"(ALL CALLING OUT GREETINGS)" "Support these miners!" "It'll be your turn next if you don't support them." "Support these miners!" "Come, get your papers." "Workers Weekly." "Sell you a paper." "Workers Weekly." "MAN:" "What's in it?" "It would be nice not to have another Black Friday." "It's all in there." "Come on." "(CROWD APPLAUDING)" "Mr Chairman and comrades," "I would like to occupy time of conference for a few minutes and to apologise for again asking help of the Labour movement on behalf of the miners." "The present situation is not the fault of the miners." "We are the victims of an industry that has been ruined by private ownership." "And this private ownership is also ruining the country." "We are accused of robbing this country." "Who are the real robbers, we or the coal owners?" "If we be the robbers, where are our spoils?" "For six long days every week, we slog our guts out in conditions of slavery below ground." "Gas and heat, fire and water are our daily enemies." "Mr Chairman, for years we have been aspiring to better conditions." "We gave them three shifts, but they are not satisfied." "They want more." "We say we are entitled to the loss of amenities on the afternoon and the night shifts." "But that has to go." "House coal at a cheaper rate has to go." "House coal for our injured men has to go." "House coal for the men who are sick has to go." "Everything must be wiped out." "This is the attitude of the men that my colleagues and I have been meeting over these past few weeks." "These are the men who have made their fortunes on the blood and guts of the miners." "They have taken all." "They have taken all and put nothing back." "Now they say," ""You must work longer hours for less wages."" "Longer hours." "With 100,000 of our men manning the miserable dole queues, no sane person would make such a proposal." "To the credit of the Labour Party and the Trade Union Movement, they have said, "No." "We will see that you shall not go back."" "This resolution, Mr Chairman, endorses the efforts of the General Council to secure an honourable settlement for the miners." "They say they will not allow the miners' conditions to be reduced." "This is the wish of the whole Trade Union Movement." "Because if we go down, Mr Chairman, all workers in other industries will go down with us." "MAN:" "Hear, hear!" "(APPLAUSE)" "It is not only we who are involved, Mr Chairman." "Steel-Maitland told us only this week," ""Yes, your wages are miserable." ""But it's your own fault." ""You won't help us to reduce the wages of other people in the other industries," ""railway men, dockers and others." ""They are taking too much out of your industry." ""And you will not help us to attack them."" "He's damned right we won't help him to attack our comrades in other industries." "What kind of people does he think we are?" "We would rather rot in hell than save our souls at the expense of our comrades in the other industries." "MEN:" "Hear, hear!" "Shouldn't you be taking over, just have one leadership?" "Yeah, but we've got to face facts." "You would only have to mention to some of the right-wingers in there, you'd only have to mention barricade or workers' council, and they'd be scurrying down the road like scared rabbits." "There are good trade union leaders in there who have the strength of character to stand by the miner." "But they won't face up to any revolutionary possibility in this situation." "And let me tell you, the Communist Party order isn't." "And anybody that thinks there's a revolutionary situation might arise out of this dispute," "I think that they're living in cuckoo land." "It's about forming..." "What's it about?" "It's about forming Councils of Action." "What for?" "Well, if in the event of a general strike, it'd be nice to have some bodies which can organise us." "(ALL CHATTERING)" "(PEOPLE CLAMOURING)" "(ALL SHOUTING)" "(PEOPLE APPLAUDING)" "(PEOPLE APPLAUDING)" "Take it easy now, take it easy, lads." "We're off to see Baldwin." "(ALL GROANING)" "MAN:" "It's a sell-out!" "No." "No." "Now, listen." "It's his idea, not ours." "But I can assure you, there'll be no horse trading." "I can assure you there'll be no horse trading, there'll be no deals." "I can assure you of that." "(CHEERING)" "And if we come away empty-handed, then that's it." "We're off." "We've beat them before and we'll beat them again." "Make no mistake about that." "(CHEERING)" "Mr Pugh and the gentlemen from the TUC are here, Prime Minister." "Oh, thank you, Tom." "I'm not looking forward to this meeting at all." "It's a pity we couldn't get more out of the mine owners." "Pugh will feel very let down when he hears their terms, particularly after what was said at Chequers." "Poor old Pugh." "He'll leave here a very embittered man." "We must try not to cut off his line of retreat." "I'm not sure he knows how to deal with his extremists." "By the way, I hear that MacDonald and Clynes are passing the word along the miners should be reasonable and conciliatory." "They're afraid a strike might damage the prospects of the Labour Party." "MacDonald is a Kerensky, and the Kerenskys have lost control." "(ALL TALKING AT ONCE)" "Too true they are." "Now, we want to know who they're going to be." "Yeah, we want to know whether we're going to be represented." "What is the extent of the maintenance of your draft, too." "We want to know that." "Yes." "It's a very sad situation in South Wales." "(DOOR OPENING)" "Good day, gentlemen." "MAN 1:" "Mr Prime Minister, you see in front of you a copy of the new proposals which have recently been approved by the General Council." "MAN 2:" "We think they offer a way out." "We believe that in negotiations which have ensued up to now, far too much attention is being concentrated almost exclusively on hours, wages and working conditions." "We think more attention ought to be given to reorganisation of the industry." "BALDWIN:" "Gentlemen, this afternoon, the owners delivered their terms." "And I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that after a great deal of persuasion from us, they've agreed to accept the principle of the National Minimum." "On condition that there is to be a return to the 1921 rates of pay and an extension of the working day from 7 to 8 hours." "(ALL PROTESTING)" "Impossible." "The miners will not wear them." "This is nothing but a bloody sham." "Do you realise, Mr Prime Minister, what these terms mean to us?" "Do you realise that the return to 1921 means the reduction of 13% in overall pay?" "Do you realise in Durham and in South Wales it means a reduction from 78 shillings to 46 shillings?" "And in Lancashire and Yorkshire