Arthur Scargill
Arthur Scargill (* 11. January 1938 in Worsbrough Dale , South Yorkshire ) from 1981 to 2002 head of the British trade union National Union of Mineworkers ( NUM ), founded in 1996, the Socialist Labor Party and is now its chairman. He was best known for the miners' strike in 1984/1985 and his relentless political opposition to Margaret Thatcher .
Scargill worked as a miner in the Woolley Colliery in West Yorkshire from 1953 after he went to school . In 1955 he began his organized political engagement as a member of the Young Communist League , inspired by his father, who was also a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain . In 1962, however, he resigned from this because he had distanced himself from his radical views and became a member of the Labor Party . From 1973 he was leader of the Yorkshire Miners Union , where he was, among other things, responsible for the organization of the miners' strike of 1973, which led to the overthrow of the Edward Heath government. In 1981 he was promoted to head of NUM . In 2010 he was expelled from the NUM as a full member, according to a BBC report.
Scargill is famous as an emotional and effective speaker. He achieved national prominence during the miners' strike in 1984/1985, which ended in a devastating defeat for the union. This then split. Scargill remained chairman of NUM , which had become powerless due to the almost complete disappearance of mining from Great Britain, until 2002 and was then honorary chairman.
In 1996, Scargill founded the Socialist Labor Party after the Labor Party under Tony Blair, in his opinion, was increasingly oriented to the right ( New Labor ), i.e. pursuing the policy of deregulation, privatization and a stronger emphasis on initiative instead of a strong welfare state and strong unions. The immediate cause was the abandonment of Clause IV of the party program, which determined that the party should strive to nationalize the means of production and companies. However, his party hardly achieved any success in elections. He himself ran twice unsuccessfully to elections in the British House of Commons : in the 1997 elections against Alan Howarth and in 2001 against Peter Mandelson in Hartlepool .
Controversial views
The Socialist Labor Party was initially intended by Scargill as a left alternative to the Labor Party (similar to the WASG in Germany), but it became a reservoir for Trotskyist , anarcho-syndicalist and also Stalinist groups. Scargill initially distanced himself from these ideas, but since 2001 he has again adopted radical views: He defended Soviet communism and the October Revolution , relativized Stalin's crimes and criticized Solidarność for destabilizing the essentially positive socialist system. The SLP remained an insignificant splinter party, as a left-wing split from Labor, the Respect - The Unity Coalition , founded in 2003, became more important.
Individual evidence
- ↑ National Union of Mineworkers Arthur Scargill expels BBC News online from August 25, 2010
- ^ Johann Hari : Comrades up in Arms New Statesman, June 10, 2002.
- ↑ Andy McSmith: Stalin apologists drink to the memory of Uncle Joe , Independent on Sunday, March 2, 2003
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Scargill, Arthur |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British trade unionist and founder of the Socialist Labor Party |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 11, 1938 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Worsbrough Dale , South Yorkshire |