I am convinced there will be unanimous support for the current action and for the fight against pit closures and I shall be calling upon every miner … - Arthur Scargill

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I am convinced there will be unanimous support for the current action and for the fight against pit closures and I shall be calling upon every miner to support the actions that have been taken in the areas. This is a fight for the survival of British mining industry and I am not prepared to accept the imposition of a pensioner from the United States whose mandate is to destroy this industry as he destroyed the British steel industry. I give warning to the board and to the Government that they must now give very serious reconsideration to the policies and the proposals they are trying to implement in pit closures and the reduction in manpower levels. I am convinced that the mineworkers have now reached the point where enough is enough.

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About Arthur Scargill

Arthur Scargill (born January 11, 1938) is a British trade unionist. He was the President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 1981 to 2002 and has served as leader of the Socialist Labour Party, a political party he founded, since 1996. He led successful unofficial strikes in 1969, 1972, and 1974 which contributed to the downfall of Prime Minister Edward Heath. However, he also led an unsuccessful strike in 1984–85 that was defeated by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government, substantially weakening both the British mining industry and trade union movement.

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Additional quotes by Arthur Scargill

We need action not words. For the first time we are facing the prospect of seeing legislation introduced which denies the right of trade unionists to come to the assistance of other unionists and denies the right of trade unionists to seek the support of others in their disputes. There is only one response. Faced with this legislation we should say we will defy the law. It is the only action we can take and it is the only response this movement can give. If there is an attempt to use this legislation then you defy it not as an individual union but as a movement.

I can honestly say that I never heard flannel like we got from the Minister... he said that we have nuclear power stations with us, whether we like it or not. I suggest to this Conference that we have coal mines with us... but they did something about this problem: they closed them down. This was a complete reversal of the policy... that was promised by the Labour Government before it was put into office... this represents a betrayal of the mining industry.

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