 His causes included the temperance movement, opposition to the state regulation of vice, non-sectarian education, Disestablishment of the Anglican Church, Irish Home Rule, internationalism, Anti-imperialism and the destruction of the Opium trade.Wilson's radicalism led him away from the traditional Gladstonian Liberalism of the age, as represented by the dominant group within the party in Sheffield.He was particularly repelled by some of the provisions of the 1870 Education Act such as those which involved payment for religious teaching out of public funds.