Background to Jack Besford’s speech of 17th July 1948
A majority Labour government had been elected for the first time ever in July 1945. It faced no shortage of problems. Three quarters of a million houses had been destroyed or severely damaged by German bombing. The country faced record debt after having to finance six years of war.
There were also problems which pre-dated the war. Medical services were far from free and equitable with many unable to afford treatment. Undamaged housing stock included a great many wretched dwellings. About seven million homes lacked a hot-water supply, some six million an inside toilet, and almost five million a fixed bath.
On top of this, rationing had to continue. Poor weather conditions affected harvests and significant resources had to be directed to countries in Europe that had been devastated by the war. The country’s indebtedness also made it difficult to import foodstuffs at pre-war levels. The very severe winter of 1946/47 had made matters worse, causing massive disruption of transport and coal supply to power stations and homes. Many animal herds had frozen or starved to death.
It was against this background that the coal mines were nationalised on 1st January 1947, the necessary legislation having been piloted through parliament by Emmanuel (“Manny”) Shinwell, the Minister of Fuel and Power.
At the time of this speech Jack Besford was (as well as Financial Secretary) Disputes Secretary for the Northumberland Miners, hence his positive remarks about Northumberland miners sticking to agreements and not striking unofficially.
Jack Besford was chairing a platform which also included three further speakers, Arthur Horner, Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, Mary Sutherland, Chief Women’s Officer of the Labour Party, and Michael Foot, Labour MP for Devonport. Jack made very brief introductory remarks about each of them before calling upon them to address the crowd.
Speech made by Jack Besford at the Northumberland Miners’ Picnic, Carlisle Park, Morpeth, on Saturday, 17th July 1948
We are obliged to Councillor Doherty for his kind words of welcome. Morpeth is undoubtedly a popular selection for our picnic. As a matter of fact, we have only on two occasions in the last 36 years been away from Morpeth, and I think that speaks volumes for the popularity of Morpeth. We are obliged to the Council for the arrangements they make every year.
On behalf of the National Union of Mineworkers, Northumberland Area, I want to say we are very glad to see you all at this picnic. This annual event of ours has gone on since 1866, and we do not just come here to listen to speeches, but it is an occasion when we can all meet our old friends again. It is a great pleasure to see all the old faces and have a word with the people we have known in the past. As Chairman of this meeting I can only express the hope that all of you will enjoy the speeches, and that this will be a happy day for all of us.
On many occasions I have sat in the crowd, and I know that you do not come to listen to the chairman but to the speakers – and we have three excellent speakers from this platform this afternoon. At the same time, it is regarded as a duty placed on the chairman to make some introductory remarks as a send-off for the meeting. I can assure you that I am not going to encroach much on your time, but it seems to me that it would be very appropriate to draw a comparison between our position today and our position in past years.
This is our 1948 picnic, and we have now had a Labour government for a period of three years. Three years ago the people of this country had the good sense to send a Labour majority into power in the House of Commons, and we have now had three years of Labour’s rule. Eighteen months ago the Labour Government gave the coalowners the sack – the coalowners had been giving us the sack in the past – and the miners became public servants, producing coal for the nation. It is significant when we look at the third year after the first world war, the year 1921. You will see in the list of previous picnics in your programme that it says : “1921 – No picnic – national stoppage.” At that time we had a capitalist government in power and the coalowners owned the mines. We were locked out by the coalowners, who were demanding a reduction in wages, and there was a 13 weeks’stoppage, at the end of which we had to accept a substantial reduction in wages. Compare that with the position three years after the second world war, with a socialist government in power and the mines nationalised. There is no lock-out and no suggestion from any quarter of a reduction in wages. I think that is a very significant comparison.
We also remember the long weary years when thousands of our men had the miserable wage of 6/9 1/2d per shift, 34 shillings for 5 days. If you compare that with the wages our men have today, I think you will agree with me that there is no comparison between the wages and conditions of the miners under a socialist government with nationalisation and the conditions we had before. Of course we hear a lot of complaints these days about rationing. In the capitalist press we are continually told there is far too much rationing. But we have always had rationing. The working classes of this country were rationed by poverty. We had full shops because we had empty purses and could not afford to buy the goods in the shops. There were millions of people in the old days going without necessary things, and at the same time we had two or three million unemployed. So far as queues are concerned, nobody likes them. There is nothing I hate more. The sooner we get rid of them the better, and the Labour government are doing everything they possibly can to increase supplies so that queues will not be necessary. But we also had queues in the old days; they were queues of a different kind. We had queues of men at colliery offices seeking work, and men queueing at labour exchanges, queueing up for the dole. We remember the unemployment and the short time and the miserable wages, and when we remember these things we must agree that our position to-day is tremendously improved. I am not saying that everything in the garden is lovely. There are many more things to be done, as Mr. Arthur Horner will no doubt tell you this afternoon, but in my opinion the National Coal Board are proving themselves to be reasonable and good employers, and we have got more from them in the last 18 months than we got from the coalowners in the previous 50 years.
I am pleased to say that in Northumberland, since nationalisation, we have been free from unofficial strikes. We have seen in the papers and heard reports of unofficial strikes going on in other districts, but in Northumberland we have a clean record. I can tell you that your County Executive Committee and officials are proud of the fact that our men have been loyal to their Union. They depend on their Union dealing with any dispute which arises and continue at work. They are standing by the agreements we have made. They are carrying out the pledges, made on behalf of the mineworkers, to do everything possible to make nationalisation a success. In my view, the Northumberland miners are showing a great example to the whole of Great Britain by their solidarity and loyalty to the Labour movement. May I also refer to the fact that the miners of this country are working an extra half-hour a day, or even an extra Saturday, in order to help the country. That would never have happened under private ownership. The miners of this country have proved that they are prepared to give better service when they are public servants than they gave in the past.
In conclusion, I urge upon all our men, as one of your county officials, to continue being loyal to your Union and stand by your agreements. If there is any dispute let us know about it, and we will deal with it in the best possible way. I would also urge upon every man employed in our pits the need for doing the best possible job of work all the time. Nationalisation does not mean easy money for anybody. We have the obligation on our shoulders to do everything we can to make nationalisation a complete success.
Our first speaker this afternoon is Mr. Arthur Horner, Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, who needs no introduction from me. You have heard him at previous picnics. I have also heard him at many of our national conferences, and I can speak from experience and say that in Mr. Arthur Horner we have a man of outstanding ability. He knows the miners’ case from A to Z, and you could not get a better man for advocating the miners’ case. He and his colleagues have done excellent work these last few years. We just need to look at the new agreements and the improvements taking place. These are the result of very intensive and intelligent work at our national headquarters. It gives me very great pleasure indeed to call upon Arthur Horner to address you.
