"It was Thatcher's legislation, actually giving council tenants the right to buy their own houses. Page 51, [9] Lawson, Nigel. [39] Benn, Tony. Thatcher, herself, advances this view in her memoirs The Downing Street Years and echoed by many other Thatcherites such as Nigel Lawson, Shirley Letwin and historians such as John Campbell. Yet he still gives credit to Thatcher and her government for their actions during the strike which legitimises his view. It's easy to mock Arthur Scargill. In the 2001 general election, he ran against Peter Mandelson in Hartlepool. Page 39. Another important factor in the failure of the miners strike was Thatcher and her governments actions during the strike such as using the police force. He had a powerful speaking capability which garnered much passionate support from those who watched or saw his speeches. Harpercollins Publishers, 2012. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has stripped ex-president Arthur Scargill of his voting rights - threatening to end the career of one of the most divisive figures in Britain's recent. [58][59] Scargill's appearance on the picket line was alluded to by Prime Minister Boris Johnson the next day at Prime Minister's Questions, accusing the Labour Party of "literally holding hands with Arthur Scargill". (1983), Restructuring the employment relationship, Gallie, Duncan, Margaret Thatcher: Volume Two The Iron Lady. However, Thatcher, herself, has discredited this view saying He (Arthur Scargill) was making wild claims that the CEGB had only eight weeks of coal stocks. One source described them as the iron ladies of the coal fields[17]. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. He has contested two parliamentary elections. However, Evans fails to mention how campaigning in Nottinghamshire was successful and how the pickets won over many workers until the police eventually intervened. The same nationalism explains why Arthur Scargill, alongside his industrial militancy, supports a not-at-all-militant programme of import controls, withdrawal from the EEC, and siege economy. Scargill's first mistake was refusing to call a National Ballot . Scargill was involved in a High Court case in 1978 that set a precedent in UK labour law, known as Roebuck v NUM (Yorkshire Area) No 2. September 09, 2018. This Mainstream media view holds that the strike failed because of Scargills extreme beliefs and bad decisions. Accessed October 11, 2018. January 26. Page 18. 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. [16] One branch of the NUM, at Annesley in Nottinghamshire, put forward a vote of no confidence in Scargill in autumn 1983 following his comments on these matters, but Scargill defeated this at a December meeting and won a vote of confidence instead. Chris Kitchen said: "I would say it's time to walk away, Mr Scargill. For other uses, see, Early political and trade union activities. Accessed October 11, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2000/jan/07/guardianletters4. Page 161. In 1961, Scargill was elected a member of the Woolley NUM Branch Committee. "[46] Kitchen says that Scargill "has had 30 years of decent living out of the union, and he's got a pension that's second to none. ",confirmDelete: "Are you sure you want to delete this? If anyone of them has any cause for complaint they are simply showing the door because they have no unions to speak for to stand up for the rights of any working man or woman in this country. Not even many of the Stalinists he hangs round with. [33] Milne, Seumas. This source is reliable as Kim Howells was a member of the NUM at the time of the strike but still discredits Scargills tactics. He did not. By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions. All work is written to order. [13] Still the Enemy Within (2014). IMDb. Joining the NUM at the age of 19 in 1957, Scargill was one of its leading activists by the late 1960s. This was denied by the government at the time, although papers released in 2014 under the thirty-year rule suggest that Scargill was right. [35] The Truth of Nacods Shameful Sell-out. The Guardian. One of the main planks of his platform was to give more power to union conferences than to executive meetings, on the grounds that the former were more democratic. Absolute nonsense on all accords above. However, Scargill was well known for being a formidable organiser and conference-hall speaker[6]. Bone figurines of waterbirds made about 16,000 B. C., which were found in Mal'ta in Siberia, share the symbolism of the wild gander . [53] He was not attending any of the events to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the 1984 strike at the NUM. [24] Letwin, Shirley Robin. Arthur Scargill is a British trade unionist who was the president of the National Union of Mineworkers. Accessed October 10, 2018. https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/37592/How the Miners Strike could have won. Accessed October 10, 2018. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3815426/. 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. This strengthens Milnes argument that the police brutality, authorised by Thatcher, was unjustified. (1998), The third way : the promise of industrial democracy, Lawrence, Dennis, I then thought of things rather differently. Page 70. McIlroy, J. Scargill said himself that the real reason that the NUM areas such as Nottinghamshire, South Derbyshire and Leicestershire wanted a national strike ballot was that they wanted the strike called off, believing naively that their pits were safe[7]. In the event, it turned out to be the exact blueprint that the government followed[21]. He also stated regarding Brexit that "we should just invoke the first clause of Article 50 and that means we could leave the EU tomorrow". UK | Politics | Head to Head: The Miners Strike. BBC News. Scargill was often accompanied by his then wife Anne Harper to speak at picket lines and to media appearances; Harper was simultaneously involved in founding and leading the National Women Against Pit Closures movement. "Goodbye to all that? This was seen as violent and was deemed illegal. Therefore, Tony Benns argument is more convincing than Eric Evans as he takes into account the failures of the miners as well as giving credit to the amount of support the strike had as well. Page 316, [3] Harris, Robert. [14], The vast majority of head-office staff took redundancy rather than move to Sheffield. [26], There is a prevailing view that Arthur Scargill, the NUM National President, called the strike. April 23, 2022 the myth of workers' control arthur scargill . You can try renaming that file to .htaccess-backup and refreshing the site to see if that resolves the issue. . of the other candidates claimed that they were given very little time to prepare. 