[17], The government announced on 6 March 1984 its intention to close 20 coal mines, revealing as well the plan in the long-term to close over 70 pits. 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 myth of workers' control; More details; The myth of workers' control . There was some controversy in February 1985 when Times journalist Paul Routledge engaged the Queen in discussion on the strike, and the Queen said that the strike was "all about one man", which Routledge objected to. These preparations included the Ridley Plan, stockpiling coal, the appointment of Ian McGregor as head of NCB, the involvement of MI5 and MI6 and the introduction of the new trade union laws. The Enemy Within: M15, Maxwell and the Scargill Affair. "Scargill" redirects here. ." It is a world of despair, of ashes, and coldness, and darkness, and the setting acts as a . [45], For years the NUM had been paying 34,000 annual rent for the flat on Scargill's instructions, without the knowledge of NUM members or many senior officials; Scargill claimed the NUM should continue funding his flat for the rest of his life, and thereafter for any widow who survived him. [29], In 1998, Scargill and his wife, Anne, separated.[30]. His application was refused because the flat in the Barbican Estate's Shakespeare Tower was not Scargill's primary residence. 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. April 23, 2022 the myth of workers' control arthur scargill . [8] Beckett, Francis, and David Hencke. 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. 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. Nevertheless, this shows that the strike didnt fail from the lack of support in general, but rather the lack of support from key figures such as the Neil Kinnock from the Labour Party, as well as the Nottinghamshire miners who, if they had supported the miners, would have guaranteed a different outcome for the strike. Accessed October 10, 2018. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3815426/. [23] BATTLE FOR BRITAIN; on the 25th Anniversary of the Miners Strike, NORMAN TEBBIT Reveals Why He Believes Defeat Would Have Been the Death of Democracy. Daily Mail (London), March 6, 2009. He led an unofficial strike in 1969, and played a key organising role during strikes of 1972 and 1974, the latter of which played a part in the downfall of Edward Heath's Conservative government. [39] Benn, Tony. The Socialist Labour Party ( SLP) is a socialist political party in the United Kingdom. [37] Campbell, John. [41] Campbell, John. At the time, Britain had 170 working. 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. 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. [9] Scargill saw this strike as a turning point in the union's attitude to militancy.[10]. A motion from the Kent area was passed by the NUM conference to move the head office to a coalfield. RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f 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]. Without them the power stations, even with the mix of nuclear and oil and the careful stockpiling, might have begun to run short and the government would have been in deep trouble[43] Therefore, showing that the lack of support from the Nottinghamshire miners was a more important factor in the failure of the Miners strike than government preparations. My father was a Communist. 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. In this example the file must be in public_html/example/Example/. Carrying the Fire in The Road T he dystopian world of Cormac McCarthy's The Road is best summarized by the following lines from the novella: "Nights dark beyond darkness and the days more gray each one than what had gone before. Page 161. 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. 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]. Accessed October 10, 2018. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3815426/. In 2012, the flat was valued at 1,500,000, and had 24/7 access to concierge services. My Style of Government: The Thatcher Years. Arrow, 1994. ", "Cabinet papers reveal 'secret coal pits closure plan', "Cameron rejects Labour call for miners' strike apology", "SCARGILL LEAVES HIS WIFE AFTER 37 YEARS; My marriage is over he tells pals", "Scargill used Thatcherite policy in bid to buy London flat", "National Union of Mineworkers 'expels' Arthur Scargill", "Arthur Scargill wins 13,000 union damages", "Why Arthur Scargill is reluctant to leave his 1.5m Barbican flat", "In search of Arthur Scargill: 30 years after the miners' strike", "List of candidates for the EU Parliamentary elections", "Stalin apologists drink to the memory of Uncle Joe", "Scargill angers unions with Solidarity attack", "Old comrades rub hands with glee at return of hard left", "Scargill highlights policy differences with Jeremy Corbyn", "Brexit