Miners Strike 1984

It was a very turbulent time. The killing of David Wilkie always stands out in my mind. No idea why that one in particular.

And then you had Arthur Scargill.

Like all heads of trade unions he started off with a small house and a big trade union and ended up with a big house (paid for by stealing donations from Libya and Russia to the striking miners) and a small trade union.

Never, ever trust a socialist.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Scargill

No she didn't, she destroyed towns, communities and families, what she did was horrendous.

Thatchers right hand man was norman Tebbit

His solution to self improvement was to "Get on your bike", well, because that's what Tebbit's dad did!

Pr|ck

She had a years reserve of coal to fuel the nation built up before she took them on. So the strikes were never going to work anyway. Would never lead to shortages. The workers and unions would eventually run out of money. It was a very deliberate, surgical and ruthless take-down.

There are a good few British people who agree.

Very good series. Thatcher was a vicious woman who carried out class warfare on the miners. But the NUM was terribly led by Scargill who was more interested in fighting a political battle with the Conservatives than in working for his members

Wasn't exactly a surgical strike was it? - a typical cowardly IRA action that put the lives of many innocents at risk.

The miners' strike wasn't just about jobs it was about whole communities that were built around the pits - the pits provided the jobs (and the jobs supported the shops and pubs), and the National Coal Board provided the houses. Visit these communities now - once proud (but rough) places, they are desolate.

Arthur Scargill knew what was coming, but why he played his hand the way he did - when he would have had a lot of support - is beyond me. West Yorkshire/South Yorkshire/Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire/Leicestershire/Lancashire constabularies (in whose force areas the strikes took place) would have had many officers who were sympathetic to the miners, which is why officers were bussed in from areas outside mining communities (such as the Metropolitan Police, which unlike other constabularies was not then under local control but under the control of the Home Office).

The IRA bombed the Grand Hotel in Brighton, October 1984. Morrissey subsequently praised the bombers.

Also worth a listen - https://www.rte.ie/culture/2023/0818/1399362-how-the-smiths-irish-tour-turned-incendiary-documentary-on-one/

She was right to a point, but went too far.

I don't think miners were treated that badly, they were well paid in comparisin to myseld anyway. Friends that left school in the seventies were on five times what I was paid for full time work.

The miners were seen as a threat when Heath went to the country. There was a three day week because of the energy crisis and the miners saw their opportunity so along came the three day working week and Heath went to the country rather than submit to blackmail from the miners unions.

The great British public don't like discomfort and didn't like the cut in pay either, so they ousted Heath and put in Laboutr who paid up and ended the strike.

That was the worst move the voters would make until Brexit.

Some unions misused their power and Maggie waded in. Her remedy was well over the top, she hated unions and what the miners did.

The UK is still paying a heavy price for Maggies approach.

Including a lot of pensioners

She and her government used the money from council house purchases to fund tax cuts for the wealthy. The money wasn’t reinvested in more housing or social programs.

North Sea oil money was squandered in the same way. In Norway, a sovereign wealth fund was created to manage their oil money for the future generations. Norway was as poor as Ireland until the 60’s and look at it now.

She was no hero. The state purposely stockpiled coal for years after the previous strike when Ted Heath had to relent to the miners of face bankrupting the Country.

They knew Scargill would never give in either. It was always going to be a brutal battle.

fighting a political battle was the only way he could fight for the workers.

he was up against a woman who would have gone to no lengths to put down the workers.

Keeping coal mines open today would also be an outrage when imported coal would be cheaper and less pollutant to the Uk countryside.

Read the thread :)

when the conservatives announced a new coal mine, all those Labour people mourning the pit closures then were outraged about the impact on climate change.

https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/07/uk-first-new-coalmine-for-30-years-gets-go-ahead-in-cumbria