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? Margaret Thatcher. RewriteRule ^index.php$ - [L] This confirms the fact that Thatcher and Ian McGregor often didnt see eye-to-eye, an example of this is the issue with the NACODs strike. Therefore, this portrays the feelings of the majority of the miners who were on strike as they realised that this lack of support could determine the outcome of the strike. ",email_success: "Message Sent",bulk_noitems_advice: "No items were selected. 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. T he council chamber at the Barnsley HQ of the National Union of Mineworkers is a jaw-dropping sight: a huge, oak-panelled room, draped with banners that were once kept at collieries across. The miners had already built up a fearsome reputation as the shock troops for organised labour and during his time as leader of the Yorkshire coalfield, Mr Scargill had rarely been out of the news. Like the onset of some cold glaucoma dimming away the world . 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 . The End of an Era Diaries 1980-90. Therefore, the argument that Scargills leadership could have been one of the reasons that the miners strike failed is partly true as we know that due to Scargills decision to not call a national ballot he ended up losing key supporters such as the Labour party and many members of the public who couldnt support the strike as it was unofficial and didnt favour Scargills violent tactics. (The Yorkshire Left had already decided to stand him as their candidate even before the strike.) Accessed October 11, 2018. He had been a Communist and retained strong Marxist views and a penchant for denouncing anyone who disagreed with him as a traitor Scargill had indeed been elected by a vast margin and he set about turning the NUM's once moderate executive into a reliably militant group By adopting a position that no pits should be closed on economic grounds, even if the coal was exhausted more investment would always find more coal, and from his point of view, the losses were irrelevant he made sure confrontation would not be avoided. Lawson also takes the mainstream media view that everything Thatcher did during the strike was to maintain law and order. March 10, 2004. (1988), Trade unions and politics : thatchers assault on the unions ; the unions response, Kahn, Peggy, Thats why he can write one third of the worlds workers those who live in the Stalinist states out of the class struggle, allotting them no role but to support their socialist rulers. The properties will tell you the path and file name that cannot be found. He then goes on to say with incidents of appalling violence on both sides showing that even Campbell who takes the mainstream media view is forced to acknowledge the unnecessary violence of the police force when facing the miners. As for the EEC/EU, his anti- stance was in keeping with Labour Party Policy. His application was refused because the flat in the Barbican Estate's Shakespeare Tower was not Scargill's primary residence. Andrew Marr is one of many historians who support this view and believed that The Nottinghamshire miners turned out to be critical. However, Letwin also blames Scargill for the timing of the strike; Scargill, for his part, had timed his attack poorly, attacking in the spring when the demand for coal was decreasing. [20] Ridley, Nicholas. A secret record is kept of the time at which all workers arrive and leave each day. At the risk of paraphrasing, Karl Marx once wrote that the great figures of history appear first as tragedy and then as farce. Therefore, Thatcher and her governments actions could have caused the failure of the strike but to what extent these actions can be justified is still widely argued. Accessed January 06, 2019. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3503545.stm. His comments followed a question in the Commons from Labour MP Lisa Nandy, who said the miners and their families deserved an apology for the mine closures. The movement faced a huge confrontation from the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher, and the union was eventually defeated. This lack of support can be blamed on the leadership of Arthur Scargill; therefore, the leadership of Arthur Scargill is a more important factor in the failure of the miners strike in 1985. [10] Still the Enemy Within (2014). IMDb. This led to McGregor and the NCB negotiating a settlement with NACODS in order for them to call off the strike which could have seriously affected the outcome of the miners strike. Downing Street Years. Are you using WordPress? 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. References to this book. Many people blame him for the failure of Miner's Strike due to his poor leadership skills and bad judgement. Neil Kinnock even compared Scargill with a general who wanted another Gallipoli[3]. you only have to look at the current state of our country after Cov19torealise that we have noindustry left! 