a reduction of one and sixpence to a shilling per shift?" "Quite impossible!" "Our men will never accept these terms." "MAN 3:" "And on top of all that, an increase in hours?" "Come again." "MAN 4:" "It's not on." "I do appreciate how severe these terms are." "Nonetheless, I am convinced that the salvation of the industry lies in a longer working day, which will result in a greater flow of capital into the industry." "MAN 5:" "You mean into the owner's pockets." "MAN 6:" "If the working hours are extended then there's nothing to stop the owners from producing the same amount of coal with a smaller labour force." "SMITH:" "The working hours will not be extended, neither will the wage cuts be accepted." "Because we've always been against wage cuts." "We're here to get more money for our men, not less." "But Mr Smith, you're ignoring the long-term benefits." "We're ignoring nothing we don't already know about." "We know these coal owners." "They want their pound of flesh." "And I'll tell you summat else, Prime Minister." "You're here to see they get it and all." "BALDWIN:" "That is not true, Mr Smith." "We are absolutely impartial in this." "You are not impartial." "You are not arguing the case on the report at all." "You are putting forward the owners' terms, and not the Samuel Report at all." "Mr Prime Minister, at the Memorial Hall in Farringdon Street, over a thousand delegates representing 141 trade unions are waiting for us to report back at the outcome of this meeting." "I ask you to remember that we are dealing with large numbers of ordinary working men who are not like you or I." "Now, the miners have said that although you have asked them to give an answer to something which may result in a reduction of wages, they are prepared to give that answer, provided you do not make it a condition beforehand." "Now, when you consider how far we've got in persuading these people to go as far as they have," "I feel bound to say that I think you are asking more than you are entitled to ask." "MAN:" "We have to offer them something." "I understand." "I appreciate the problem." "And I would ask you to tell those waiting delegates that as far as we are concerned, the door is still open and we are still searching for a peaceful settlement." "And what about this?" "You talk to us of peace, but here is a poster published by the OMS, announcing the proclamation of a state of emergency." "Does this represent the mind of the government?" "Mr Prime Minister, did you order this?" "Of course he ordered it." "Who else?" "Naturally, the government, on behalf of the community, has had to take steps to prepare for that proclamation, but that poster has not yet been published." "PURCELL:" "Well, what's that in his hands?" "I can't understand how that got into your hands." "MAN:" "What a disgraceful deception." "You talk..." "You talk about the door still being open, that just about closes the door." "Because what you've done there with your deception, and with the publishing of this poster, you've challenged the whole working class movement, and these miners are no longer on their own." "BALDWIN:" "It is something any government would have done, Mr Purcell." "...and I'll show you that we'll meet you in the challenge and we'll defeat you." "Prime Minister, it's difficult for us to trust you or anyone else." "You've simply been playing for time in order to complete your arrangements." "I also know that while we've been relying on your good faith, the Conservative Party has been sending circulars to newspapers, urging them to say how necessary it is to increase the miners' hours of work." "BALDWIN:" "I have no knowledge of this." "I have no knowledge of this." "Prime Minister, you have no intentions of reaching agreement." "BALDWIN:" "That is not true, Mr Smith." "Come on, Arthur." "Let's go." "BALDWIN:" "Unless common sense prevails, the miners will suffer..." "MAN:" "You've two-timed us." "You've sold us down the river." "BALDWIN:" "Well, gentlemen, I'm sorry you see things in this way." "Have you all considered that a conflict of this kind could quite easily cease to be just a mere industrial dispute about wages and conditions and assume a very different character?" "We have considered all along the line that you've wanted nothing but a fight." "You've decided to throw the gauntlet down now, we are men enough to pick it up." "You wanted a fight, you bloody well got one." "SMITH:" "Come on, Arthur." "I hope you won't regret it." "In casting your votes for strike action, you have now become one union with no autonomy." "The miners have agreed, subject to them being consulted during negotiations," "and before any settlement is reached, to place the conduct of this dispute into the hands of the General Council." "They have thrown their lot, their cause into the general movement." "We look upon your "yes"" "as meaning that you'll place your all upon the altar of this great movement." "And having placed it there, even if every penny goes, if every asset goes, history will ultimately write up that it was a magnificent nation that was prepared to see it through, rather than see the miners driven down like slaves." "Thank you, Mr Chairman and comrades." "(ALL APPLAUDING)" "(ALL SINGING) # The people's flag is deepest red" "# It shrouded oft our martyred dead" "# And 'ere their limbs grow stiff and cold" "# Their hearts' blood dye its every fold" "# Then raise the scarlet standard high" "# Within its shade we'll live or die" "# Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer" "# We'll keep the red flag flying here #" "(ALL CHEERING)" "(INAUDIBLE)" "(CHEERING)" "Well done!" "(BRASS BAND STARTS PLAYING)" "We'll make the buggers dance now, kid." "Right, too." "What was the vote?" "Overwhelmingly in favour..." "Unanimous?" "Unanimous." "Ah!" "Lovely." "Lovely." "On Monday, we will raise a debate in the House of Commons." "But I hope, I still hope that something will turn up before then." "What can turn up?" "You know where they stand." "The unexpected could happen that could benefit your cause." "Yes, but the Labour Party must declare itself before then." "We already have." "In my being here today, we are there in the battle with you, taking our share uncomplainingly until the end has come." "And till right and justice has been done." "Good day, gentlemen." "Good day." "Good day, Minister." "Good day." "Good day, gentlemen." "Good day." "If you need me, I'll be at home." "Thank you, Ramsay." "Well?" "We'd better send them the telegrams ordering to stoppage." "Yes." "Well, this isn't the end, we mustn't give up hope." "We must still continue our efforts." "But conference has just voted