Scargill was involved in a High Court case in 1978 that set a precedent in UK labour law, known as Roebuck v NUM (Yorkshire Area) No 2. IVE heard from Ron The Guvnor who on receiving his car renewal of 755 for his BMW an increase of 300 without a claim told his insurers they had a good chance of appearing in my column unless there was a reduction. [53] He was not attending any of the events to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the 1984 strike at the NUM. "[40] Scargill complained to the Advertising Standards Authority who criticised the advertisement as "highly distasteful". As the anniversary of the 1984 miners' strike approaches, its figurehead Arthur Scargill has become a recluse, at war with the current NUM leadership. Arthur Scargill emerged from semi-retirement from politics to speak at a meeting of the Communist Party of Britain's wretched little pro-Brexit front organisation Leave Fight Transform (LeFT) in Brighton on 11 September, alongside Eddie Dempsey (the man who said Tommy Robinson supporters were right to hate the "liberal left") and other assorted xenophobes, nationalists and social . offers Cook. He did not take the Eleven-Plus exam and went to Worsbrough Dale School (now called the Elmhirst School). That couldnt be true as she announced after the series ended she was gay. A former Labour Party member, Scargill is now leader of the Socialist Labour Party (SLP), founded by him in 1996. [31] In addition, it was alleged that he had taken 1,000,000 of cash donated by the Soviet Union for the Welsh miners and placed it in a Dublin bank account for the "International Miners' Organisation", where it stayed until a year after the strike had finished. 10 Dec 2012. Hundreds of strikers were arrested, including Scargill and his wife. Scargill joined the Labour Party in 1962. He very, very rarely came home, 'cos he was always in the offices or organising things. Scargill says that if he had succeeded, the property would have been eventually returned to the union; the NUM's leadership insists there is no evidence to back up this claim. ", She then shoots me a look. Most of Arthur's money comes from being a politician. Thats what right-to-buy did for ordinary people. They divorced in 2001. News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. The secretary at this time was a very good friend of mine called Jimmy Reid, and we're still close friends. Labours Lord Gilbert hailed Lady Thatchers good fortune in facing Mr Scargill. SMS: Ken Capstick, treasurer of the Socialist Labour Party which Arthur Scargill leads, sent the former union boss a text message reading: 'Thatcher Dead'. In the 1981 election for NUM president, Scargill secured around 70% of the vote. We stood and fought against enormous odds, and not just for the pits for our way of life. As the militant leader of the miners, Arthur Scargill fought Margaret Thatcher's government in the 1980s. At the top, surrounded by sunbeams, is the single word "socialism": the destination that, some would say, decisively disappeared from view midway through the 1980s. There's more to this new Arthur Scargill chic than mere fashion nostalgia. Arthur Scargill at a mass rally in 1984, during his time as NUM leader (PA) Margaret Thatcher: . You've been found out. The Yorkshire native is the son of a miner, who. They came back to me, and said: 'We'll up it to 10,000.' Cabinet papers released earlier this year proved that when, at the start of the strike, Scargill claimed that there were secret plans to shut around 70 pits in the face of endless official denials, he was unquestionably correct. David Wilkie, who died instantly, leaving behind a 2 year old daughter and his pregnant fiancee who gave birth 6 weeks later. His daughter is in leg braces and takes tenuous steps into parliament, while members shake her hand . For reasons that are not entirely clear as he has a home in Yorkshire he has now bought the flat for 1,050,000 (where did he get that money from?) "He doesn't live lavishly, although he does like a glass of red wine. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. To his remaining allies, this fact confirms that his reputation still burns bright: Scargill was right, they say, and this verdict extends beyond the fate of the British coal industry, to every key aspect of his leadership of the NUM. He studied at the Worsbrough Dale School, till he was fifteen. "It's sad to be inthis position. They've made me worse.'". They divorced in 2001. It began in Yorkshire, and eventually spread to the rest of the country. The strike started in Yorkshire, and he was not present at the delegate Council meeting in Barnsley. . Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian, Margaret Thatcher didn't expect it, but miners' wives galvanised the '84 strike, Labour calls on government to apologise over miners' strike, Thelong, slow death of the UK coal industry, Thatcher had secret plan to use army at height of miners' strike, Theclosure of Maltby colliery in pictures, the horrific police violence seen at the Orgreave coking plant. Downstairs in the NUM's waiting room there are flyers and posters advertising other events, complete with long lists of invited speakers. The house in which he was born and in which he lived for his first three years had neither plumbing nor electricity. ", There follows the most illustrative of anecdotes. That house sits on the edge of Worsbrough, close to the pit village where Scargill was born. Its the next paragraph I found most interesting. