Liked the film. loathed the trivialisation of the 1984-1985 Miners' Strike.
In 1974 industrial action by the National Union of Mineworkers brought down the Conservative Government led by Edward Heath. No bad thing, really. From where I sit in the North East of England, in my working class house, any removal of a Conservative Administration is ipso facto, a good thing. One person did not forget it though and intended revenge. She was Minister for Education back then, Margaret Thatcher. Yes, Thatcher intended to curb the overpowerful trade unions, who believed and boasted they could bring down governments.
Successive labour administrations had increasing trouble with strikes and therefore in 1979 when Thatcher stood on an electoral platform of restraining Union power, she was elected. Generally, a lot of people supported her views.
She was in her second term of office in 1984 when she brought in American industrial specialists to review the Coal Mining industry in the UK. Pits were threatened with closure all around the country, and the NUM (National Union of Mineworkers) took action. A strike started.
Thatcher was not going to cave in like her predecessors had. At first, the striking, and picketing (standing by strikers at the entrance to a workplace and trying to prevent people entering) was peacable - usually police attendance was local boys who sympathised with the striking men, who were, after all, neighbours. So instead, non-local police were used to enforce new rules about demonstrations and picketing. Police from, say, London, would be brought in to maintain order in say, Northumberland. The police were paid astronomical rates of overtime, and, having no local loyalty, were highly provocative towards local strikers - showing bundles of cash, was a common thing.
As the strikes went on, there were scenes of dreadful rioting, and such - usually between those who were striking and those who had not gone on strike. Strikers traditionally call such men "Scabs". To complicate matters, the Unions themselves became schismatic, with certain areas split 50-50 between striking miners and those who "scabbed". Against this was set some disgraceful police brutality in suppressing demonstrations.
Thatcher won. She got what she wanted, and the industry was largely finished in 1992. That's a very potted version, btw.
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Part 1
Date: 2006-01-28 09:36 am (UTC)In 1974 industrial action by the National Union of Mineworkers brought down the Conservative Government led by Edward Heath. No bad thing, really. From where I sit in the North East of England, in my working class house, any removal of a Conservative Administration is ipso facto, a good thing. One person did not forget it though and intended revenge. She was Minister for Education back then, Margaret Thatcher. Yes, Thatcher intended to curb the overpowerful trade unions, who believed and boasted they could bring down governments.
Successive labour administrations had increasing trouble with strikes and therefore in 1979 when Thatcher stood on an electoral platform of restraining Union power, she was elected. Generally, a lot of people supported her views.
She was in her second term of office in 1984 when she brought in American industrial specialists to review the Coal Mining industry in the UK. Pits were threatened with closure all around the country, and the NUM (National Union of Mineworkers) took action. A strike started.
Thatcher was not going to cave in like her predecessors had. At first, the striking, and picketing (standing by strikers at the entrance to a workplace and trying to prevent people entering) was peacable - usually police attendance was local boys who sympathised with the striking men, who were, after all, neighbours. So instead, non-local police were used to enforce new rules about demonstrations and picketing. Police from, say, London, would be brought in to maintain order in say, Northumberland. The police were paid astronomical rates of overtime, and, having no local loyalty, were highly provocative towards local strikers - showing bundles of cash, was a common thing.
As the strikes went on, there were scenes of dreadful rioting, and such - usually between those who were striking and those who had not gone on strike. Strikers traditionally call such men "Scabs". To complicate matters, the Unions themselves became schismatic, with certain areas split 50-50 between striking miners and those who "scabbed". Against this was set some disgraceful police brutality in suppressing demonstrations.
Thatcher won. She got what she wanted, and the industry was largely finished in 1992. That's a very potted version, btw.