“I’ll never stop fighting… Are you kidding?” Arthur Scargill said as he joined the striking railroad workers on the Sheffield picket line.
The former leader of the National Union of Miners is 84 and may not be as agile as he used to be, but the fire in his stomach doesn’t seem to have gone out. Nor did his opinions soften.
“I feel nothing but complete contempt for the leadership of the Labor Party, especially [Keir] Starmer, “Scargill said in response to a question about Labor’s attitude to the strikes this week. “Honestly, the Labor Party blew it up completely. He does not represent the working class of this country. “
Scargill joined the picket line wearing the same hat he wore when he was arrested at the Orgreave coke plant 38 years ago during a miners’ strike. He was then escorted by police and later found guilty of two counts of obstruction and fined £ 250.
Arthur Scargill spoke to police during the miners’ strike. Photo: Manchester Daily Express / SSPL / Getty Images
His visit to Sheffield Station on a sunny Thursday morning was much calmer. It was unannounced and warmly welcomed, although most of the looks were like, “Is this what I think it is?”
Scargill was joined by his 21-year-old grandson, Thomas Logan, who also hopes to play a future role in the union. Scargill joked that his grandson was more militant than he was.
“He’s like any normal grandfather,” Logan said. “Maybe a little more independent. He tried to influence me from an early age and succeeded. It is his story that burns the flame in you… he does it well. ”
Scargill was president of NUM for 20 years, leading the miners to defeat in the 1984-85 strike, which marked a turning point in postwar history. After retiring as union leader, he became something of a hermit while fighting those who once followed him.
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Chris Kitchen, NUM’s secretary general since 2007, once accused Scargill of trying to destroy the union. He also pointed to the second-to-nothing pension that Scargill receives from NUM.
In an interview with the Guardian in 2014, Kitchen said: “I don’t see much difference between the way Arthur has lived his life and the capitalist system he’s built a reputation for fighting for – it’s all about myself. And he did very well with that. “
Scargill is still giving speeches and is the incumbent leader of the Socialist Labor Party, which he set up in 1996 in response to Tony Blair and his amendment to Clause Four of the Labor Constitution.
On Thursday, Scargill said he felt obliged to offer his support to railway workers. “I am here because I am a trade unionist and a socialist. “When people have to go on strike to get paid and stop unnecessary cuts, it’s time for the workers to come together,” he said.
“I would call on every railway worker to go on strike and force this government to step down.
He added: “We would not be here today if our ancestors had not taken action against the laws of the country at that time. They knew they had to take action to get justice. Think of the suffragettes, think of the Martyrs of Tolpudell, think of the Jarrow protesters … this is an ongoing struggle.
According to Scargill’s allies, he was demonized in the 1980s and is still demonized today. His appearance on Tuesday at a picket line in Wakefield, where Thursday’s midterm elections are taking place, led PMQ’s Boris Johnson to accuse Labor of being “outside the picket lines, literally holding hands with Arthur Scargill.”
“It’s a tribute to me,” Scargill said. “Honestly, for a pylon like him… the crime he possesses. The only crimes I have ever committed are the presence of a picket.
Scargill hopes and predicts that this will be the summer when the union movement will retaliate.
“Are you NUJ? [National Union of Journalists]? ” He asked the Guardian. “Because your turn will be next.”
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