British workers’ movement

Twenty years ago on March 5, 1984 the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)
embarked upon the most important class struggle in Britain since the general
strike of 1926. A ferocious battle ensued. Billions of pounds were spent by the
ruling class to crush the miners’ militancy. More than ten thousand miners
were arrested; two were killed on the picket lines and countless others injured.
Decades of so-called consensus were obliterated and the real and ugly face of
British capitalism was exposed for all to see.

An essential lesson to draw from the miners’ strike is the vital role of
leadership. The miners’ leaders stood head and shoulders above the majority of
British trade union leaders. The leaders of the NUM were a source of
inspiration. At the same time these leaders were inspired by the courage and
determination of the rank and file miners, of their wives and their communities.
Unfortunately courage alone is not enough to win such titanic battles. It must
be accompanied by correct tactics and strategy.

An interview with Nigel Pearce, a member of the National Executive of the
National Union of Mineworkers and working miner. He explains how the strike
developed and the turning point that it represented for labour relations in
Britain. In spite of the defeat he says, "We were right to fight, we had a
duty to fight, and I’m proud to have fought, and I’m proud of all those I fought
alongside."

On Saturday 24 January, the British TV channel, Channel Four, broadcast a
documentary about the miners’ strike. Anyone who tuned in looking for an
objective account of the strike was doomed to be disappointed. The purpose of
this documentary was not to clarify what happened but to blacken the memory of
the striking miners and mislead the present generation by a combination of lies,
falsifications and trivialisation. Against all the lies, distortion and venom,
the Marxists will defend the memory of this epic struggle and pass on the great
lessons to the new generation that is destined to carry on the fight to a
victorious conclusion.

John Maclean was undoubtedly a class fighter and Marxist, but he made one
important mistake, and that was to succumb to the idea that a socialist
revolution would be possible in Scotland, separate from the rest of Britain.
Ted Grant briefly comments on why this was.

This month marks the 80th anniversary of the death of John Maclean.
Maclean was an outstanding figure. He was Britain’s most famous Marxist
propagandist and revolutionary organiser. At great personal cost, he
hailed the Bolshevik Revolution and fought hard to promote the world
socialist revolution. The following article gives a glimpse of his
life, commitment and contribution to the workers’ movement.

Fredrick Engels once defined the state as "armed bodies of men",
together with their appendages, in defence of private property. Last month’s BBC
2 TV programme in Britain entitled True Spies by Peter Taylor examined
one of these appendages, Britain’s secret services. The programme revealed how
in "democratic" Britain, MI5 and the Special Branch systematically
infiltrated political groups and organisations, and secretly spied on trade
union leaders such as Arthur Scargill and Derek ‘Red Robbo’ Robinson. While none
of the revelations are particularly startling, what was of interest was the use
of first-hand interviews by ex-M15 agents in explaining their sordid undercover
activities.

This article is a follow-up to Britain's Summer of Discontent – An Earthquake in the British Labour Movement.
The magnificent one million-strong strike of local authority workers on
July 17 has forced important concessions out of the government. Anyone
who still doubted the power of militant industrial action has been
answered.

What a decisive answer to all the cynics who had written off the labour
movement in Britain. In scenes reminiscent of the late 1970s, scenes we
were told would never be repeated in Blair's New Britain, more than a
million local authority workers took strike action yesterday, the first
national public sector stoppage in 20 years. The action by members of
UNISON, the T&GWU and the GMB was described in the London Evening
Standard as "the biggest strike in Britain since the 1926 General
Strike".

The British working class has a history of swinging from industrial action to political action. This is as true today as it was in the 1930s. This article looks at the great struggles of 1929-31, when the polical leaders of the workers’ parties failed to respond to the tasks required of them, leading to the defeat of the workers and the return to power of the Tories.