With Fay Hauser, Olivia Haller, Doris Morgado, Chrystee Pharris. After the Miners were beaten into submission in 1984and the rest of uscheated and swindled by that government and successive government afterwards. (1988), Trade unions and politics : thatchers assault on the unions ; the unions response, Kahn, Peggy, Please click on a checkbox next to an item and try again. Barnsley: Wharncliffe, 2002. In the 2001 general election, he ran against Peter Mandelson in Hartlepool. However, Kenneth OMorgan may be overemphasising the amount of support that the miners had as we know that Thatcher continuously demonised the miners in the media calling them the enemy within and this reduced a lot of public support for the strike. Lawson takes an objective view of the events as his book was published in 1993 after a very public dispute with Thatcher where he eventually resigned. Downing Street Years. On platforms that enforce case-sensitivity example and Example are not the same locations. The strike became a symbolic struggle, as the NUM was one of the strongest unions in the country, viewed by many, including Conservatives in power, as having brought down the Heath government in the union's 1974 strike. Downing Street Years. Page 340. [31] Campbell, John. 404 means the file is not found. In January 2014, the Prime Minister, David Cameron stated, "I think if anyone needs to make an apology for their role in the miners' strike it should be Arthur Scargill for the appalling way that he led the union. A5 format. However, In , He was right. [56], In July 2021 he spoke at the Rebel Town Festival in Jarrow. [5] However, we have to keep in mind that Tony Benn opposed the radical restrictions put on the striking miners as he thought they were unfair. Arthur Scargill, with his odd and sometimes monomaniacal-seeming habit of referring to himself in the third person, was in some ways a throwback to turn-of-the-century radicalism, a syndicalist . These days he only gets to speak at the crankiest of Stalinist events. (1978), CONTESTING THE MARKET: PAY EQUITY AND THE POLITICS OF ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING, Eigart, Deborah M., [37] Campbell, John. Scargill, Arthur. His legacy is one of shame and ignominy. [28] Travis, Alan. It only demonstrates the individual and threat he was. [38] Thatcher, Margaret. Accessed October 10, 2018. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3815426/. His post-1985 decision to try and build a political organisation the so-called Socialist Labour Party turned out to be a disaster and created nothing more than a pathetic, personal bandwagon which spluttered briefly before the wheels fell off. UK | Politics | Head to Head: The Miners Strike. BBC News. [39] Benn, Tony. I really do not care what you think of Mr Scargill today, where elseis a man supposed to go after he was betrayed by the system and vilified by the media to agullible population, a media that was run by the government of the day. By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions. RewriteRule ^index.php$ - [L] "[28] This was in the Prime Minister's rejection of Labour calls for an apology for government actions during the 19841985 miners' strike. [39], During the media controversy, the antiperspirant Mitchum used Scargill's image, without his consent, under the slogan "Mitchum, for when you're really sweating! In the 1981 election for NUM president, Scargill secured around 70% of the vote. The Socialist Labour Party ( SLP) is a socialist political party in the United Kingdom. For other uses, see, Early political and trade union activities. Seumas Milne portrays the Marxist view that the government went over the top with the preparations in order to see the miners strike fail and bring down the unions altogether. Airport staff at Leeds-Bradford Airport identified Scargill attempting to travel under a false name (Arthur Fenn) wearing a disguise on 20 July, and turned him away to purchase a genuine ticket with his true identity. My father was a Communist. Scargill, Solidarity and Workers Revolutionary Party ( Book ) Margaret Thatcher, face aux mineurs : 1972-1985, treize annes qui ont chang l'Angleterre by Pierre-Franois Gouiffs ( Book ) The judge Sir Sydney Templeman held that it was unlawful that union members were disciplined by the NUM disciplinary panel, which Scargill chaired, for appearing as witnesses testifying against Scargill in a libel case. July 31, 2013. [21] Ridley, Nicholas. In fact, other factors such as the governments intense preparations came into play. of Leeds [u.a.] Ian White talks exclusively to Arthur Scargill, 84, on 50th anniversary of the Battle of Saltley Gate in Birmingham [9] Scargill saw this strike as a turning point in the union's attitude to militancy.