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3. Arthur and Maggie

'We'd been beaten by militancy before. We were not going to be beaten again.'

鈥淲e'd been beaten by militancy before. We were not going to be beaten again.鈥

Two firebrands dominated the national stage during the miners鈥 strike of 1984-5: NUM leader Arthur Scargill and prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Back then, as an 11-year-old miner鈥檚 son, Mark just knew that his family were on Scargill鈥檚 side and Thatcher was against them.

Now Mark wants to know what was behind the government鈥檚 plan to close pits and take on the unions. To find out, he meets one of Margaret Thatcher鈥檚 top ministers, Michael Heseltine. Were union leaders really the 鈥渆nemy within鈥?

Archive: Kinolibrary (Arthur Scargill speech); 大象传媒.

Presenter: Mark Watson
Series Producer: Simon Maybin
Editor: Clare Fordham
Sound mix: James Beard
Production Co-ordinator: Ellie Dover
Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke

Available now

15 minutes

Last on

Wed 6 Mar 2024 12:04

Broadcast

  • Wed 6 Mar 2024 12:04