means we can reopen the mines and cotton mills, says Arthur Scargill", "Ex-miners' leader Arthur Scargill announced among speakers for 'Rebel Town Festival' in South Tyneside", "Arthur Scargill joins RMT picket at Wakefield", "Arthur Scargill joins striking rail workers on picket line", "Engagements - Debated on Wednesday 22 June 2022", "Johnson and Starmer spar over rail strikes at PMQs", "National Assembly for Wales Election Results 19992007", "Arthur Scargill and the Battle of Saltley Gate" BBC News 10 February 2012, Review of BBC Radio Play: "The Duel", by Michael Samuels the struggle for control of the UK coal industry in 1984, Trade Union International of Energy Workers, Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom, List of political parties in the United Kingdom, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arthur_Scargill&oldid=1137688669, Young Communist League of Britain members, Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress, Presidents of the National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain), Short description is different from Wikidata, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from April 2021, Articles with dead external links from October 2019, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. He gained fame for using the tactic to win the Battle of Saltley Gate in 1972, and made it his main tactical device in the 1984 strike. [41], In 1993, Scargill tried to use Thatcher's flagship Right to Buy scheme to buy a flat on the Barbican estate in central London. Harpercollins Publishers, 2012. This page was last edited on 5 February 2023, at 23:36. The strike ended on 3 March 1985 following an NUM vote to return to work. 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. The striking miners didnt have the support of the Nottinghamshire miners, dock workers or even the Labour Party, including Neil Kinnock, and many historians believe that the strikes failure was down to the fact that it was so poorly supported; such as Eric Evans who takes the mainstream media view and believed the appearance of a much more conciliatory breakaway union representing the profitable East Midlands mining arealed to collapse of the strike[12] This we know to be true as the Nottinghamshire miners alone produced 25% of the Nations coal. Arthur Scargill emerged from semi-retirement from politics to speak at a meeting of the Communist Party of Britains wretched little pro-Brexit front organisation Leave Fight Transform (LeFT) in Brighton on 11 September, alongside Eddie Dempsey (the man who said Tommy Robinson supporters were right to hate the liberal left) and other assorted xenophobes, nationalists and social conservatives. March 07, 2009. [20] Ridley, Nicholas. (1983), Restructuring the employment relationship, Gallie, Duncan, He regularly attended Workers' Educational Association (WEA) classes and Co-operative Party educational programmes, and in 1962, undertook a three-year, part-time course at the University of Leeds, where he studied economics, industrial relations and social history. In March 2014, ex-miner John Cunningham attended the memorial meeting for the two Yorkshire miners killed in the strike, Davy Jones and Joe Green. Seumas Milne, who takes the Marxist view, supports Thatchers argument that government preparations werent sufficient enough to cause the failure of the strike. Lawson also takes the mainstream media view that everything Thatcher did during the strike was to maintain law and order. He has contested two parliamentary elections. Accessed January 06, 2019. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3503545.stm. 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. In 1974, he was instrumental in organising the miners' strike that led Prime Minister Edward Heath to call a February general election.[13]. "It was Thatcher's legislation, actually giving council tenants the right to buy their own houses. March 10, 2004. London: Verso, 2014. I then thought of things rather differently. The secretary at this time was a very good friend of mine called Jimmy Reid, and we're still close friends. Scargill had condemned the killing at the time. "[44] However, in December 2012, Scargill lost a similar case concerning rent on his flat in the Barbican, London. Because of Scargills actions, the strike was illegal, poorly supported and doomed to failure given the level of government preparations. July 31, 2013. 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. London: Vintage, 2008. 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. Strike: When Britain Went to War. In Defence of Marxism. 