Re-writing the miners strike
by Dusty Miller, former NUM lay secretary Kellingley Colliery, Yorkshire
Marching to the Fault Line by Francis Beckett and David Hencke (published by Constable and Robinson)
The recent cascade of media profiles, reconstructions and post-mortems
clearly demonstrate that 1984-85 miner’s strike was a seismic event that
still resonates because the outcome radically altered industrial relations
for the generation that followed.
“No one under the 40”, claim the authors, “knows what it was like to
live in a country where unions are a force in the land”.
In reviewing this book I was aware of the fact that I come from five
generations of miners and was active in the 84-85 dispute from day one,
as well as in the miner’s victories of 1972 and 1974. A few chapters
in I realised that any claim to objectivity would have to be dropped
for self-confessed subjective honesty.
One reason for this is that the authors seem eager to perpetuate the
simple-minded myth that the strike was doomed from the start. The origin
of ‘inevitable defeat’ the authors claim, stems largely from the intransigent
and uncompromising stance of the then NUM President, Arthur Scargill.
They assert that a negotiated that had already shown itself intent on
smashing the NUM piecemeal.
There is a paradox in the argument of the book therefore. The authors
outline the increasing desperation of government officials as coal stocks
fall, but they simultaneously maintain that defeat always loomed.
Despite this, the book does reveal some interesting documentary details
and exposes some odd collaborations.
In short, it is a bit a ‘Curate’s
egg’.
The authors also provide clear evidence of the toxic bias of the media
at the time. They attempt to exonerate the BBC of course, but the claim
that the BBC attempted to be ‘fair’ can be contradicted on the basis
of the manipulative editing of the confrontation at Orgreave. This, the
BBC themselves now admit, was a ‘mistake’.
The book is also unequivocal on the brutality that ensued when the police
were directed to descend on mining villages in the manner of Lorca’s
description of Franco’s Civil Guard, ‘like a whirlwind of scissors’.
The authors had access to previously unpublished diaries, documents,
minutes, and the recorded opinions of high-ranking civil servants and
on the evidence of these sources the book does a remarkable job of presenting
the almost inhuman mania that underpinned the government’s plan to destroy
mining communities and turn productive villages and towns into wastelands.
This part of the book exposes the grotesque motives that lie behind smooth
bureaucratic phrases and brings to mind Dylan Thomas’ line, “The hand
that signed the paper felled a city”. The previously obscured role in
the dispute, especially its legal aspect, of a few individuals who were
subsequently part of the Blair coterie must make for very uncomfortable
reading for any Labour Party supporter.
The book is gracious, as liberals tend to be these days, in acknowledging
the courage and resilience of the miners and the women’s action groups,
but it makes the crude assumption that the union consisted of a pyramid
structure with the national leaders at the top, the pickets at the bottom,
and nothing in between. This ignores the vital and dedicated work of
the hundreds of local branch and area officials without whom the strike
would have quickly fragmented and collapsed.
The contours of the book as whole suggest that it is haunted by a missing
chapter. This must be the expected but non-existent interview with Arthur
Scargill and his expected reply to the various contentions still surrounding
the dispute.
The interview was ‘refused’ and in all probability this refusal contributes
to the vexed and often belligerent tone adopted towards Scargill. The
non-cooperation of Scargill also means that one or two individuals are
lined up as ‘spokes people’ for him and this gives the odd impression
of a series of ventriloquisms that brings little of real substance to
the book.
The authors make much of the ‘painful dilemmas’ of various Labour and
TU leaders, particularly Neil Kinnock who they claim, was placed in an
invidious position by the absence of a national ballot. Many would argue
that Kinnock’s ‘dilemma’ With coal stocks dwindling and government financing
of the dispute spiralling uncontrollably, the NUM would have then been
in a position to secure a concrete and advantageous settlement, in other
words, victory.
But the treacherous ‘deal’ of the kind that the NACODS. leaders ‘accepted’
rendered this alternative scenario impossible. As often happens, it turned
to ashes in their mouths - closed pits need no safety officials and their
members jobs disappeared anyway.
Is this a political and historical analysis of the strike? No. Its main
objective is not analysis but a typically liberal rhetoric of sympathy,
praise and blame-sympathy for the miners and their families, praise for
TU and Labour leaders intent on compromise and even betrayal, and blame
directed at Scargill.
Is it a worthwhile addition to the bookshelf of a socialist? Yes, just. The useful sections are the exposé style insights that result from the use of previously unpublished documents and statements surrounding still obscure incidents in the dispute, but not at nearly twenty quid, I would wait for the paperback.