The Anatomy of Thatcherism. 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. London: Routledge, 2019. Industrial Democracy in Italy: Workers Co-ops and the Self-management Debate Mark Holmstrom, Mark Holmstrm Snippet view - 1989. [20] Ridley, Nicholas. Page 51, [9] Lawson, Nigel. That is what we need to remember these days when we think of Scargill. Milne explains how the strike was a last-ditch fight to defend jobs, mining communities and the NUM itself against a government prepared to bring into play unlimited resources and its entire panoply of coercive powers as and where necessary to break the union and its backbone of support[22]. In his diary he documents the battle at Orgreave on Monday 18th of June, 1984; Ive never seen so many of our lads altogether, it brought tears to my eyes[16]. Page 39. [52], The Guardian in February 2014 said that Scargill had become a recluse. This article, far from being full of lies, hit the nail, well and truly, on the head. Page 317. [53], Scargill still occasionally gives interviews and makes appearances. One source described them as the iron ladies of the coal fields[17]. The Enemy Within: The Secret War against the Miners. The strike of 1984 was covered in detail by the press. However, Margaret Thatchers intentions in this source have to be questioned as this book was published in 1993 after Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister in 1990, therefore she may have been trying to justify her actions and downplay the use of police in the miners strike. [1] Letwin, Shirley Robin. Nigel Lawson describes how the government were able to persuade the working miners to cross the violent picket lines; Those who continued to work were portrayed as heroes (and behind the scenes a considerable amount of private money was raised to help them resist the Scargillite intimidation)[30]. 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. The Alliance for Workers' Liberty is an organisation fighting as part of the labour movement for a socialist alternative to both capitalism and Stalinism, based on common ownership and democracy. When you have a missing image on your site you may see a box on your page with with a red X where the image is missing. London: Fontana, 1992. London: Corgi Books, 1993. Harpercollins Publishers, 2012. In this example the image file must be in public_html/cgi-sys/images/. The names of all incoming telephone callers are recorded on a central log. September 09, 2018. Downing Street Years. Yet Arthur Scargill clearly sees class struggle as just British workers versus British bosses. 11: Memoirs of a Tory Radical. Therefore, we must conclude that whilst Arthur Scargills leadership was an important factor in the failure of the strike, it would be wrong to assume that this was the main reason as without the lack of support, especially from the Nottinghamshire miners, as well as the governments preparations, such as the stockpiling of coal, the miners strike might not have failed. [18], Miners were split between those who supported the strike and those who opposed it (see Union of Democratic Mineworkers). [37], The South Wales area leader, Des Dutfield, moved that Scargill should stand down and face re-election, but the motion was defeated. 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. However, Scargill was well known for being a formidable organiser and conference-hall speaker[6]. He is best known for leading the UK miners' strike (1984-85), a major event in the history of the British labour movement. Do you have a 2:1 degree or higher? Arrow, 1994. The Anatomy of Thatcherism. See also V. L. Allen, The Militancy of the British Miners (1981); N. Hagger, Scargill the Stalinist (1984); and "What Drives Arthur Scargill?"The Sunday Times of London (July 15, 1984).. 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. When you encounter a 404 error in WordPress, you have two options for correcting it. Arthur Scargill. Page 18. He was succeeded by Ian Lavery. The failure of the miners strike in 1984 has been seen by many as the result of bad leadership of the head of the NUM, Arthur Scargill, the lack of support for the strike as well as giving credit to the governments preparations. January 26. The Myth of Workers' Control (booklet) Person/Body (Historic): Scargill, Arthur. We've received widespread press coverage since 2003, Your UKEssays purchase is secure and we're rated 4.4/5 on reviews.co.uk. The Myth of Workers' Control Arthur Scargill Snippet view - 1980. 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]. Arthur Scargill: We Could Surrender or Stand and Fight. The Guardian. My mother was strictly non-political. [9] Scargill saw this strike as a turning point in the union's attitude to militancy.[10]. Page 341. 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. 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. [53] He was not attending any of the events to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the 1984 strike at the NUM. 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. 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. The Enemy Within", Verso 2014. It is reported that the police were getting between 600 and 1000 a week and many people believed that there just arent that many police available to move about. 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. January 07, 2000. Scargill, once the hero of the miners, now cuts a rather sad, isolated figure and this is a complex post-1985 story. London, 1984. 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. Page 317. Add the following snippet of code to the top of your .htaccess file: # BEGIN WordPress [37] Scargill reached an agreement to repay money to the NUM shortly after this. *You can also browse our support articles here >. Edit the file on your computer and upload it to the server via FTP. Arthur Scargill (born 11 January 1938)[1] is a British trade unionist who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 1982 to 2002. Harpercollins Publishers, 2012. 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. My Style of Government: The Thatcher Years. 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. "[40] Scargill complained to the Advertising Standards Authority who criticised the advertisement as "highly distasteful". Scargills first mistake was refusing to call a National Ballot after the strike started to gain support. Person/Body (Historic): University of Leeds and Nottingham. Page 414. [8], Scargill was a leader of the unofficial strike in 1969, which began in Yorkshire and spread across the country. Margaret Thatcher. 