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. However, we have to question Lawsons motives behind this, as he may have naturally blamed Scargill for the failure of the strike to protect his political reputation as it legitimises his role in opposing the strike. You've been found out. Scargill subsequently decided to move to Sheffield, and said that he had spoken to each member of staff to ask them to move to Sheffield. 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. [19] Morgan, Kenneth O.Britain since 1945: The Peoples Peace. Change the settings back to the previous configuration (before you selected Default). Study for free with our range of university lectures! Scargill, Arthur (1938- ) English trade union leader. [33], In July 1990, the NUM executive voted unanimously to sue Scargill and general secretary Peter Heathfield. Arthur Scargill, the former leader of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), addressed a rally Saturday outside Sheffield railway station in support of the railworkers' strike. With Fay Hauser, Olivia Haller, Doris Morgado, Chrystee Pharris. Page 164. [45] Milne, Seumas. Somerset: Routledge, 2018. Arguably, one of the most important factors in the failure of the Miners Strike in 1984 was the leadership of the head of NUM, Arthur Scargill. [22][23], Many found Scargill inspiring; many others found him frankly scary. : S.n., 1996. [36] Thatcher, Margaret. An example of this is the NACODs strike whereby Ian McGregor ordered colliery overmen to cross violent picket lines if they were to get paid. We also remember his relatively principled role within the UK labour movement of the 1970s and 80s. The Enemy Within", Verso 2014. This article about a political figure is a stub. Arthur Scargill: We Could Surrender or Stand and Fight. The Guardian. Read online at https://workersliberty.org/node/34498, Submitted by AWL on 18 September, 2019 - 11:48, Letters: Hands off Clara Zetkin and Rosa Luxemburg, Holodomor: the Ukrainian famine of 1932-33, Tubeworker (London Underground) (bulletin), Off the Rails (national rail workers) (bulletin), Off the Rails (national rail workers) (blog), Notts Off the Rails (Nottingham rail workers) (bulletin), On Guard (Sheffield rail workers) (bulletin). Marching to the Fault Line: The 1984 Miners Strike and the Battle for Industrial Britain. Accessed January 06, 2019. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3503545.stm. "Goodbye to all that? Without their support, victory for the miners looked uncertain as they were the best paid, with better conditions promised by Thatcher[13]. [8] Nigel Lawson, who takes a clear mainstream media view on the Miners strike and even admits the left-wing majority on the NUM executive insisted, however dubiously, that Rule 43 of the union allowed for a strike without a ballot[9] showing that although many people didnt agree with it, including him, it was actually permissible. In fact, other factors such as the governments intense preparations came into play. [60][61], London Assembly elections (entire London city). Some historians have provided interpretations and explanations of the defeat. Seumas Milne, who takes the Marxist view, supports Thatchers argument that government preparations werent sufficient enough to cause the failure of the strike. [22] Milne, Seumas. The motto, An injury to one is an injury to all, applies world-wide. /index.php [L] 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. [38] Thatcher, Margaret. 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". # End WordPress. Notice that the CaSe is important in this example. Shirley Letwin takes the mainstream media view that Arthur Scargills incompetence as a leader caused the miners strike to fail. No plagiarism, guaranteed! Page 346. Barnsley: Wharncliffe, 2002. My Style of Government: The Thatcher Years. On platforms that enforce case-sensitivity example and Example are not the same locations. At the time, Britain had 170 working. He is looking for socialism in one country, and since that is impossible he ends up with a recipe of capitalism in one country. Margaret Thatcher: From Grocers Daughter to Iron Lady. London: Vintage, 2008. After the Miners were beaten into submission in 1984and the rest of uscheated and swindled by that government and successive government afterwards. The union is known for leading the longest as well as the most violent miners` strike in the history of British history. The authorities must be using the army[32]. Former Scargill loyalist Jimmy Kelly, a miner at the Edlington Main pit near Doncaster in the 1980s, said he was astonished to learn of the attempt to buy the flat. Add the following snippet of code to the top of your .htaccess file: # BEGIN WordPress Arthur Wakefield, a striking miner, presents the Marxist view that the failure of the strike couldnt have been down to the lack of support and instead must have been due to other factors. "The strike wasn't just about Arthur Scargill or Margaret Thatcher, it was about a way of life. How to find the correct spelling and folder, 404 Errors After Clicking WordPress Links, From the left-hand navigation menu in WordPress, click. EconBiz.Logger.logPageView(); On March 6, 1984, the National Coal Board announced its plan to cut the nation's coal output by 4 million tons, in an effort to stem a $340 million annual loss. July 31, 2013. [32] An internal NUM report by Gavin Lightman QC found that Scargill had used some of the Libyan money to pay for improvements to his bungalow but not to pay off his mortgage (as had been alleged),[33] and stated that Scargill's failure to make a full report on the Soviet money donated for the Welsh miners was "a remarkable breach of duty" and that he should repay the money back to the NUM. The strike ended on 3 March 1985 following an NUM vote to return to work. His father, Harold, was a miner and a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. Articles like the above, years later are actually a compliment to Arthur. [9] This performance strengthened his popularity with the Yorkshire miners. Page 342. 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