",confirmDelete: "Are you sure you want to delete this? 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. Thatcher deliberately chose to make the miners who continued to work look like heroes and make the striking miners look like the public enemy. This article about a political figure is a stub. 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. "[28] This was in the Prime Minister's rejection of Labour calls for an apology for government actions during the 19841985 miners' strike. [19] The NUM had previously held three ballots on a national strike, all of which rejected the proposal: 55% voted against in January 1982, and 61% voted against in both October 1982 and March 1983.[20]. 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. [4] He joined the Young Communist League in 1955, becoming its Yorkshire District Chair in 1956 and shortly after a member of its National Executive Committee. That is what we need to remember these days when we think of Scargill. A former Labour Party member, Scargill is now leader of the Socialist Labour Party (SLP), founded by him in 1996. [35] Negotiations between Scargill and the NUM took place in France. This view is supported to some extent by Labour minister Tony Benn, one of Thatchers fiercest critics, and historian, Seumas Milne who argued that the governments extensive preparations and actions during the strike led to its failure in 1984. Strike: When Britain Went to War. In Defence of Marxism. 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. You can try renaming that file to .htaccess-backup and refreshing the site to see if that resolves the issue. 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. In pictures: Arthur Scargill's legacy Mr Scargill's election as NUM president in 1981 had an electrifying effect on the union movement. Therefore, the overwhelming support for the strike could not be denied. A miner at the age of 18, he was a member (1955-62) of the Young Communist League before joining the Labour Party.In 1981, Scargill became president of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).His attempt to confront Margaret Thatcher's programme of pit closures and anti-union legislation led to a miner's strike (1984-85). : S.n., 1996. An article published in The Times in August 2015 stated that Scargill had spoken to the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union conference in June 2015, and that he was due to appear alongside Jeremy Corbyn at the Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign in September 2015. [38], Film director Ken Loach subsequently made "The Arthur Legend" as part of Channel 4's Dispatches series. A History of Modern Britain. "The strike wasn't just about Arthur Scargill or Margaret Thatcher, it was about a way of life. [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! 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. Harpercollins Publishers, 2012. Downing Street Years. Many people blame him for the failure of Miner's Strike due to his poor leadership skills and bad judgement. Brexit: Labour movement debate, not talk with Tories! Chris Kitchen said: "I would say it's time to walk away, Mr Scargill. The Labour Party was opposed to membership of the EU to begin with wasn't it, so what happened, are its current membership more enlightened. ",confirmEmpty: "Are you sure you want to empty your clipboard? Seumas Milne argues that the miners had sued the police for assault, wrongful arrest, malicious persecution and false imprisonment and then went on to describe the battle of Orgreaves as an 8,000 riot police staged medieval-style mounted charges of unprecedented ferocity[33]. But Rule 43 said that a national strike can only be called if there was a ballot. Change the settings back to the previous configuration (before you selected Default). //-->, Unions on the board : an experiment in industrial democracy, Batstone, Eric, 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. jQuery(function() { 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. RewriteBase / Page 342. (You may need to consult other articles and resources for that information.). "[44] However, in December 2012, Scargill lost a similar case concerning rent on his flat in the Barbican, London. Page 473. [29] Thatcher, Margaret. With Fay Hauser, Olivia Haller, Doris Morgado, Chrystee Pharris. Logger.logCoid("61c4e44a-8d58-45d2-8bc5-5fc2bd749aae"); Thatcher disregarded how much of an impact the WAPC would have on the strike as many of the striking ladies figured out that if they went out picketing then they would less likely be targeted by police. I was for the EU then, and was critical of this stance, but I I then came to the out view, albeit for different reasons.l, and was fully behind Brexit. 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. the myth of workers' control arthur scargill the myth of workers' control arthur scargill on October 1, 2021 on October 1, 2021 [38] Thatcher, Margaret. The coal stocks at power stations held out[20]. Page 341. //