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Arthur Scargill

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image:Scargill300.jpg right|frame|Arthur Scargill '''Arthur Scargill''' (born January 11, 1938) was the leader of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 1981 to 2000 and is presently (2006) the leader of the Socialist Labour Party (UK) Socialist Labour Party, a political party he founded in 1996. Scargill was born in Worsbrough Dale, just south of Barnsley, the son of Harold Scargill, a miner and a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. He became a Mining miner after leaving school, working at Woolley Colliery from 1953. He soon became a left-wing political activist, joining the Young Communist League from 1955-1962. He became a member of the UK Labour Party Labour Party 1962-1996. Then he became the leader of the Yorkshire miners union 1973-1981. In 1973 he was instrumental in organising the miners' strike which led to the fall of Edward Heath's Government in March 1974. Scargill became president of the NUM in 1981, with Mick McGahey as vice-president. An objective assessment of Scargill is arguably impossible, given his close association with one side of a very divisive conflict in British politics, the UK Miners' Strike (1984-1985) 1984-1985 miners' strike. His opponents would be likely to characterise him as a marginalised politician out of touch with popular politics, losing a long and ultimately futile miners strike, splitting the National Union of Miners and destroying the international competitiveness of deep mined coal. His supporters would be unlikely to accept any part of that assessment, other than the objective fact that the strike ended in defeat for the miners. A left-wing assessment would characterise the strike as necessary, the split in the National Union of Miners as being the fault of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers, the decline in the coal industry as being the result of a government whose priority was attacking trade unionism, and his unpopularity compared to more centrist left-wing politicians as being a result of his willingness to stick to principles even if they were unpopular. What does seem clear is that many of his predictions have come true. On the appointment of Ian MacGregor as head of the Coal Board in 1983, Scargill stated, "The policies of this government are clear - to destroy the coal industry and the NUM" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/28/newsid_2531000/2531033.stm]. This became something of a joke, as it seemed like a hysterical response. During the strike, Scargill constantly claimed that the government had a long term strategy to decimate the industry and lists of pits that it wanted to close each year; this was both denied by the government and dismissed by the public as paranoid. However, the government later admitted to possessing such a plan and, out of the 170 pits in 1984 Britain, only 15 were saved from the government's closure campaign, before privatisation in December 1994. He is also noted as a fiery and emotional orator with audiences sympathetic to his cause. Although he already had a high level of national prominance it peaked even further with the miners' conflicts with the Government during 1974. After the miners strike he was elected to lifetime Presidency of the NUM by an overwhelming national majority in a very controversial election where he gave any alternative candidates very little time to prepare. His stand both for the future of the mining industry and the communities dependent on it and against the policies of the Margaret Thatcher Thatcher Government led to his leadership of the UK Miners' Strike (1984-1985) 1984-1985 miners' strike. This ended in a shattering defeat for the miners and saw a split in the union (see also Union of Democratic Mineworkers). The strike is generally seen as a major defeat for the National Union of Miners. He founded the Socialist Labour Party (UK) Socialist Labour Party after criticizing what he saw as a lurch to the right by the Labour Party. His breakaway party has had little success in the polls. He himself has contested two parliamentary elections — in the United Kingdom general election, 1997 1997 general election against Alan Howarth, a defector from the Conservative Party (UK) Conservative Party to Labour who had been given a safe seat to contest, and in the United Kingdom general election, 2001 2001 general election, against Peter Mandelson in Hartlepool (constituency) Hartlepool. He lost both. Category:British trade unionists Scargill, Arthur Category:British communists Scargill, Arthur Category:1938 births Scargill, Arthur Category:Living people Scargill, Arthur Category:Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom Scargill, Arthur Category:Mining in the United Kingdom de:Arthur Scargill eo:Arthur SCARGILL

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