for strike, Jimmy." "Only if a settlement can't be reached." "Exactly." "We'll still have to inform Baldwin anyway that control of the dispute has now passed out of the miners' hands and into ours." "Yes, and you can tell him at the same time that we are willing to resume talks as soon as the government wants." "Providing we're not breaking the mandate." "Oh, are we?" "We were given a free hand to do whatever we think necessary." "Now, listen, we've received a mandate today and that mandate must not be broken." "It will not be broken." "The strike is on, right?" "Arrangements for the strike must continue, and any possibility of negotiations, let's be clear about this because we've been there how many times for nothing, any possibility of negotiations must only be on the basis that they have got something to offer." "I don't want to go back there again and stand looking at the sneers of Churchill, of Birkenhead sneering down at us." "No more of that." "We've got a mandate to do whatever we think is necessary." "Right." "Yes." "You see, Arthur, there's no problems." "There's no problems at all." "The delegates have been told." "And the telegrams are going out this afternoon." "Exactly." "Exactly." "The machinery is in motion." "Well, I think we'd better go back and put it to Council, don't you?" "I think that might be a good idea." "Well, if we go back to Eccleston Square and get it sorted, that's the best thing we can do." "(ALL AGREEING)" "And what transport have we got?" "(ALL TALKING, INDISTINCT)" "I'm surprised by this." "What is it?" "Ah." "The TUC want another meeting." "Oh." "When did this come?" "By hand, a few minutes ago." ""To advise you that the executive committee of the Trade Union Congress" ""have decided to hand over to the General Council" ""of the TUC the miners' dispute..."" "(MUMBLING)" ""I am directed to say that the General Council" ""will hold themselves available at any moment" ""should the government desire to discuss the matter further."" "Hmm." "What do you think?" "Well, I suppose it's worth pursuing." "If we were to refuse what is clearly an invitation for further talks, and if the General Council made that letter public..." "It would put us in a rather bad light." "Yes, I think so." "Hmm." "The TUC don't want this strike." "I agree with you, I think they're bluffing." "It may be possible to drive a wedge between them and the miners." "Yes." "And we have a responsibility to the nation." "Very well, Tom, tell them we'll see them here at 8:00 tonight." "Oh, and you'd better inform Lord Birkenhead." "I think that's it." "Read it out, Tom." ""The Prime Minister has satisfied himself," ""as the result of the conversations he has had" ""with the representatives of the Trade Union Congress," ""that if negotiations are continued," ""it being understood that the notices cease to be operative," ""the representatives of the Trade Union Congress are confident" ""that a settlement can be reached on the lines of the report" ""within a fortnight."" "But what happens in two weeks' time if the miners still refuse to accept wage cuts or longer working hours?" "It still isn't clear." "Yes, well, let me again remind you, Sir Arthur, that we, of the negotiating committee, are in control of these negotiations." "Not the miners." "BALDWIN:" "But it's absolutely vital that we have an assurance on this." "I'm giving you an assurance." "Now." "Oh, it'll have to be put to the General Council, of course, before we can commit ourselves." "Let me emphasise that, sir." "We are accountable to the General Council and we must report back to them." "I am convinced that this formula gives us every chance of avoiding a general strike." "BALDWIN:" "Will the miners accept a wage cut?" "Yes." "If they accept the formula, that means they accept the Samuel Report, along with wage reductions." "Very well, gentlemen, I suggest we proceed along those lines, then." "What time are you meeting your General Council tomorrow?" "(TELEPHONE RINGS)" "Hello." "Arthur Cook here." "Hello, Arthur." "It's Walter here." "Arthur, I'm sorry to ring you so late." "I just got back from Number 10." "We've seen the PM and I think we've got some sort of formula." "What the hell is going on?" "What do you mean, Arthur?" "You're sneaking round there behind our backs." "What are you trying to do?" "Are you trying to agree something?" "'Cause you agree nothing behind our backs, man." "Now, calm down, Arthur." "The full text of the letter we sent to the Prime Minister starting up the talks was also sent to you." "Oh, yes?" "How didn't I get it, then?" "I really don't know, Arthur." "It's a mystery to me." "I wouldn't have known you'd been around there if I hadn't met Mary Quell in the street." "Well, it's 2:00 in the morning, Arthur." "We can't go into it now." "We want you and your executive to meet us at 10 to discuss what happened at Downing Street tonight." "Well, you can't." "Why not?" "Because they've gone back to their districts." "Gone back?" "What for?" "Well, to get on with organising the bloody strike, of course." "What else do you think?" "This is terrible." "The Cabinet is standing by at noon expecting something from us." "You'll have to get them back." "Well..." "Well, all right, but you've got a bloody nerve, I'll say that." "It's absolutely not true." "No." "Nothing's been decided about that." "There's not a word in this formula." "You've been asked to make a decision on this formula." "There's not a word in this formula." "That's all very well, but I want to ask Jimmy a straight question." "Did you at any time agree to a reduction in wages?" "No." "We skated on some very thin ice, of course." "We talked all round the question." "But after all, that is what negotiations are all about, isn't it?" "But there was nothing definite decided on either side." "No private understandings?" "Of course not." "I'm sorry to have to put it like this, Jimmy, but it is most important that we know everything that happened at that meeting!" "Hear, hear!" "(ALL MUMBLING)" "Mr Chairman, I've read the proposals and I can see exactly what Ernie is getting at here." "'Cause whatever way I look at these, the wording, one way or the other, suggests to me that the miners are prepared to accept their cuts." "Now, Alfred, the terminology is flexible but that's deliberate." "It's to give us room to manoeuvre." "The notices are going to be withdrawn." "That's a positive step." "That's a movement forward." "That's an advance, isn't it?" "Yes, yes." "I'll give you that." "I think the important thing is that we are not the ones to break off negotiations." "Indeed." "I agree." "I agree." "I agree." "We mustn't be