30th anniversary of the 1984-85 miners' strike...what events will be happening in commemoration?

[Ken Burch]

It was a massively important event in UK history...the last great stand of the labour movement(at least in that era), the first of a long-series of betrayals on the Labour Party's part(betrayals that culminated in Labour's complete recantation of socialism, the cause of workers' rights, and the interests of anybody other than Rupert Murdoch and Richard Branson)and the moment in which Margaret Thatcher, at least in retrospect, seemingly ended any possibility of any effective effort of defeating her policies(rather than just her as an individual politician).

Can UK Du'ers list anything that will take place in the UK to remember this heroic act of resistance, its tragic defeat, and the lessons to be learned from both? Many of the major figures from the era are still around, as are tens of thousands of now-former miners and their families...will there be events in which the voices and stories of these people will be heard?

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[LeftishBrit]

1. Not a great deal, I think - though Northern DU-ers may know of more

But see:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/30th-anniversary-of-the-miners-strike/645290335533007

http://www.itv.com/news/wales/2014-01-29/labour-calls-for-apology-as-30th-anniversary-of-the-start-of-the-miners-strike-nears/

I think there won't be a lot of commemoration for several reasons. The government, and even some of the Opposition, aren't/don't want to be seen as too sympathetic to unions. For the miners (and for working-class people, unions, and the North and part of the Midlands in general), this was a devastating and destructive defeat, and one that continues in its effects to this day - nothing to celebrate, even in a 'look how far we've come from that tragic time' sense. And the centenary of the start of WW1 is likely to overshadow most other commemorations in the UK.

The best way to commemorate it might be to get rid of the current Thatcherite government and its policies - which we have a chance to do next year (at least the government itself; whether the policies would also be scuppered, remains to be seen).

[non sociopath skin]

2. Maybe they're saving the money for a million-pound Not-Actually-A-State-Funeral for Arthur Scargill

... when he pops his pit boots?



The Skin