The measures undertaken by Peel's successor, Russell, proved inadequate as the crisis deepened.
The new Whig administration, influenced by the doctrine of laissez-faire, believed that the market would provide the food needed.
They refused to interfere with the movement of food to England, then halted the previous government's food and relief works, leaving many hundreds of thousands of people without access to work, money, or food.
Russell's ministry introduced a new programme of public works that by the end of December 1846 employed some half million but proved impossible to administer.

Charles Trevelyan, who was in charge of the administration of government relief, limited the Government's food aid programme because of a firm belief in laissez-faire.

In January 1847, the government abandoned this policy, realising that it had failed, and turned to a mixture of "indoor" and "outdoor" direct relief; the former administered in workhouses through the Irish Poor Laws, the latter through soup kitchens.
The costs of the Poor Law fell primarily on the local landlords, some of whom in turn attempted to reduce their liability by evicting their tenants.

In June 1847 the Poor Law Amendment Act was passed which embodied the principle, popular in Britain, that Irish property must support Irish poverty.
The landed proprietors in Ireland were held in Britain to have created the conditions that led to the famine.
However, it was asserted that the British parliament since the Act of Union of 1800 was partly to blame.
This point was raised in The Illustrated London News on 13 February 1847: "There was no law it would not pass at their request, and no abuse it would not defend for them."
On 24 March, The Times reported that Britain had permitted in Ireland "a mass of poverty, disaffection, and degradation without a parallel in the world.
It allowed proprietors to suck the very life-blood of that wretched race".

The "Gregory clause" of the Poor Law, named after William H. Gregory, M.P, prohibited anyone who held at least ​¹⁄₄ of an acre (0.1 ha) from receiving relief.
In practice, this meant that, if a farmer, having sold all his produce to pay rent and taxes, should be reduced, as many thousands of them were, to applying for public outdoor relief, he would not get it until he had first delivered up all his land to the landlord.
Of this Law, Mitchel wrote that "it is the able-bodied idler only who is to be fed—if he attempted to till but one rood of ground, he dies".
This simple method of ejectment was called "passing paupers through the workhouse"—a man went in, a pauper came out.
These factors combined to drive thousands of people off the land: 90,000 in 1849, and 104,000 in 1850.

In 1849 the Encumbered Estates Act allowed landlord estates to be auctioned off upon the petition of creditors.
Estates with debts were then auctioned off at low prices.
Wealthy British speculators purchased the lands and "took a harsh view" of the tenant farmers who continued renting.
The rents were raised and tenants evicted to create large cattle grazing pastures.
Between 1849 and 1854, some 50,000 families were evicted.
The measures undertaken by Peel's successor, Russell, proved inadequate as the crisis deepened. The new Whig administration, influenced by the doctrine of laissez-faire, believed that the market would provide the food needed. They refused to interfere with the movement of food to England, then halted the previous government's food and relief works, leaving many hundreds of thousands of people without access to work, money, or food. Russell's ministry introduced a new programme of public works that by the end of December 1846 employed some half million but proved impossible to administer.
Charles Trevelyan, who was in charge of the administration of government relief, limited the Government's food aid programme because of a firm belief in laissez-faire.
In January 1847, the government abandoned this policy, realising that it had failed, and turned to a mixture of "indoor" and "outdoor" direct relief; the former administered in workhouses through the Irish Poor Laws, the latter through soup kitchens. The costs of the Poor Law fell primarily on the local landlords, some of whom in turn attempted to reduce their liability by evicting their tenants.
In June 1847 the Poor Law Amendment Act was passed which embodied the principle, popular in Britain, that Irish property must support Irish poverty. The landed proprietors in Ireland were held in Britain to have created the conditions that led to the famine. However, it was asserted that the British parliament since the Act of Union of 1800 was partly to blame. This point was raised in The Illustrated London News on 13 February 1847: "There was no law it would not pass at their request, and no abuse it would not defend for them." On 24 March, The Times reported that Britain had permitted in Ireland "a mass of poverty, disaffection, and degradation without a parallel in the world. It allowed proprietors to suck the very life-blood of that wretched race".
The "Gregory clause" of the Poor Law, named after William H. Gregory, M.P, prohibited anyone who held at least ​¹⁄₄ of an acre (0.1 ha) from receiving relief. In practice, this meant that, if a farmer, having sold all his produce to pay rent and taxes, should be reduced, as many thousands of them were, to applying for public outdoor relief, he would not get it until he had first delivered up all his land to the landlord. Of this Law, Mitchel wrote that "it is the able-bodied idler only who is to be fed—if he attempted to till but one rood of ground, he dies". This simple method of ejectment was called "passing paupers through the workhouse"—a man went in, a pauper came out. These factors combined to drive thousands of people off the land: 90,000 in 1849, and 104,000 in 1850.
In 1849 the Encumbered Estates Act allowed landlord estates to be auctioned off upon the petition of creditors. Estates with debts were then auctioned off at low prices. Wealthy British speculators purchased the lands and "took a harsh view" of the tenant farmers who continued renting. The rents were raised and tenants evicted to create large cattle grazing pastures. Between 1849 and 1854, some 50,000 families were evicted.
Great Famine (Ireland)