Arthur Scargill....

It would be wrong to write of Margaret Thatcher and the Miners strike in earlier posts without at least some reference to the politician and Marxist trade unionist Arthur Scargill... in my opinion, the true enemy of the Unions and the miners....

President of the National Union of Miners, from 1982 to 2002 he was accorded near hero worship.  He played a leading role in bringing down Sir Edward Heath's Tory Government in 1974 and "took on" the Thatcher Government in the 1980's, leading the miners through a year long strike, bringing about their own downfall and the ending of the power of the unions, hopefully forever.

Much is written and told about the miner's strike and always the blame is laid squarely at Maggie's feet.  She destroyed them, she didn't give in to bullying, whatever way you look at it, she got the blame, but IMHO, the choice was with the miners or more specifically, the choice was Scargill's!

There was no ballot, Scargill unilaterally decided the miner's were on strike, so much for democracy.  He called the strike in the Summer, hardly an intelligent strategy.  He personally was in touch with the Soviet Union, securing funds and making clear his communist leanings, and this at a time when the Iron Curtain was at full strength, a borderline traitor by my measures.

We all know that some animals are more equal than others and Scargill was always a fat cat.  While the miners struggled to make ends meet, he continued to pick up his pay chit as their so called leader.  He never suffered any personal hardship, in fact it is alleged that during the strike, he was even granted a loan to buy a nice country house in Barnsley!  Something the striking miners could only dream of.

The violence associated with the strikes was never publicly condemned by Scargill. 

After the strikes were over, Scargill joined forces with another famous Leftie of the era, Tony Benn, to [successfully] campaign against the murder convictions of Russel Shankland and Dean Hancock.  The two murdered an innocent taxi driver, David Wilkie by dropping a concrete block, from a bridge, onto his car and what was his crime?  Driving a man, David Williams, to work... Wilkie, a brave man taking the same route for the tenth time in an atmosphere so volatile, he required a police escort.  David Wilkie, who died instantly, left behind a 2 year old daughter and his pregnant fiancee who gave birth 6 weeks later.  Scargill must be very proud that his campaigning had the convictions downgraded to manslaughter and both men released from prison in November 1989.

Make up your own mind whether or not you consider that murder or manslaughter, I know what I think!

And post his NUM presidency?  Well I can't help but think his true colours have come to the fore.  Asked if they support him these days?  I think you will find the NUM prefer to disassociate themselves from his greed and self aggrendisement, his conviction that he is entitled to continue to have his £34,000 annual London rent paid for by the NUM for the rest of his life [oh and also for a widow who might survive him]!  A rent that the NUM have been paying for years, on Scargill's personal instructions and without the knowledge of the NUM members and indeed a number of senior NUM officials.  To quote the current general secretary, Chris Kitchen.... "I would say it's time to walk away, Mr Scargill. You've been found out. The NUM is not your personal bank account and never will be again."

You see, I cannot stand hypocrisy, I despise people such as Arthur Scargill, he is a sad old man who always sought to lay the blame at somebody else's door for everything wrong with his life.....Arthur Scargill destroyed many lives with his attitude and arrogance, his call to arms without a ballot, his enforced strike and the subsequent violence that came about as a result.....

..... And his response when he received a text telling him "Thatcher's dead"?  "SCARGILL ALIVE"... not even an ounce of decency or respect for an old adversary... she didn't bring him down - he can take, and has earned, the credit entirely as his own!

To my way of thinking, there were many good things that came from this era.  Empowering the workforce and ridding them of overly powerful trade unions was necessary for the future evolution of the nation and is possibly one of the Thatcher Government's biggest contributions.  Banning the "closed shop", encouraging [Government funded] secret ballots and the banning of secondary picketing all helped to stop the bully mentality of the unions.  The number of days lost due to strikes fell from 29.5 million in 1979 to just 278,000 in 1984.  Additional measures introduced later took the obligation off employers to automatically collect union fees from employees further helped to remove the all powerful unions ability to dictate policy.  The commercial world could not have survived without this overhaul.  That said, unions have a value, the commercial world cannot always be trusted but it is all about balance!

Margaret Thatcher owed Scargill a great debt, without his bloody mindedness, his hatred and pig-headed nature, she could never have so effectively tempered trade union power.  Had she paid him, she couldn't have hoped for more so as I say, the true enemy of the Union's and the miners was Arthur Scargill himself!  Thanks Arthur... your achievements stand here recognised for all time!