the ones who close the door." "We must keep the door open." "Baldwin is a moderate man, surrounded by extremists like Churchill and Birkenhead." "Yeah, I believe he is looking to us hoping that we will help get him off the hook." "Without losing face." "Without losing face." "Exactly." "And that's what we must do." "Keep an open door." "Well, you know, but my lads, the railwaymen, they've taken a wage reduction already." "Not suggesting that the miners should do the same, but at least we ought to enter into discussions and negotiations along these lines without being drawn too rigidly." "Oh, no, John." "I'm not having that." "If we say that the miners' wage cuts are open for discussion, we're saying they're open for acceptance." "And Baldwin and Churchill will understand that." "Make no mistake about this." "I'm not suggesting that you should cut the wages," "I'm suggesting that it should be an item for discussion." "Look, there's a bit of everything in here." "A lot of it's vague." "Perhaps as Jimmy Thomas said, deliberately so." "What we need is more interpretation and I suggest it goes back for further discussions." "Hear, hear." "Yes." "THOMAS:" "It provides a foundation on which we can build." "I don't know, Mr Thomas." "The truth is each one of us has been avoiding, trying to get round the central problem." "Which is whether or not the miners will accept wage reductions." "If you put it as blunt as that, Sir Arthur, you won't even get our people to accept it, let alone the miners." "Yes, it will be very difficult." "That doesn't preclude us from telling them, of course." "BALDWIN:" "But it still isn't enough, Mr Pugh." "We must have a straight answer to this question." "There can be no further room for doubt." "THOMAS:" "Well, what we are suggesting doesn't differ very much, Mr Prime Minister, from your own ideas on the subject." "The colliers will have to declare their unqualified acceptance of the report, including wage reductions." "THOMAS:" "Well, suppose we say that the Samuel Report may, not must, but may result in pay cuts." "Yes, well, I'm bound to say that in my judgement, anything as vague as that has no hope whatever of being acceptable to Cabinet." "However, it may at least be useful if we write down your exact words for the consideration of the Cabinet." "Would you go ahead, Jimmy?" "THOMAS:" "Well, the best we could do is urge the miners to accept the Samuel Report." "THOMAS:" "No, not "accept"." ""To enter into a discussion"." "That sounds better." "To authorise us to enter into a discussion," "I think that's more definite." "On the understanding that they accept the report..." "And that we accept the report." "And that they and we accept the report as a basis for settlement." "And now comes the tricky bit." "And that we approach it with the knowledge that this may involve some reduction in wages." "Good, pretty good." "What do you say, Walter?" "Yes, but, er..." "Whether the miners will accept it or not, I don't know." "They'll have to." "We accept it." "Doesn't matter what the miners or anybody else says." "Now, will you read it out, Lord Birkenhead?" "Yes." "Good evening, sir." "I'm sorry you've been called back." "How long have they been in here?" "Two or three hours." "Where are they?" "Come this way." "I'm so sorry you've been called back." "Just this way." "Just this way." "Did you manage to get a train easily?" "What the bloody hell is going on inside here?" "All this messing about..." "How are you?" "All right." "How long have you been in here?" "(ALL TALKING AT ONCE)" "Isn't it about time you do something?" "Where do you think that's going to leave us now?" "This way, please, gentlemen." "Oh, Tom, can I have a word?" "Yes, boss." "Excuse me." "Yes?" "Is the PM still in there?" "Yes." "Well, Marlow, the editor of The Mail has just telephoned." "Apparently, the printers have suppressed the paper." "They just don't like the leading article." "Good lord." "Yes, apparently, it's highly political." "And they just refused to print it." "Better tell the PM." "Excuse me, Prime Minister." "The Daily Mail..." "There'll be no Black Fridays here, Thomas." "Oh, don't start that." "Black Fridays?" "Your task was to wage war, not accept peace." "You can sell your own workers down the river, you're not selling ours." "We are not going into slavery." "There is no question..." "You ought to do a little bit more fighting and a little less crawling." "My men have had to accept wage reduction..." "And you want us to do the same!" "And you want us to do the same!" "Not at all." "Not at all!" "That's what you mean in saying concession, that we should accept lower wages." "I'm telling you, we are not doing that." "Very fact that you illustrate to us what you've done to your members means that you're expecting t'same of us." "It's just not on." "I did not do that." "You're inferring that to us." "Now, listen..." "A little bit more fighting and a little less crawling and everything will be all right." "Arthur, one moment." "Now, you know where I stand and as long as I am on this General Council, there will be no sell-out." "But let's be honest about this, conference took a decision." "Well, you better hurry up!" "It was a decision for strike." "It was a decision for strike." "Let him talk." "But, but it didn't exclude negotiations." "Negotiations in consultation with the miners." "Now, as it so happens, you was out of town." "That wasn't our fault." "Right?" "I'm not saying you shouldn't have been out of town, but we could not ignore the possibility, right, of negotiations of an honourable settlement." "While we were out of town, the possibility of forcing us into..." "No, not at all." "Arthur..." "Arthur Cook sent for us back from those districts." "And we expected from you something that we could offer our members." "But what have we got?" "Nothing." "Nothing at all." "You've let us down." "(ALL ARGUING)" "We're negotiating the best we can." "Gentlemen, the Prime minister would like to see the negotiating committee now." "We're not ready yet." "Discussions are still going on." "I'm afraid he wants you up there immediately." "Oh, let him wait." "And don't promise him owt." "MAN:" "There's something wrong here." "There's something going on." "Don't bloody sell us out." "Well, if you won't... (ALL TALKING AT ONCE)" "(INDISTINCT)" "MAN:" "Shut the buggers out, Jack." "Shut the bloody door." "MAN 2:" "Let that stink go and all." "Look." "Look, Arthur, now, I appreciate your suspicions." "I understand them, but don't worry." "As long as I'm on this council, there is absolutely no chance of any sell-out." "(KNOCKING)" "The task of the peacemaker is