Reflections on the Mining Strike

Abstract

Judgements on the course and implications of the miners' struggle should not come easily. For some on the left, no doubt, the 'lessons' of the dispute were to hand, pre-packaged, almost from the outset: predictable derivations of a more general political 'line'. Yet major historical events rarely mesh precisely with prior analyses and formulae. Often they call for difficult, even painful, revisions of our preconceptions. No socialist can fail to acclaim the courage, determination and resourcefulness of the women and men in coalfields across Britain in the year-long fight to defend their jobs and communities. Endurance on this scale is without historical parallel. The odds ranged against the miners were likewise unprecedented: an arrogant and vindictive government; a paramilitary police force established by stealth and unaccountable for its often brutal conduct; a judicial system systematically hostile to the strikers and their union; agencies of public 'welfare' thoroughly subordinated to the repressive purposes of the state; press and television largely dedicated to distortion and abuse. After the retreats and demoralisation of the first five years of Thatcherism, sustained resistance against such obstacles and such deprivations offered an inspiration which-even in defeat-has enriched us all.