He can either cower down and take his beating, or he can stand and fight, and hope to maybe land a few punches. [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. It was a major political victory for Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party. The doors to Parliament open to show Scargill's wife and daughter. The union now has just under 1,800 members, who work at a small handful of deep pits and open-cast mines, but its financial holdings are said to total around 20m, which Scargill's supporters say lies at the heart of their current battles. That house sits on the edge of Worsbrough, close to the pit village where Scargill was born. In 1957, he attended the world youth festival held at Moscow. Terms of use | So I sent an email, and the 7,000 was rejected. It turned into a confrontation with the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in which the miners' union was defeated. Who is Arthur Scargill? Downstairs in the NUM's waiting room there are flyers and posters advertising other events, complete with long lists of invited speakers. This was the verdict of the rather strange former Bake Off star Ruby Tandoh on Paul Hollywoods decision to go with the show when it moves from the BBC1 to C4. "But we've had to move to new premises. The strike ended on 3 March 1985 following an NUM vote to return to work. Although he never worked at Barrow Colliery in his home village, he was involved in the politics of the branch, where the membership was much more left-wing than in the conservative Woolley Colliery. ", Gildart, Keith. The council chamber at the Barnsley HQ of theNational Union of Mineworkers is a jaw-dropping sight: a huge, oak-panelled room, draped with banners that were once kept at collieries across Yorkshire and beyond. One he enjoys showing the world: The great trade unionist, the great Socialist, the great fighter against the evils of capitalism, the man who would walk 1,000 miles across broken glass to stop the sell-off of council properties. Born In: Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, UK, education: The Elmhirst School (1953), University of Leeds, See the events in life of Arthur Scargill in Chronological Order, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pit_Closure_Rally_(6008227201).jpg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQjEopv9ZgQ. Those are great saving stories. Labours Lord Gilbert hailed Lady Thatchers good fortune in facing Mr Scargill. I receive no reply. Darlington, "There is no alternative: Exploring the options in the 1984-5 miners' strike. One of his closest associates is Ken Capstick, 73, who lives 20 minutes' drive from Barnsley in a quiet corner of Wakefield. They need this like a hole in the head.. I received one almost instantly saying Scargill alive! and hes very much alive. Yet that has not stopped the ardent communist exploiting one of her flagship policies. Arthur Scargill acquired a lease on the flat around 1982, when he became president of the NUM, as the the union was then based in London, though Scargill soon moved its headquarters to Sheffield . In 1990, Scargill was accused in a series of Daily Mirror articles of mishandling money donated for the striking miners during the 19841985 strike, with many of the sources being those who had previously worked with him in the NUM such as Kim Howells, Jim Parker and Roger Windsor. And then there is the real Arthur Scargill. The flat on the 25th floor had previously been rented to him as a perk of his job as leader of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). A motion from the Kent area was passed by the NUM conference to move the head office to a coalfield. I'm not interested in any woman in the who le world.. SCARGILL LEAVES HIS WIFE AFTER 37 YEARS; My marriage is over he tells pals. So our conscience is clear. Former miners' leader Arthur Scargill loses his High Court fight to have the NUM continue to meet the costs of his London flat for his lifetime. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian, Chris Kitchen, general secretary of the NUM, at the union's headquarters in Barnsley. 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. This eventually led to the strike of 1984, when the government announced that they intend to close 20 coal mines. He also became known in the 1972 strike, where he was the spokesman for the Yorkshire miners. But my father never forced me to be involved in politics at all.