[10]. Vast majority of people work retail or asBarristersselling fancycoffee to people on the way to work in offices, most of them on single hour contracts working in retail parks or business parks built on the ground of old mine, steelworks and potteries that used to employ tens of thousands of men and now employ the best part of 100. But Rule 43 said that a national strike can only be called if there was a ballot. The strict trade union laws have also been credited for the failure of the strike with Norman Tebbit, who introduced the trade union law reforms, saying because of my reforms, if these other unions had joined an illegal strike, the Coal Board could have asked the court to confiscate their funds[23]. The properties will tell you the path and file name that cannot be found. [1] Letwin, Shirley Robin. In 2012, the flat was valued at 1,500,000, and had 24/7 access to concierge services. He was a destructive force, in the Labour Party, and in the NUM. Some scholars have concluded that Scargill's decisive tactical error was to substitute his famous flying picket for the holding of a national strike ballot. March 10, 2004. However, Lawson then goes on to say The violent tactics used by the NUM pickets reopened the issue of Who governs Britain?. See the Section on 404 errors after clicking a link in WordPress. Person/Body (Historic): University of Leeds and Nottingham. However, he does give credit to the harsh tactics taken by the miners that may have cut out any support for the Nottinghamshire miners; The only legitimate question that may be raised about the tactics of the NUM nationally was whether the Yorkshire miners, by picketing Nottinghamshire so early and so vigorously, alienated those they were seeking to influence. Aucun commentaire n'a t trouv aux emplacements habituels. It was a defining moment in British industrial relations, and its defeat significantly weakened the trade union movement. The media characterised the strike as "Scargill's strike" and his critics accused him of looking for an excuse for industrial action since becoming union president. Eric Evans described him as aggressive and charismatic, but vain and politically limited[42], therefore showing his limitations as the head of NCB. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UKEssays.com. The editor of the Daily Mirror at the time, Roy Greenslade, wrote an article in The Guardian in May 2002 to apologise to Scargill for the false claims about paying off the mortgage and for putting too much trust in Roger Windsor, who at the time had still not repaid the 29,500 that he had taken from the Miners' Welfare Fund and that the Lightman Report had asked that he repay. . ",email_success: "Message Sent",bulk_noitems_advice: "No items were selected. This included Norman Tebbits radical reforms[39] as put by Tony Benn, who was newly elected to the mining seat and a clear supporter of the 1984-85 Miners strike[40]. [7] Scargill, Arthur. 11: Britains Longest-serving Cabinet Member Recalls the Triumphs and Disappointments of the Thatcher Era. ",confirmDelete: "Are you sure you want to delete this? Paul Hampton and Martin Thomas respond to Eric Lee on Clara Zetkin. [43] Marr, Andrew. Kim Howells discusses how Neil Kinnock argued that real power lay at the ballot box[4]. S.l. My mother was strictly non-political. Just click. September 09, 2018. On the other hand, the Marxist/Left Wing view suggests that the strike was part of Thatchers wider attack on political consensus and suggest that the miners could have won the strike had it not been for the concerted, illegal government campaign to smash the miners union, something they had been planning for some time. Woods, Alan. "It's so hypocritical it's unreal," he said. The most notable of these being the Women Against Pit Closures (WAPC) mainly made up of miners wives or women that grew up in mining communities. Scargill, once the hero of the miners, now cuts a rather sad, isolated figure and this is a complex post-1985 story. This was a complete reversal of the policy that was promised by the Labour Government before it was put into office this represents a betrayal of the mining industry. [16] Wakefield, Arthur, and Brian Elliot. However, Wakefield also mentions the betrayal he felt by the Nottinghamshire miners who continued to work by saying The lads are in good spirits even if the majority of scabs are working. On the appointment of Ian MacGregor as head of the NCB in 1983, Scargill stated, "The policies of this government are clear to destroy the coal industry and the NUM". London: Routledge, 2019. His major innovation was organising "flying pickets" involving hundreds or thousands of committed strikers who could be bussed to critical strike points to shut down a target. Because of Scargills actions, the strike was illegal, poorly supported and doomed to failure given the level of government preparations. Arguably, one of the most important factors in the failure of the Miner's Strike in 1984 was the leadership of the head of NUM, Arthur Scargill. If it wasnt for Thatchers continued support for the Nottinghamshire miners, the strike would have had their support which may have been vital in the success of the strike. The union is known for leading the longest as well as the most violent miners` strike in the history of British history. Although he never worked at Barrow Colliery in his home village, he was involved in the politics of the branch, where the membership was much more left-wing than in the conservative Woolley Colliery. Page 340. London: Fontana, 1992. Downing Street Years. : Univ. [33] Milne, Seumas. Andrew Marrs view on why the Miners strike failed is much more convincing as it gives credit to Scargills leadership skills while also saying not even