hard, gentlemen." "Since we were here an hour ago, an incident has happened that the Cabinet takes such a serious view of" "that they've instructed me to break off negotiations and to convey their decision to you in this letter." "But I thought having regard to all you gentlemen had done to try to affect an honourable peace, a courtesy demanded I tell you personally." "THOMAS:" "But why?" "What's happened?" "Several things, Mr Thomas." "While we were discussing with you and trying to reach an agreement, what we didn't know was that the TUC had already sent out instructions by telegram calling for a cessation of work." "But surely..." "That we might possibly have overlooked." "What we cannot tolerate is interference with the freedom of the press." "The press?" "How do they fit into it?" "Union members employed at the Daily Mail have tonight refused to print the paper." "Good God!" "And that is something no responsible government can tolerate." "But on what grounds did they refuse to print the paper?" "Because of an editorial, which politically they disagreed with." "They must be ordered back to work." "We'll disown 'em." "It's too late for that, Mr Thomas." "This represents a direct challenge and can't go on." "But I'm grateful to you gentlemen for all you've done, but these negotiations are now over." "Everything has been thrown back into the melting pot." "PUGH:" "But you're not being fair to us." "The General Council knew nothing at all about this business of The Mail." "I know that, Mr Pugh." "But unfortunately, the extremists, the hotheads, have at last succeeded in making it impossible for more moderate people to reach an agreement." "But I've been happy to meet you all." "And I believe that should we live, we shall meet again to settle it." "If we live." "Good night, gentlemen." "Hello." "I want the Palace, please, and His Majesty's private secretary." "Wigram, Clive Wigram." "Thank you." "Wigram here." "Oh, hello." "Thomas Jones here." "I hope I didn't get you out of bed." "Well, you did." "I'm so sorry." "I have to inform you that The Daily Mail has ceased to function." "The what has ceased to function?" "The Daily Mail." "Uh, don't be alarmed in the morning." "I don't want His Majesty to go off at the deep end when he hears." "That is why I'm telephoning you now." "But we don't take The Daily Mail orthe Daily Express." "Ah, don't you?" "No, but, um, thanks for telephoning." "Oh, not at all, not at all." "Good night." "We must inform the government that we regret any incidents that may have happened and insist that we are not responsible." "Yes, we repudiate what's happened at The Mail but at the same time, we object to the way they've used it to break off negotiations." "Yes, that should do it." "All right." "My God, what a load of bloody rubbish." "Bloody pathetic, that's what I think about it." "I must agree with you there." "And the bloody beer's awful as well." "It tastes a lot bloody better than this." "I've had it better in bloody Barnsley." "Yeah, a lot better in Barnsley." "Aye." "It seems to me..." "That beer's about as good as bloody Thomas." "It seems to me we're not going to get very far." "I agree with you there, Richardson." "Well, who's taking it up?" "Well, I think you ought to." "All right." "Okay, Walter." "Right." "He's best to take it up, is he?" "I wonder where they'll be?" "I don't know." "Can't hear anybody about." "Let's try the offices upstairs." "Okay." "Hello?" "What is it you want?" "Oh, where's the Prime Minister?" "In bed, of course." "Is Mr Jones about, then?" "He left half an hour ago." "It's nearly three o'clock in the morning, you know." "Yes, well, if that's the case, I suppose we'd better go." "Can I help you?" "Uh, no, I don't think so." "Thank you." "Sorry to have disturbed you." "That's all right." "You know your way?" "Yes." "Yes, I think so." "(ALL CHATTERING)" "They don't even know whether they're in or out." "What's going on?" "Do you know what's going on?" "Go wait outside, please." "(ALL CLAMOURING)" "Council is meeting." "You will all have an answer very soon." "Go to your own unions, we can't give a statement until the Council has met." "No." "Any gentlemen of the press, please come inside." "Could you please clear this room of everybody except press?" "I'm afraid there's absolutely nothing we can tell you" "until the Council makes a statement." "You must have some sort of information." "I'm afraid there's nothing we can tell you." "I'm sorry, there's no statement to make until the General Council has met." "What's going on?" "I'm afraid I can't tell you." "MAN:" "I represent The Times and I would like to know whether or not the General Council has made any provision for essential supplies." "MAN 2:" "And I represent the building workers." "(ALL CHEERING)" "All right, what we want to know is are we supposed to be in or out?" "PHIL:" "Look, I'm sorry, sir..." "Listen, brother, we stopped the job at 8:00 this morning and sent for the officials." "We had 'em all lined up, 18 of 'em representing the different trades, and then they went and read out a different set of instructions." "Where are you supposed to go from there, eh?" "Yeah." "Yes." "Is it true that two Russian divisions have already left Archangel, on their way to land at Wick?" "(ALL LAUGHING)" "I appreciate your concern but I'm afraid there's nothing we can tell you yet until the General Council comes out with its statement, which hopefully will be very soon." "The only thing I can tell you is pending that decision, if you can consult your own unions, but meanwhile, if we could please clear this room of everybody except press." "Just give us a help, will you?" "Can you give us a statement, Mr MacDonald?" "Anything?" "All I can tell you is that the General Council is still in session." "Were you called in by them, Mr MacDonald?" "No, I came as leader of the Labour Party, to offer assistance and advice." "Yes, and what do you think of the general strike, sir?" "Young man, with the discussion of general strikes, Bolshevism and all that kind of thing, I have nothing at all to do." "I respect the constitution." "Yes, sir, but now that the general strike has actually happened, sir?" "I don't like general strikes." "I have said so in the House of Commons." "I don't like them at all." "Honestly, I don't." "But honestly, what can be done?" "Thank you very much." "Thank you, sir." "PHIL:" "Can I please ask you once again just to leave the room and leave everybody except the press here?" "(ALL SHOUTING)" "From your own union, it's your own unions who will tell you what to do." "It's what you say it is." "Think the organisation is safe?" "(ALL