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. Page 57. London: Vintage, 2008. Their support would have been vital if they were to win the strike; this is presented by Cabinet minutes which show that Thatchers priority was to settle the dock strike as quickly as possible in order to allow the government to concentrate on winning the miners strike[15]. Nevertheless, Government intervention such as the use of police and the actions of Ian McGregor was not the most important factor in the failure of the strike as many people openly criticised McGregor, including Thatcher herself. [15] However, Scargill's statements in the years after becoming NUM president divided left-wing opinion with his support of the Soviet Union, most notably when he refused to support the TUC's positions on the Solidarity union in Poland or on the Soviet shooting down of the Korean Air Lines Flight 007. London: Vintage Books, 2008. Scargill had, before becoming president, favoured moving the head office of the NUM out of London, which he described as a "prostituting place". : A Review of Literature on the 1984/5 Miners' Strike.". Accessed October 10, 2018. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3815426/. Somerset: Routledge, 2018. In stories told since the strike, the president of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), Arthur Scargill, is strangely absent. [7] Scargill, Arthur. 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. He claimed that the government had a long-term strategy to destroy the industry by closing unprofitable pits, and that it listed pits it wanted to close each year. Arrow, 1994. This is because had the NUM come out nationally in favour of the strike, Nottinghamshire area would have won permission for its own ballot and remained at work. At the time, Britain had 170 working. Harpercollins Publishers, 2012. It turned into a confrontation with the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in which the miners' union was defeated. of the other candidates claimed that they were given very little time to prepare. Scargill never balloted NUM members for a strike; this was seen as an erosion of democracy within the union, but the role of ballots in decision-making had been made very unclear after previous leader, Joe Gormley, had ignored two ballots over wage reforms, and his decisions had been upheld after appeals to court were made. Wilsher, Peter, Donald Macintyre, and Michael CE Jones, eds. Arrow, 1994. That's what I believe". Harpercollins Publishers, 2012. [21] Ridley, Nicholas. [34] Scargill accepted Lightman's statement that many of his actions suffered from a lack of professional advice, which he was unwilling to be bound by. 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. [53] Following Margaret Thatcher's death in April 2013, ITN made Scargill several offers for a five-minute interview, with the final offer reaching 16,000, but Scargill refused all the offers and did not speak to any media organisation. After looking at the evidence, I believe that the Marxist view is more valid than the Mainstream media view in the fact that it is clear that Thatcher and her government went above and beyond in order to bring down Scargill and the miners. Therefore, government preparations are more important than other factors, such as Arthur Scargills leadership and support for the strike, in the failure of the miners strike. Unlike the strikes in the 1970s, the later strike ended with the miners' defeat and the Thatcher government was able to consolidate its fiscally conservative programme. Accessed October 10, 2018. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3815426/. Page 342. He was a destructive force, in the Labour Party, and in the NUM. Free resources to assist you with your university studies! Page 316, [3] Harris, Robert. How the Miners Strike Could Have Won. Socialist Worker (Britain). 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. This is given credence by striking miner, Arthur Wakefield; This time the police go berserk and the Riot Squad charge up the field with the Calvary they turn to where we are standing peacefully picketing and start hitting whoever they come across[34]. A former Labour Party member, Scargill is now leader of the Socialist Labour Party (SLP), founded by him in 1996. However, many people argue that there was a lot of support for the strike so therefore it couldnt have been such an important factor in its failure in 1985. Milne, Seumas. " Margaret Thatcher began a media campaign in order to win over the public and demonise the miners. In fact, other factors such as the governments intense preparations came into play. 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. The secretary at this time was a very good friend of mine called Jimmy Reid, and we're still close friends. In the 1997 general election, he ran against Alan Howarth, a defector from the Conservative Party to Labour, who had been given the safe seat of Newport East to contest. Essay Writing Service. [57] Scargill supported the 2022 United Kingdom railway strike, joining an RMT picket line in Wakefield on 21 June 2022. Arthur Scargill: We Could Surrender or Stand and Fight. The Guardian. ARTHUR SCARGILL AND PEGGY KAHN - "THE MYTH OF WORKERS' CONTROL" - 1st . To export a reference to this article please select a referencing stye below: If you are the original writer of this essay and no longer wish to have your work published on UKEssays.com then please: Our academic writing and marking services can help you! Staff members suddenly taken ill, or with long-standing medical appointments, require his personal consent to be absent from the office. Page 317. You've been found out. If this doesn't work, you may need to edit your .htaccess file directly. [54] He gave a rare television interview to ITV News at that time. 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. Atvery lease Mr Scargill was a leader of man and lead them unlike our current prime minister who couldn't lead a pack of sheep out of a field even though he resemble one. He did not take the Eleven-Plus exam and went to Worsbrough Dale School (now called the Elmhirst School). He was not addressed or greeted from the platform, though as Honorary Life President of the NUM it might be expected, as a courtesy if nothing else, that his presence would be acknowledged. [43] Marr, Andrew. A debate on workers' control. He lost on both occasions, winning 2.4% of the vote in Hartlepool at the 2001 general election. Page 342. By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions. //