he would be able to persuade every part of the industry to strike showing that Marr believes that Scargill was the best man for the job. Historian, John Campbell, described the battle at Orgreave; They were beaten back by even greater numbers of mounted and heavily armoured police[41]. Page 150-152, [2] Campbell, John. [10] Still the Enemy Within (2014). IMDb. Barnsley: Wharncliffe, 2002. Would JD care to say why he writes in such a vindictive and aggressive style? Authors: Scargill, Arthur; Kahn, Peggy: Publisher: Leeds [u.a.] [11] Benn, Tony. Page 39. London: Verso, 2014. He called for the cotton mills, steel plants and mines to be re-opened and that under EU rules, the government had not been able to subsidise the coal mines. Page 341. [32] Benn, Tony. The strike started in Yorkshire, and he was not present at the delegate Council meeting in Barnsley. jQuery(function() { Scargill has so burnt his bridges with the NUM and the broad left of the labour movement that his name is never mentioned at Durham miners gala or at other miners strike commemorations. A secret record is kept of the time at which all workers arrive and leave each day. In 1965 he was elected Branch Delegate from Woolley to the Yorkshire NUM Area Council, and in 1969 was elected a member of the Yorkshire NUM Area Executive Committee. However, we have to be careful when using this as evidence as Tebbit may have been trying to take credit for the failure of the strike. [32] The documentary suggests that the claims against Scargill were untrue. It is rather ironic that his view on the EEC was shared by Tjatcher, deep down, and it is a Tory Govt that has taken us out. The political power of the NUM and of most British trade unions was severely reduced. Arthur Scargill (born January 11, 1938) is a British trade unionist. "Scargill" redirects here. "[40] Scargill complained to the Advertising Standards Authority who criticised the advertisement as "highly distasteful". He left school in 1953 at fifteen years old to work as a coal miner at Woolley Colliery, where he worked for nineteen years.[2][3]. Peter, Gibbon. A debate on workers' control. Look for the .htaccess file in the list of files. He used the NUM for his own advancement, and ended up thinking he was bigger than the Union and everything else. March 07, 2009. However, we have to be careful when using this source as evidence as Scargill may have been trying to justify his actions to save himself criticism. My Style of Government: The Thatcher Years. Person/Body (Historic): A. Taylor & Sons Ltd. Happily, his saintly wife spent her time, during his period of madness, doing all she could to bring practical help and comfort to the hardest hit families. No plagiarism, guaranteed! This only reinforces the idea that it was Scargills decision not to call a ballot that lost him valuable support. Scargill also cleverly manipulated the NUM rule book creating a serious constitutional debate. At the risk of paraphrasing, Karl Marx once wrote that the great figures of history appear first as tragedy and then as farce. That's what I believe". According to the Morning Star Scargill said that every single MP who wants us to go back into Europe should be opposed. That would be the majority of Labour MPs, then, Arthur? Somerset: Routledge, 2018. However, it can be argued that the government limited its role in upholding law and order in a dispute between the NUM and the NCB. The appointment of Ian McGregor as head of the NCB can be seen as a failure on Thatchers behalf showing that the governments preparations were insufficient to cause the strike to fail. In pictures: Arthur Scargill's legacy Mr Scargill's election as NUM president in 1981 had an electrifying effect on the union movement. Scargill, along with veteran left-wing Labour MP Tony Benn, campaigned to free strikers Russell Shankland and Dean Hancock from prison. Having examined a range of factors which led to the failure of the miners strike in 1984, it has become clear that it was easy to just blame the leadership of Arthur Scargill as the ultimate factor that led to the strikes failure. Back in 1983 (even before the great miners strike) the forunner of Solidarity (Socialist Organiser) condemned Scargills attacks on the independent Polish union movement Solidarnosc, but also identified the root cause of Scargills tragic error (nationalism) and denounced the hypocrisy of many of his critics within the labour movement: Its no news that Scargill has a scandalous attitude to Solidarnosc. This article, far from being full of lies, hit the nail, well and truly, on the head. [30] Lawson, Nigel. He says Support for the strike was virtually solid not only in old militant areasbut also (at first) in traditionally moderate Lancashire, Durham and Northumberland[19]. Assess the view that the main reason for the failure of the miners strike in 1984 was the leadership of Arthur Scargill. This was denied by the government at the time, although papers released in 2014 under the thirty-year rule suggest that Scargill was right. Both the Marxist view and the mainstream media view gives credit to government preparations showing this was definitely an important factor in the failure of the strike. This article about a political figure is a stub. //