11: Britains Longest-serving Cabinet Member Recalls the Triumphs and Disappointments of the Thatcher Era. Yet he was a trade union leader who helped lead a strike that brought down a Tory government (1974) and correctly understood that Thatcher was out to smash the unions and that they needed to fight back. [14], The vast majority of head-office staff took redundancy rather than move to Sheffield. In any case, the will of the people has decided the UK will leave, we have even had a General Election over the matter. That violence strengthened the stature of the Coal Board and the Thatcher government. Scargill had, before becoming president, favoured moving the head office of the NUM out of London, which he described as a "prostituting place". "Leadership in the Miners Union-Scargill, Arthur Rise to Power. [31] In addition, it was alleged that he had taken 1,000,000 of cash donated by the Soviet Union for the Welsh miners and placed it in a Dublin bank account for the "International Miners' Organisation", where it stayed until a year after the strike had finished. The Anatomy of Thatcherism. A dialogue box may appear asking you about encoding. The Myth of Workers' Control Issue 5 of Occasional papers in industrial relations Author Arthur Scargill Publisher University of Leeds, 1980 Original from Cornell University Digitized Apr. Riddled with Stalinist politics and practice and some of the worst sectarianism imaginable, it has no meaningful existence today. We always have to be aware of the enemy within, which is much more difficult to fight and more dangerous to liberty[28]. Authors: Scargill, Arthur; Kahn, Peggy: Publisher: Leeds [u.a.] Kim Howells discusses how Neil Kinnock argued that real power lay at the ballot box[4]. vufindString = {bulk_email_success: "Your item(s) were e-mailed",bulk_save_success: "Your item(s) were saved successfully",close: "close",loading: "Loading",sms_success: "Message sent. You've been found out. By not calling a National Ballot the strike rapidly gained support. Essay Writing Service. Page 342. Soup kitchens were set up to save miners and their families from starvation in nearly every small village[18]. [22][23], Many found Scargill inspiring; many others found him frankly scary. Accessed January 06, 2019. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3503545.stm. She even admitted to appointing Peter Walker as Secretary of State for Energy because of his negotiating skills and said he was also a skilled communicator, something in which I knew would be important if we were to retain public support in the coal strike[29]. That's what I believe". ARTHUR SCARGILL AND PEGGY KAHN - "THE MYTH OF WORKERS' CONTROL" - 1st . EconBiz.Logger.enable_Autocompletion_tracking(); Change the settings back to the previous configuration (before you selected Default). This is given credence by the fact that Scargill authorised these violent tactics, which decreased public sympathy for the Miners which was actually their greatest asset[10]. In fact, other factors such as the governments intense preparations came into play. (You may need to consult other articles and resources for that information.). 11: Memoirs of a Tory Radical. "It's so hypocritical it's unreal," he said. Notice that the CaSe is important in this example. [26] Milne, Seumas. London: Corgi Books, 1993. 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. Page 341. Page 317. This is portrayed by Kenneth OMorgan, who takes a clear mainstream media view. However, if it had gone the other way the Yorkshire area would have come out and other areas would have to decide whether to give support. His mother, Alice (ne Pickering), was a professional cook. The easiest way to edit a .htaccess file for most people is through the File Manager in cPanel. It was a defining moment in British industrial relations, and its defeat significantly weakened the trade union movement. The party was established in 1996 and is led by Arthur Scargill, a former Labour Party member and the former leader of the National Union of Mineworkers. Margaret Thatcher: Volume Two The Iron Lady. Harpercollins Publishers, 2012. The union is known for leading the longest as well as the most violent miners` strike in the history of British history. 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]. This event is held every year at the Barnsley Headquarters of the NUM and acquired particular poignancy that year as it coincided with the 30th anniversary of the strike. 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. Page 473. Accessed October 11, 2018. Please click on a checkbox next to an item and try again. Clearly, Scargill did fall out of favour with the Socialist movement, perhaps because it became evident that he was only happy when he was in the limelight. 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. 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. Industrial Democracy in Italy: Workers Co-ops and the Self-management Debate Mark Holmstrom, Mark Holmstrm Snippet view - 1989. 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