[5]. Some historians have provided interpretations and explanations of the defeat. I think if it had been made public before then there'd have been a huge outcry. He reaches for his phone and shows me what he received. The Yorkshire native is the son of a miner, who. Arthur Scargill's name is on the list of union officials that adorns one wall, but that is it: among the banners, memorabilia and countless images of the strike, he is nowhere to be seen. He is best known for leading the UK miners' strike (198485), a major event in the history of the British labour movement. [32] The documentary suggests that the claims against Scargill were untrue. He contested twice, in the 1997 general election, as well as the 2001 general election. [43] In February 2012, Scargill won 13,000 in a court action against the NUM, primarily for car expenses, and for the earlier temporary denial of membership. ", There follows the most illustrative of anecdotes. Its the next paragraph I found most interesting. Some of the cash was provided by his daughter Dr Margaret Scargill. I cannot find parliamentary language to use to describe Arthur Scargill.. The 84-year-old British politician has done well thus far! His father was also a loyal member of the Communist Party. In 2012, the flat was valued at 1,500,000, and had 24/7 access to concierge services. Of all the people I can think of Scargill, is the least deserving of tenants. Hero of the working classes, Arthur Scargill, has joined the Conservative Party after they allowed the opening of a new coal mine in Cumbria. "The way I would put that is this," he says. Hair salon in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester Hairess, Driving school in Worcester Jules Control. [9] When Bullough (unwell at the time) attempted to rule Scargill as "out of order", he was voted out by the area's delegates and a strike was declared across Yorkshire on the issue. [60][61], London Assembly elections (entire London city), "Scargill" redirects here. "Five years ago, when I first started, if we got 30 or 40, we thought we'd got a lot," she says. Here as elsewhere in post-industrial Yorkshire, the surrounding landscape attests to what arrived instead. He keeps a home close to the pit village where he was born, and is said to be close to Nell Myers, the American-born woman who was the NUM's national press officer during the strike, and continues to assist Scargill in his political and media dealings. he council chamber at the Barnsley HQ of theNational Union of Mineworkers is a jaw-dropping sight: a huge, oak-panelled room, draped with banners that were once kept at collieries across Yorkshire and beyond. We stood and fought against enormous odds, and not just for the pits for our way of life. offers Cook. If BA is ever to going to boast that its the Worlds Favourite Airline again it will have to hire staff who dont look at passengers as getting in the way of their decent nights sleep. [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. "Well, you've knocked on my door," he says. By Tom Whitehead and Tomwhitehead. He arrived at the colliery to find he could not get into his office because someone had super-glued the door shut. So that was my initial introduction into socialism and into political militancy. When remembering this, she brims with the same rage she must have felt at the time. If you were on the minimum wage it would take 100 years to earn the 1,500,000 you needed to buy that flat. Along with Tony Benn, veteran left-wing MP from the Labour Party, he campaigned to free the two strikers Russell Shankland and Dean Hancock, who were convicted of killing a taxi driver named David Wilkie. The two men had been convicted of the murder of David Wilkie, a taxi driver, by throwing a block of concrete from a bridge onto his car. Do send more to [email protected]. He called for the cotton mills, steel plants and mines to be re-opened and that under EU rules, the government had not been able to subsidise the coal mines. What would have become of our democracy had they succeeded?. The militant former leader of the National Union of Mineworkers was the Tory prime ministers most bitter enemy during the miners' strike of 1984 but has not commented publicly on her demise. I think we should be told. ARE our chief constables going quite potty? "Goodbye to all that? And did we win that? We are no longer accepting comments on this article. A lot of other people on the National Executive at that time went on and became very respectable Labour MPs in Parliament. ", She then shoots me a look. We did soup kitchens. "They asked me to relay that to him. Cabinet papers released earlier this year proved that when, at the start of the strike, Scargill claimed that there were secret plans to shut around 70 pits in the face of endless official denials, he was unquestionably correct. "I've never, ever said owt. "I don't know what a deal would have been," he says. Scargill had condemned the killing at the time. [9] He had challenged Sam Bullough, the President of the Yorkshire area NUM, to act on the working hours of surface workers, given that the union's conference had passed a resolution that their hours be shortened the previous year. Arthur Scargill is a Capricorn and was born in The Year of the Tiger Life. Arthur had told me that under no circumstances was he going to give an interview. His time at the top of the union saw not just the strike and his union's defeat, but the rapid decline of the British