the myth of workers' control arthur scargill
I've always said that if Arthur can no longer control the NUM, he'll try and destroy it. This was seen as violent and was deemed illegal. These days he only gets to speak at the crankiest of Stalinist events. 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. Another important factor in the failure of the miners strike is the amount of support that it had. 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. National Archives: Margaret Thatcher Wanted to Crush Power of Trade Unions.. "Scargill" redirects here. London, 1984. 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. However, the people that argue this are clear Thatcherites such as Shirley Letwin, John Campbell and even Thatcher herself who blamed Scargill for the violence at the picket line mass pickets led by Arthur Scargill forced the closure of the Saltley Coke Depot in Birmingham[44] contradicting this, Seumas Milne who takes a clear Marxist view that the standard fairy tale, still routinely recycled by media and politicians alike, has it that Scargill called the action in spring in a classic example of his poor generalship and tactical sense[45]. 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.. Harpercollins Publishers, 2012. A dialogue box may appear asking you about encoding. 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. London: Fontana, 1992. 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. Amazingly the electorate resent being told they're either racist or stupid or both, if the remain campaign had been more mature in it's approach, almost certainly a different decision would have been reached. Accessed October 11, 2018. Campbell, Adrian, and Malcolm Warner. ." It is a world of despair, of ashes, and coldness, and darkness, and the setting acts as a . 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. Assess the view that the main reason for the failure of the miners strike in 1984 was the leadership of Arthur Scargill. 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. Margaret Thatcher began a media campaign in order to win over the public and demonise the miners. 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. So that was my initial introduction into socialism and into political militancy. 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. 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. 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. 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. Woods, Alan. However, we have to be careful when taking Nicholas Ridleys account at face value as he was a known Thatcherite and also came up with the Ridley Plan that outlined how to deal and prepare for a potential strike; Perhaps my confidential annexe had been worthwhile after all. 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. 100 0 _ a Arthur Scargill c British trade unionist (born 1938) 100 1 _ a Scargill, Arthur d (1938- ). 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. Arthur Scargill is a British trade unionist who was the president of the National Union of Mineworkers. As for the EEC/EU, his anti- stance was in keeping with Labour Party Policy. Many people also argue that the police werent as brutal as some other accounts made them out to be and that they were just doing their jobs in maintaining law and order. In any case, the will of the people has decided the UK will leave, we have even had a General Election over the matter. [29] Thatcher, Margaret. London: Verso, 2014. 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. "It's so hypocritical it's unreal," he said. 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. 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]. //