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. I cannot find parliamentary language to use to describe Arthur Scargill.. ", "And that," says Capstick, "was the only thing he said about Thatcher. Their life sentences were eventually reduced to eight years. Arthur Scargill, I ask you. If you were on the minimum wage it would take 100 years to earn the 1,500,000 you needed to buy that flat. By 1984 however the police were ready and neutralized the tactic with superior force. Even his own union are up in arms at the purchase. One by one, he bats away the standard criticisms of Scargill's leadership of the strike: that it was ill-advised to commence the strike in the spring, that he should have held a national ballot ("The miners weren't calling for a ballot the people who were calling for a ballot were our enemies"), and that in returning to work without an agreement, the miners were left in an impossible position. They had one daughter named Margaret. He is 84 years old and is a Capricorn. His last formal tussle with Scargill came on 13 February, when Scargill took four matters to an Employment Appeal Tribunal, and was granted a future hearing. They're at it again! "He's OK," says Capstick. "He's. Robert Taylor depicts Scargill as an 'industrial Napoleon' who called a strike 'at the wrong time' on the 'wrong issue', and adopted strategies and tactics that were 'impossibilist', with 'an inflexible list of extravagant non-negotiable demands' that amounted to 'reckless adventurism' that was 'a dangerous, self-defeating delusion'. Harper married Arthur Scargill, who was also an elected member of the Trade Union branch committee at Woolley Colliery, at Gawber Parish Church on 16 September 1961. The doors to Parliament open to show Scargill's wife and daughter. So what is Arthur Scargill's salary per year? Mention of him draws a quick response. Online calculator reveals how inflation-busting 14.4% hike will Aldi and Lidl shoppers face highest inflation hikes: Cost of basic groceries rise by more than 20% at the Is inflation FINALLY on the way down? Meryl Streep is the invented wife of Arthur Scargill who believes his commitment to the miner's rights is straining their marriage and taking a toll on their daughter. Former miners' leader Arthur Scargill loses his High Court fight to have the NUM continue to meet the costs of his London flat for his lifetime. Scargill had, before becoming president, favoured moving the head office of the NUM out of London, which he described as a "prostituting place". The Enemy Within", Verso 2014. Back in 1993 he first tried to acquire the flat under Margaret Thatchers right-to-buy scheme. Had he done the humble thing and walked away with what he were entitled to, his reputation would still be intact.". Airport staff at Leeds-Bradford Airport identified Scargill attempting to travel under a false name (Arthur Fenn) wearing a disguise on 20 July, and turned him away to purchase a genuine ticket with his true identity. It turned into a confrontation with the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in which the miners' union was defeated. "I don't know what a deal would have been," he says. We were busy. For webmasters |. An article published in The Times in August 2015 stated that Scargill had spoken to the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union conference in June 2015, and that he was due to appear alongside Jeremy Corbyn at the Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign in September 2015. I got my mobile phone, and I sent him a text. Despite years of bitter battling with the Tories as they closed practically every mine in the early eighties, the bizarre u-turn by for the former union leader has been welcomed by the Conservatives. Arthur Scargill acquired a lease on the flat around 1982, when he became president of the NUM, as the the union was then based in London, though Scargill soon moved its headquarters to Sheffield . "One day last year, I was talking to him on the phone. To be paid 400,000-a-year to eat cake for an hour makes it the least onerous and most highly paid TV job with the exception of football pundit. Arthur Scargill celebrated that he had outlived his old foe Lady Thatcher when he heard of her death, it was revealed last night. "We're going backwards, aren't we?" Does that include him? If BA is ever to going to boast that its the Worlds Favourite Airline again it will have to hire staff who dont look at passengers as getting in the way of their decent nights sleep. [3] The couple had a daughter together, Margaret Scargill, in 1962 who is now a practicing GP. There aretwo security cameras fixed to the front wall, and all the blinds are closed. I were 42, me. This had great implications for regional relations in the NUM; the executive was described as dominated by "Gormley's rotten boroughs", since every region even quite small ones had one delegate, and the larger regions had only a few more (Scotland and South Wales had two delegates each, Yorkshire had three). Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Further afield, amid great stretches of empty space, you find places that seem to be clinging on by their very fingertips, such as the former pit village of Goldthorpe, stranded halfway between Barnsley and Doncaster. [43] In February 2012, Scargill won 13,000 in a court action against the NUM, primarily for car expenses, and for the earlier temporary denial of membership. Anne, in 2001 and reportedly refused to attend the wedding of his daughter Margaret. Well, he is, indispatches [laughs].". The man's had 30 years of decent living out of the union, and he's got a pension that's second to none. Scargill decided to turn his attention to politics. People have said things about him and his affairs, and it's only fair that he should be given a chance to respond. Scargill joined the organization in 1955, and within some months, he was able to become a member of the organization`s executive board. "I shall never, ever forgive the police for doing that to me," she says. MINERS' leader Arthur Scargill has left his wife after 37 years, it was revealed last night. He also became known in the 1972 strike, where he was the spokesman for the Yorkshire miners. Scargill never balloted NUM members for a strike; this was seen as an erosion of democracy within the union, but the role of ballots in decision-making had been made very unclear after previous leader, Joe Gormley, had ignored two ballots over wage reforms, and his decisions had been upheld after appeals to court were made. Capstick a genial, soft-spoken man, whose disposition rather belies the rock-solid certainties of his politics talks to me for well over two hours. From an early age, Arthur used to read books such as The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, where he learnt about starvation and injustice as well as courage as well as nobility of the working classes. having received a 500,000 discount. I hate all women. "Leadership in the Miners Union-Scargill, Arthur Rise to Power. Arthur Scargill destroyed many lives with his attitude and his . He also had an important role in the `Battle of Saltley Gate, that closed Birmingham`s Saltley coke depot. The intended title, she and Cook tell me, is Only a Miner's Daughter, and it will tell the story of her entire life, with a seeming focus on the strike. They'll probably be 10 or 11 now.". Photograph: Don Mcphee for the Guardian. All net worths are calculated by applying a proprietary algorithm. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. It just said: 'Thatcher dead.' The NUM says the money is being used to defend what remains of the coal industry and help both its members and former miners. [34] Scargill accepted Lightman's statement that many of his actions suffered from a lack of professional advice, which he was unwilling to be bound by. [14] The section under "staff procedures" details how Scargill monitored head office staff: Mr. Scargill's vendetta against Head Office staff has at times descended to the most puerile and paranoic [sic] levels. [7], Scargill became involved in the Yorkshire Left, a group of left-wing activists involved in the Yorkshire region of the NUM, its largest region. She queried it and as a loyalty bonus they reduced to 655. Capstick also reiterates something he has said in the past: that somehow, for all that the miners lost the strike, "the victory was in the struggle itself". But so far, Arthur Scargill is conspicuous by his absence. Three decades on from 1984, Kitchen says there are many aspects of the strike and its aftermath that have yet to be thrashed out in public: the precise details of what the Thatcher government were up to, the horrific police violence seen at the Orgreave coking plant, the involvement of MI5 and some matters relating to Arthur Scargill. "I never, ever talk about my ex-husband," says Anne Scargill. They had one daughter named Margaret. We now have a situation where the government and the establishment have a funeral on their hands which they wish they didnt have. The union now has just under 1,800 members, who work at a small handful of deep pits and open-cast mines, but its financial holdings are said to total around 20m, which Scargill's supporters say lies at the heart of their current battles. