Almost a year ago, Arthur Scargill spoke at the Greater Manchester May Day Rally* to massive acclaim, especially from those who weren't even born during the great Miners Strike that came so close to toppling the Thatcher Government. And he had lots of messages for the packed gathering...
"You can consign austerity to the dustbin of history but you can't do it by simply moving resolutions; we can't do it by great speeches" he said "Two of the greatest, James Larkin and James Connolly, spoke here in Manchester in 1913, and they warned that independence from an oppressor...will fail unless you replace the capitalist system that causes it, and exchange it with a system where human beings matter and not profit. In other words, you change the world."
And there was more... "They keep saying 'What can we do about the NHS?'" he asked "I'll tell you what we can do, we can finance it! Pay doctors what they're worth, pay cleaners, those who cook the food, those who do all the jobs; they can pay them a decent wage and if they won't do that we won't have a decent NHS. It's a struggle that our forefathers and sisters fought for..."
Arthur Scargill is an inspirational speaker, as well as a trade union legend and national treasure. And he's back, almost a year to the day, addressing a public meeting on Socialism or Repression? at the Mechanics Institute in Manchester on 6th April, organised by the Socialist Labour Party (North West).
Arthur's sharing a platform with fellow trade union legend and national treasure, Ricky Tomlinson, who is still fighting for the truth surrounding his imprisonment as one of the Shrewsbury 24 pickets back in the day but also has plenty to say about the current disgrace that is the Tory Government.
Last May, the debate on whether to Remain or Stay in Europe was also high on the agenda, and Arthur slated Jeremy Corbyn for the "ultimate betrayal" in urging people to Remain
"Think of what we could achieve without the EU" he said "...You heard the struggle about the suffragettes; they won the vote, for everyone; that was a victory without the EU!...We can't protect our own industries; we can give £350billion to banks who are in trouble but we can't give one or two million pounds to the steel industry in order to preserve jobs..."
Now that the UK is triggering the Leave clause it will be interesting to hear both Arthur and Ricky's takes on the issue.
The most potent quote from Arthur's speech that day, however, was his recounting on his constant hounding by the press over his socialist stance...
"...We're acting like dinosaurs, said the Daily Mail, and I was the chief dinosaur" he recalled "They said `He wants to go back to the 1970s'...Too true I do! In the 1970s we could do things!"
Expect lots more inspirational stuff as two absolute legends of the left combine in one powerful stage presence...
Socialism or Repression?
Public meeting
Thursday 6th April 7:30pm
Mechanics Institute
103 Princess Street, Manchester M1 6DD
The event is free and there are no advance tickets just turn up. Early!
*To read more about Arthur Scargill's speech at the May Day Rally see previous Salford Star article click here
There is also a really shaky Salford Star YouTube video of the speech click here
Main photo shows Arthur Scargill with Salford Anti-Bedroom Tax campaigner Maria Brabiner
.JPG)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
(3).jpeg)
.png)
(1).JPG)