coal industry not least in the early 1990s, when the-then trade minister Michael Heseltine announced that 31 ofthe UK's remaining 50 deep collieries were to shut. You've been found out. [53] He was not attending any of the events to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the 1984 strike at the NUM. She queried it and as a loyalty bonus they reduced to 655. Feedback | "I was either on a picket line, or in a soup kitchen. Among those matters, he says, is Scargill's attempt to use Right to Buy,and the NUM's claim that Scargill somehow managed to buy his current house when he was not being paid by the union. Scargill won widespread applause for his response to the disaster at Lofthouse Colliery in Outwood, West Yorkshire, at which he accompanied the rescue teams underground and was on site for six days with the relatives of the seven deceased. Scargill was born in Worsbrough Dale near Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire. A lot of conflict followed between the government and Scargill`s union. Arthur Scargill's net worth estimate is $100,000 - $1M. And I got a reply." He is 84 years old and is a Capricorn. 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. ', Mr Scargill replied simply: Scargill Alive!. Advertisement Further Reading on Arthur Scargill The best work on Scargill was Michael Crick, Scargill and the Miners (1985). Either they won or we did.". Scargill led the union in the 19841985 miners' strike. The Enemy Within", Verso 2014. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. On the appointment of Ian MacGregor as head of the NCB in 1983, Scargill stated, "The policies of this government are clear to destroy the coal industry and the NUM". [18], Miners were split between those who supported the strike and those who opposed it (see Union of Democratic Mineworkers). Mention of him draws a quick response. Campbell, Adrian, and Malcolm Warner. They're at it again! [53], Scargill still occasionally gives interviews and makes appearances. There's more to this new Arthur Scargill chic than mere fashion nostalgia. Princess of Wales recycles 1,600 orange Gabriella Hearst top and skirt and 349 Adorable moment the Princess of Wales and a little girl dressed as Snow White play with some sand during a No rest for Anne! Arthur Scargill celebrated that he had outlived his old foe Lady Thatcher when he heard of her death, it was revealed last night. Well, he is, indispatches [laughs].". In 1961, Scargill was elected a member of the Woolley NUM Branch Committee. [3] The couple had a daughter together, Margaret Scargill, in 1962 who is now a practicing GP. McIlroy, J. He has contested two parliamentary elections. He gained fame for using the tactic to win the Battle of Saltley Gate in 1972, and made it his main tactical device in the 1984 strike. The fight was a political one, as well. He felt the need to fight for changes in the capitalist society, and vowed that he would work towards making the world more equitable. Scargill, the former militant leader of. "[46] Kitchen says that Scargill "has had 30 years of decent living out of the union, and he's got a pension that's second to none. [31] There was much criticism of Scargill within the NUM from the Welsh and Scottish areas, who briefly considered splitting from the NUM. ", ITN, he claims, offered Scargill 7,000 for a five-minute interview. Harper married Arthur Scargill, who was also an elected member of the Trade Union branch committee at Woolley Colliery, at Gawber Parish Church on 16 September 1961. Shankland's and Hancock's life sentences for murder were reduced to eight years for manslaughter on appeal. "Destroy everything, and create a 'me-me-me' class. [8], Scargill was a leader of the unofficial strike in 1969, which began in Yorkshire and spread across the country. But his brain is as active as ever. He was the representative of the Yorkshire miners. All rights reserved. Online calculator reveals how inflation-busting 14.4% hike will Aldi and Lidl shoppers face highest inflation hikes: Cost of basic groceries rise by more than 20% at the Is inflation FINALLY on the way down? They're all talking about the bedroom tax, and not being able to afford a good meal." Does that include him? Since 2010, Scargill has been battling its current leadership, on issues pertaining to Scargill himself, and matters relating to both the people now in charge of the union, and a small handful of miners who have tried to dislodge them. [54] He gave a rare television interview to ITV News at that time. Im massively in favour of the council sales and can well remember a friends father buying then selling his council house in Bromley, South East London, and having a fabulous retirement in Poole on the money. Num 's waiting room there are flyers and posters advertising other events, complete long... Darlington, `` there is no alternative: Exploring the options in the office! 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