Excuse my ignorance. I was born and bred in west yourkshire and only moved to Barnsley in the 90s so missed most of the miners strike etc. How culpable was Scargill ? Is it correct that no ballot was undertaken, and if so, there is a good chance the strike wouldnt have happened ? If the govt hadnt fought back would it have opened the gateway for other mass strikes by the unions, criplling the economy? It seems that Scargill was held to be a hero for the working man, but were the miners just cannon fodder for his mass ego trip? I am certainly not a supporter of Thatcher, but also never have been of Scargill. But Scargill seems to escape most of the blame. But i must admit I have got most of my opinions over the years from the probably biased media.
The Govt didn't fight back as it struck the first blow, by announcing closure of pits. There was a ballot, Scargill was the NUM president so he was always going to be lambasted by the Tory controlled media (mistakes were made) Miners or any striking workman/woman are always at the forefront of Industrial action that's how it is. Industrial action and particularly strike action is a last resort when other avenues of possible settlement have been exhausted.
Thanks Didnt know whether or not there was a ballot - heard half an interview with a tory MP on RS this morning who suggested the ballot wasnt done right. Wasnt fully aware of the reasoning behind the strike So is Scargill still considered to be a hero, or just someone with his own personal agenda ?
1) If i remember right the ballot he kept quoting had been held a couple of years previously and no up to date mandate had been sought, no doubt i will be corrected if i'm wrong. 2) why would any sane person working in an energy producing industry call a strike just as spring was approaching. 3) as the strike was progressing thru the year scargill's 1st objective was to keep his men on strike til xmas so he could say "my" men are backing me and then his objective was to keep them on strike thru the year barrier. In subsequent years was has been a far reaching consequence of thatcher was the spawning of politicians such as blair and browne etc who did nothing at all to reverse the destruction caused by thatcher and scargill
I personally didn't think he was a hero, he was however, correct about a pit closure programe that Thatcher et al denied ever existed. I can only recommend you get some reading done on the subject mate if you're really interested. Around these parts you're only likely to find victims of Thatcher's policies and very few beneficiaries.
I was at my NUM branch meeting (Houghton Main) when we first came out and after our Branch Delegate (Terry Patchett, later to become an MP) gave his report on the Yorkshire area NUM meeting, he was asked what Scargill had to say. His message was to"Hold on tight boys, don't jump the gun, go back to work" Always remember one guy who said "You mean to tell us Scargill doesn't want us on strike that's a first"
scargill wasn't at the Yorkshire area meeting when we first came out on strike.I was there,outside the num offices.Our pit cortonwood had been earmarked for closure and we went for support from area,it was jack taylor and peter heathfield who we saw,who in turn had a meeting with the area branch delegates,i can assure you scargill wasn't there.Whatever went off throughout the strike regarding scargill,he did not call it.
Never said he was there mate, why would he, he was National President? Just saying what went off at our meeting when Terry Patchett was asked what Scargill had to say. Just saying like you have just done that Scargill didn't call the strike. It was the Outrage from the announcement of CortonWood closure that sparked it all off. As no doubt Thatcher would have wished.
exactly, scargill has become the tory scapegoat,,,I bet thatcher and the rest of them couldn't believe their luck when the working class people of this country blamed scargill for the pit closures the tories shut them,not scargill
1,the ballot had included the mandate to call a strike if a colliery was announced to be closed on grounds other than exhaustion and without a review procedure,Cortonwood was the first pit to be closed in this way. 2,the pit was given 5 weeks to close on march 2nd 1984,what were we supposed to do,wait till the following December to go on strike 3,you may have a point about getting through the one year barrier,,but nobody envisaged being on strike for a year in march 1984 and we wouldn't have been had the scabby gets down notts come out on strike. i'll agree with you about blair and brown,they did nothing to reverse thatchers destruction,but neither will this lot who's in power now.
Wasn't cortonwood being closed down without going through the review procedure at the time? Had been agreed by government and unions - government bypassed this and went straight to closure so waving the red rag at the bull. Unions knew it was coming - they'd been stock piling coal for ages. My abiding memory if the strike was driving to Cleethorpes to be met by at least 40 coal wagons and the same number of police transport vans full of police. Coppers made a fortune out of the strike!!!
Start here , direct from the lair of the witch herself! Look at the Ridley Plan document (link below) to get a good background of the Government's thinking about dealing with state industries. Skip to pages 26-28 - the confidential annex - to see what their gameplan was; namely build up coal stocks, non-union transport, imports at docks, cutting money to the strikers and employ strike busting cops, sorry, bobbies on bicycles to deter violent picketing. Remember this was enacted in advance of the 84/85 Strike not dreamt up after the dispute started. http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/FABEA1F4BFA64CB398DFA20D8B8B6C98.pdf
Well one things certain del they(the Tories)certainty learned a lesson with the working classes that giving them scapegoats eg Scargill, unemployed, disabled etc that they will turn on them and leave the Tories to get on wit ruining the country
We should bookmark this thread. It's a local history lesson and a social document for all of us, straight from the mouths of the lads that mattered then and now. With thanks and respect to all contributors.