CHATTERING)" "Mary." "Mary, call them in now, please." "Sorry to have kept you gentlemen waiting." "After this press conference, each one of you will receive a statement, which is the General Council's reply to the government's calling off of negotiations." "Saying how much we deplore that the sincere work which Council has been engaged in to obtain an honourable settlement has been wrecked by the government's unprecedented ultimatum." "Pay no attention to what you've heard or what you've been told." "This is not a revolution." "This is not something where we say we're going to overthrow everything." "It's merely a plain industrial dispute." "With all respects, Mr Thomas," "I don't see how you can call it a plain industrial dispute when practically every industry in the country's out." "What you have now is a general strike." "THOMAS:" "That's not true." "I've got figures to prove it." "It's the government that talks about the general strike, not us." "Nevertheless, the response to the strike has been tremendous, not only railwaymen and transport workers but all other trades came out in a manner which we could not expect immediately." "The difficulty of the General Council is to keep men in what we might call a second line of defence, rather than call them out." "The government are bringing out a newspaper called the British Gazette." "Have you any plans to bring out a newspaper?" "Yes." "We'll be taking over the Daily Herald and we'll produce a strike bulletin." "What do you intend to call it?" "The British Worker." "What about the Communist Party, Mr Bevin?" "What about them?" "There's at least one party member on every trades council in London, let alone the provinces." "And on the trades council executive there are at least five." "Does this worry you at all?" "The TUC is quite capable of keeping their own house in order." "MAN:" "Hear, hear." "But they're setting up Councils of Action." "A title we disapprove of." "Why?" "The word "Action"" "implies something that's outside the scope of what are basically nothing more than ordinary strike committees involved in an industrial dispute." "MAN:" "It's a title that has certain revolutionary connotations." "Perhaps it does to some people." "Like the word "Soviets"." "Maybe." "The danger of communist agitators trying to take over control of the strike is there, of course, which is why we want a tight, disciplined army." "But at the same time, the members of my own union at Widnes in Lancashire always end their meetings with God Save The King." "You see, the OMS, look at them, they are riddled with fascists." "And the special constabulary, walking about the streets like Black and Tans, intimidating people and deliberately attempting to stir up trouble." "Mr Swales, are you really seriously drawing a comparison between the police force..." "Um, as of now, we're on the Press and Publicity Committee." "Oh, yes, who says?" "The big fellow moved and I seconded it." "I see." "How's Sarah, Phil?" "She's fine, she's fine." "Very well." "I, uh..." "I hear she's active on one of these Councils of Action." "Yeah, well, you know how people get involved." "Not that I mind her being involved at all." "Well, providing she knows what she's doing." "Mmm." "Oh, I think she knows what she's doing, all right." "But I would tell her to watch herself." "How do you mean, exactly?" "Well, they'll use her in exactly the same way as they tried to use me, Phil." "But surely, Arthur, the Labour Party's involved in these Councils of Action." "But how many Labour MPs' wives, Phil?" "I mean, don't think I'm poking me nose in, but here's us in there, arguing against the setting up of these councils, and there's your Sarah." "Hmm." "I see what you mean." "Does, uh..." "Does Bevin know?" "Well, if he does, he hasn't said anything." "But when the parties start bandying her name around, and you know they will, and these fellows get to hear of it, well, to say the least, it could be embarrassing." "I mean, perhaps Sarah doesn't know." "Perhaps she doesn't realise, but if I was you, I'd certainly have a word with her." "Hmm." "Think about it." "Yeah." "Yes, I will." "Thanks, Alfred." "Hey!" "Stop it!" "Come on, lady, it's all right." "Come off with us." "Come on." "It shouldn't be at the depot." "Come on, lady." "Look, my fine fellow, you've no right to stop this bus." "Now, look, you're breaking the law." "Look, I know the Chief Constable!" "Look, now people here are waiting to get to work!" "Now, move!" "(ALL ARGUING, INDISTINCT)" "Come on, get off the bus." "That's it." "Come out." "(HORN TOOTING)" "(ALL SHOUTING)" "Jane, where's your mum?" "(SPEAKING SOFTLY)" "She's where?" "You being a good girl?" "See you in a minute." "SARAH:" "Well, I'm sure you're all very aware of the new Emergency Powers Act, which the government's just introduced and what this, in fact, actually is going to mean to us, which is that the police are going to have far, far greater powers" "of arrest than they've had up till now." "And Mr Connors, who's a solicitor I'm sure some of us know already, is going to tell us precisely what this Act means and how we can best defend ourselves against it." "(TYPEWRITER CLACKING)" "CONNORS:" "It is absolutely essential that you understand this Act, that you understand how sweeping the new powers are, because you're in a very, very defenceless position." "All army leave has been cancelled, all navy leave has been cancelled, troops are being stationed all over the country, and here in London, troops are being placed in barracks which are close to the large working-class areas." "Now, those troops will be moved eventually against the people in those areas, because the government is no longer playing about." "SARAH:" "Sorry, do you think we could stop the typing for a minute?" "I think it's really important that we hear what Jim says." "In the first instance, it means that the government can literally do anything it wants without even having to consult Parliament." "All traditional democratic liberties have been abolished and will remain so for the duration of the Emergency." "All it needs is a special constable or a policeman or a soldier to decide that you are likely to commit an offence and that's it." "You can be arrested, taken before the courts, where you will have to prove your innocence." "Already a man has been arrested for defacing a government poster." "Another man found chalking slogans on the pavement is in jail for six weeks with hard labour and a fine of £200." "BEN:" "It stands to reason, Jim, that some of us here, if not all of us, are going to get lifted, doesn't it?" "I mean is there any practical advice?" "We could walk out of here