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, The shady Arthur Scargill has hypocrisy running through his veins, The trade union leader tried to buy his flat under Margaret Thatchers right-to-buy scheme so he could make a mint, The champagne socialist is naturally a pal of Corbyn, Series 4 star Ruby Tandoh lashed out at Paul Hollywood's move to Channel 4, Some may say her criticism has a whiff of underlying jealousy, At least he has held his hands up and admitted work needs to be done, It seems bizarre to suggest Muslim officers will be able to wear burkas while on duty, Even Muslim groups think the Chief Constable's remarks are deranged, Millionaire hypocrite Arthur Scargill is a typical red, preaching: Do as I say not as I do, If Prince Harry's incredibly stupid Taliban boast puts lives in danger he will blame anyone but himself again, Chilling moment incel mass shooter roamed streets with shotgun during 8 minute rampage that killed five in Plymouth, Plymouth killer Jake Davison called himself the 'Terminator' & fantasised about Ted Bundy before unleashing massacre, Drunk British Airways crew member ran naked around holiday buffet in front of shocked tourists, Tragedy as mum, 26, is found dead hours after calling her ex when she had a nightmare, Parents 'killed' daughter, 16, by 'allowing weight to balloon to 23st before she died covered in maggots in filthy room', UK weather: Snow and ice warnings cover length of country as freezing conditions spark travel delays, Rapist cop David Carrick could KEEP 22k Met Police pension after being found guilty of torturing and abusing 12 women, I was critical of my British Airways flight to New York where both the food and service were poor, the difficulty forces were having in finding officers good enough to step up, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). He called for the cotton mills, steel plants and mines to be re-opened and that under EU rules, the government had not been able to subsidise the coal mines. He did not. But he will not be drawn any further. ARE our chief constables going quite potty? "I'm just curious as to why some of the stuff we're finding out and bringing to light wasn't brought to light years ago," he says. "It's so hypocritical it's unreal," he said. "There's definitely a disproportionate amount of time and money being spent fighting Arthur Scargill rather than looking after the members and protecting the union," he tells me. [47], In 1996, Scargill founded the Socialist Labour Party after the Labour Party abandoned the original wording of Clause IV advocating the public democratic ownership[48] of key industries and utilities from their constitution. Arthur Scargill was born on 11th January 1938, in Worsbrough Dale, in South Yorkshire, England, into a family of coal miners. But his victory is in the struggle itself. He was on television all the time: a charismatic character. Elegant Princess of Wales is all smiles as she plays with children on visit to a nursery amid backlash over Thrifty Kate strikes again! His application was blocked at the time as it was not his primary residence. Princess Royal honours Team GB curling stars and Scottish police chief at Palace of Peter Andre launches scathing attack on Prince Harry as he says Duke of Sussex is 'publicly trashing his Heartbreak for Kate: Auschwitz survivor Zigi Shipper, who dedicated his life to educating on the horrors of Charles's first royal RSVP! The media characterised the strike as "Scargill's strike" and his critics accused him of looking for an excuse for industrial action since becoming union president. "And I tell you summat: when I come out of there, I thought to myself, 'Right they can't do owt any worse to me now. Like me you wont have heard of Ms Tandoh since she last appeared in the show a couple of years back and the only reason she would have made any impression was a suggestion she was flirting with Mr Hollywood. There was some controversy in February 1985 when Times journalist Paul Routledge engaged the Queen in discussion on the strike, and the Queen said that the strike was "all about one man", which Routledge objected to. I've had hundreds and hundreds of pounds offered for my story, and I'm not washing my dirty linen in public.". [57] Scargill supported the 2022 United Kingdom railway strike, joining an RMT picket line in Wakefield on 21 June 2022. [5] In 1957 he was elected NUM Yorkshire Area Youth Delegate, and attended the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow as a representative of the Yorkshire miners. Let them eat cake! [14], Scargill was a very vocal opponent of Thatcher's Conservative government, frequently appearing on television to attack it. He went on to be elected president of the NUM from. 'We now have a situation where the government and the establishment have a funeral on their hands which they wish they didnt have. He belonged to a poor family, who lived in a house with neither electricity nor plumbing. The miners` strike of 1974 eventually brought down the Conservative government of Edward Heath. We got 111. Arthur Scargill is a British trade unionist who used to be the president of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). Some of the cash was provided by his daughter Dr Margaret Scargill. And yesterday, do you know what? Scargill and his wife Anne, herself a miner's daughter and an active organizer of miners' groups, had one daughter, Margaret. First, I ring the bell, to no avail, then usea door knocker in the shape of a miner's lamp. I've always said that if Arthur can no longer control the NUM, he'll try and destroy it. He founded the Socialist Labour Party in 1996, after he left the Labour Party. He played a significant role in the unofficial strike of UK miners in 1969.