Could Scargill have ever succeeded?

[mentalbunny]

I watched a pretty interesting program tonight on the miners' strike in 1984, and I was thinking, could Scargill have succeeded? I know he made a big mistake when he didn't have a national ballot, but if he had, would it have really changed things?

I don't know much on this, I was hoping someone more knowledgeable could help me out!

[monkeydust]

I missed that program today. However from what I've picked up around this subject I'd imagine that Scargill had little chance of any long term success. If only becaus Thatcher had more balls than any Prime Minister since Churchill and was never going to back down upon anything.

Anyway, hopefully someone else knows more about this.

[Saint-Just]

I think under a Labour government or perhaps a weaker Conservative government Scargill could have succeeded. The miners were very strong, they were defeated partly because Thatcher disliked them so much and would go far to defeat them.

In 1994 (I think) Scargill set up his own party, Socialist Labour Party. They had good support them, it was a splinter from the Labour Party and got the support of a number of MPs, but now the SLP is very weak.

Not having a national ballot was not a mistake was it? Thatcher made it illegal to hold a strike unless there was about 80% approval from a national ballot. I don't know what year that was in though.

[mentalbunny]

I found THIS (http://www.marxist.com/Europe/britain_strike_review.html).

[Kez]

I think the 2 main mistakes were for Scargil not to hold a ballot about strikers in Nottingham

Secondly his mistake was not putting in propaganda to oust the shit head officials who were right wing, Scargil didnt do enough to win the Notts workers over

That program as Comrade Woods says was a fuckin shambles. It was disgusting, and apparently channel 4 is "objective"(!)

What a sad day when we hope the BBC will do a more objective report...

1 particluar gem from the footage was when the miner hit that filthy motherless whore of a police officer with a snowball knocking his helmet off.
I was nearly in tears when the Welsh Miners had to go back.

Apparently Thatcher was buyying coal from communist Poland at the time, the irony

[mentalbunny]

Thatcher was a ****.

if they'd had the ballot then it would have been easier for Labour to support the miners, but really the ballot should have never been necessary, fucking tories, that law was just anal!

[Kez]

well, i think democracy is key to any revolutionary process, and if workers arent convinced for need of strike, how they would be convinced to revolt! hence the need to as lenin said to "patiently explain"

[toastedmonkey]

Its a bit late, but there is a program on BBC2 now, about the miners strike.

[mentalbunny]

The nearest marxist forum to me is planning on having a talk on the miners and how it related to the current situation of the trade unions. There is yet to be a date for it though. Anyway it's very important at the moment. And there's a trade union left conference in London soon. If you look on the SWP site I expect there'll be info.

[Invader Zim]

Originally posted by [email protected] 24 2004, 10:32 PM
I watched a pretty interesting program tonight on the miners' strike in 1984, and I was thinking, could Scargill have succeeded? I know he made a big mistake when he didn't have a national ballot, but if he had, would it have really changed things?

I don't know much on this, I was hoping someone more knowledgeable could help me out!
It was a good program which pulled no punches when talking of police brutality etc, but no I doubt the miners were ever going to win. People need to eat after all.

And I for one dont like Scargill, I doubt he ever starved with the minors, and I here he lives life with a fat pension of £100,000 a year. I think he betrayed the Minors by his complete and utter refusal to compromise, and then when he lost having achieved nothing, he took a big fat pension. I hate when leftists support him because he is a traitor of the worst kind.

[mentalbunny]

The Channel 4 one was good? I don't think so. And they seemed to be saying it was all about Scargill trying to force Britain to become marxist, which seems pretty inaccurate if you ask me. yes he probably had that agenda, but I think that there were plenty of valid reasons for the miners to srike, and to focus on the ideological battle was a bit short-sighted and tabloid-style if you ask me.