and get picked up, couldn't we?" "Or they could..." "Yeah, they could come into your home and lift you." "I mean, is there any practical advice that you can give us if that happens?" "MAN:" "Yeah, you keep your mouth shut." "Well, it is true that we can expect increasing attacks on our picket lines by the respectable middle-class gentlemen of the OMS." "They've been training for a year for just that, and they'd be very disappointed if they didn't have a go at us." "So, that's why we've been discussing the formation of Workers Defence Guards." "But again, it's essential that this group be defensive." "It must not become offensive." "It is only to protect the picket lines." "I just want to back what Jim says." "I think that it's now time that we form Workers Defence Guards in order to start protecting ourselves because we're going to need to." "I don't think we can count on any protection at all from the civil authority," "I think all we can count on from them is hostility." "And I think it's essential that we have some means of defending ourselves against them." "ALL:" "Hear, hear!" "WOMAN:" "I don't suppose you're going to get picked up anyway, 'cause your old fellow is a Member of Parliament." "I don't see what difference that makes." "WOMAN:" "And what about food when we run out?" "Well, Peter, do you want to say something?" "The Relief Committee is raising the funds for the maintenance-of-families kitty." "And on top of that, Comrade Chairman, we've made a deal with the Co-op to issue credit vouchers." "WOMAN:" "There's at least 50 trades councils in London and they're not under one main body or anything and wouldn't it be better if they were?" "So that we could work together and help each other?" "Well, you'd think it would be obvious, love." "You're right." "But it's not happening." "I mean, the TUC's the only body that can do that." "We wrote to them offering them our services and all we got back was a letter of appreciation." "It looks like they don't want to trust workers to be on any committees." "And on top of that, they've set up their own committee to deal with the likes of permits, coal, gas and electric." "And other main supplies." "But it's a committee that they can keep a watchful eye on." "But the worst thing is that it was done under the authority of Bevin and that other well-known left-winger, Purcell." "I think they've decided to give us the bypass." "MAN 1:" "They're trying to sabotage us, brother." "MAN 2:" "You're right, brother." "BEN:" "Can I come in here, Sarah?" "Speaking as a member of the Communist Party, sitting on the Council of Action," "I just want to say that it seems to me there's a lot of people on the TUC who are more interested in preventing the working class from organising to win this strike than they are in actually overthrowing the government" "and getting a fair deal for the miners." "I mean, we know what Bevin's like, but it comes a bit of a sickener when you find out that Purcell's tarred with same brush." "MAN:" "It's your party, brother, that sold 'em to us." "Yes, I know that." "I know." "In good faith, mind you." "But I shall bring that up at the next Party meeting." "What annoys me, Miss Madam Chairman, is that the TUC have bypassed the rank and file in this movement, and it's they who'll win the strike, it's them, the rank and file who'll win the strike," "not the trade union officials." "Hear, hear." "Yeah, that's right." "I'm sure we all absolutely agree with what Harry's just said." "And that's why it's so important that we all work hard and make this Council of Action a really effective body." "And it's 10 past 6:00." "I think we ought to close the meeting, as I'm sure some people have got picket duty to do, and the rest of us have got supper to make or whatever." "So, if we meet at the same time tomorrow, is that...?" "(ALL AGREEING, APPLAUDING)" "I was just thinking, if you could manage to get in, say, every evening for an hour..." "(ALL CHATTERING)" "MAN:" "Hello, Phil." "I'll see you tomorrow morning." "Okay, love." "Bye-bye." "What did you think of it, then?" "I think it's, uh... (CLEARS THROAT) very impressive." "I think it's bloody marvellous." "It's a good turn-out, yes." "I'm not so sure about some of your policies, though." "Such as?" "Well, Workers Defence Guards, for example." "Well, if you don't agree with it, why didn't speak out in the meeting?" "And get myself quoted by the Party with Workers Daily?" "You've been a quoted often enough man in the past." "When you used to go around meetings, speaking for release of Harry Pollitt, you didn't mind them quoting you then, did you?" "That was a different situation." "In any case, I've no intention of being used." "And I am, I suppose." "You think I am?" "Yes, I do." "What you're saying is you think I should give it up." "No, that's not what I'm saying." "I can tell by the look on your face." "Look, I don't mind you being active." "As long as it doesn't embarrass you." "That's not what I said." "I've embarrassed you ever since you became an MP, haven't I?" "Oh, don't be ridiculous." "That's why you never brought anybody home, 'cause you were frightened I might show you up." "Look, let's not have a scene." "Well, then just stop all this patronising shit." "HARRY:" "Can I have a word with you, Sarah?" "I'll be coming in a minute, Harry." "Don't be long." "Charlie wants to get away." "I should've been away half an hour ago." "SARAH:" "Honest, I won't be a minute, Charlie." "I'm not going to give this up, Phil." "I'm not asking you to give it up." "That's what you're coming to, though, in the end, isn't it?" "Look, all I want is to point out certain things of which you may be unaware." "Will you stop talking down to me?" "People are watching." "Let 'em!" "(SIGHS) We'll discuss it afterwards." "I was hoping we could just go and have a quiet drink somewhere by ourselves." "And what are we going to do about the kids?" "Ben can take 'em, they'll be all right with him." "Will you go and ask him while I go and talk to Harry?" "All right." "Ben." "What?" "Is it all right if you take the kids back?" "We've got a problem getting it out, Sarah." "Do you reckon we can organise something with one of yours?" "Thanks." "Cheers." "Down with the government." "MAN:" "Cheers." "I'll drink to that." "Go on, have a drink to that." "Yes, I'll drink." "Remember that Lansbury meeting when you got up and made a speech?" "Oh, yeah, yeah." "The police came crashing in on all of us drunken patriots." "And when you were trying to get to us, all those women got hold of us and spat on me." "Happy days." "I'm surprised you can say that after what happened." "I don't know." "It