upper House could only hold legislation for two years before allowing it to be passed.