all seemed so much simpler then." "I mean, we were both for socialism and against the world." "The military's almost part of the system so you were a socialist if you opposed it." "All seemed a lot less complicated." "And it was fun." "Fun?" "Not fun exactly, but..." "What, more exhilarating, stimulating?" "Well, we always found time to wink at each other." "Don't you ever think about those days?" "Yes, I do." "Often." "I know I do." "But Sarah, unless you want to remain an ineffective romantic all your life, you've got to grow up." "You've got to see things as they really are." "If you'd have walked into that meeting 10 years ago, you wouldn't have just said, "Very impressive."" "Well, it was impressive." "You'd have had your coat off and your sleeves rolled up." "I'd have had to drag you away." "Oh, love." "I've been through all that." "You've changed, Phil." "Of course I've changed." "Your ideas." "Nonsense." "You have." "I have changed, in the sense that I now know what is practical and what isn't." "Let's face it, love." "You're not the man I married." "No use kidding ourselves." "What, in other words, I've defected, I've gone over to the other side?" "Is that what you mean?" "No." "Well, what do you mean, then?" "You've gone stale." "You've gone to seed." "No, you..." "You just seem to be half-dead now." "(SCOFFS) Thanks very much." "I'm being serious, Phil." "It's important." "Ten years ago..." "Will you stop talking about what happened 10 years ago?" "Well, take Ben, for instance." "Yeah, I wondered when his name would crop up." "Well, 10 years ago, he didn't have a political idea in his head." "He still hasn't got one." "Like all those bloody Communists, heads filled with slogans and very little else." "But at least he's making tracks in the right direction." "You think so?" "Yes, I do." "Look, love, the trouble with all those Communists, as I've told you endless times before," "I mean, they're completely defeated by naivety." "They know nothing of the political machinery." "I mean, they can churn as many ideologies out as they..." "I thought we'd come here to talk about me and this Council of Action." "Yes." "Well... (EXHALES)" "To put it to you plainly, I want you to resign as Chairman." "Though of course you can still remain active." "Thanks." "As long as you don't stick your neck out." "Whose neck?" "Yours or mine?" "It's not you that they're after." "It's me." "The Communists want to show that I support them and the Councils of Action against TUC advice." "(EXHALES) You arrogant sod!" "Well, I see Ben's been getting at you." "Don't you ever think I have an idea of me own?" "Yeah, but it's obvious." "You know, sometimes I really wish I had more faith in the Communist Party." "I'd join it just to show you." "Look, if I thought for one minute that the Communists were on the right line," "I'd say, "Go ahead." I mean, I wouldn't hesitate." "I'd be all for it." "Phil, every time you open your mouth, you put your foot in it." "What are you talking about?" "(IMITATING) "I'd say go ahead, I'd be all for it, I'd tell you to..."" "What do you think I am, Phil, a numbskull?" "(SIGHS) I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression." "Let's not get formal." "Come on, just tell me what you think." "All right, then." "What do you think the average person expects to get from this strike?" "I think they want, firstly, a decent deal for miners." "Right." "Exactly." "Well, so do we and so do the leaders of the Communist Party, but there are elements in the Party who don't think that way." "What they want to turn this into is a political struggle against the state." "Isn't that what it ought to be?" "Or is, in fact?" "You can't say that, Sarah." "You can't use the strike as a political weapon to bring down a government." "The government are using political weapons against the miners, aren't they?" "This government has been elected, right?" "Whether you like it or not." "So it's got a duty to defend the constitution." "If we start..." "If we start challenging that, we'll just be falling into a trap." "Therefore, this dispute is essentially an industrial one." "Oh, bugger the constitution." "You know as well as I do that the working class in this country are conned into voting against their own real interests." "We don't have a democracy." "We have the appearance of one, not the reality." "(SIGHS) Well, what do you want, then, eh?" "What do you suggest?" "Well, let's just see what happens now, first of all." "(SIGHS)" "And of course, Winston's making trouble with the BBC." "In what way?" "Well, it appears that Winston, with his usual diplomatic tact, is insisting on treating the BBC as if it were some sort of offshoot of the Gazette." "Good Lord." "What on earth for?" "Well, according to him, the field of battle is no longer transport but the news." "And poor Reith is very vexed." "I gave him the Gazette to keep him out of trouble." "Well, I'm terrified of what he's going to do next." "He seems to think that every man on strike's a Communist." "If the government take over the BBC, it'll be disastrous." "The very people we want to influence will cease to listen." "They'll regard everything that's transmitted as propaganda." "You try telling Winston that." "Doesn't he realise we already have control over the BBC?" "And that Reith can't move a step in any direction without the approval of Davidson?" "Well, that was my argument." "Reith's a sensible chap." "He's already instructed all stations not to broadcast anything that might extend the strike." "JONES:" "Yes, we have a letter from Reith where he says that he assumes the BBC is for the people and the government is for the people." "Therefore, it follows that the BBC must be for the government in this time of crisis." "Well, Winston will have to be told and the Cabinet will have to deal with it." "As the Prime Minister says, we already control the BBC." "And in such a way that it preserves the image of impartiality." "And at the same time allowing Reith to save face." "Yes, exactly." "Thank you." "What are we going to do about Samuel, Tom?" "Nothing, I hope." "He might just as well go back to Italy." "It'll be interesting to hear what he has in mind, Prime Minister." "Try to negotiate a settlement, I imagine." "SIR ARTHUR:" "But we've already stated our terms." "General strike isn't something the government can negotiate about." "Yes." "When he was Chairman of the Coal Commission," "Samuel got on very well with the TUC." "And if he's now prepared, on his own initiative, to reopen talks with the members of the General Council, well, perhaps this is something we ought to encourage." "Yes, but without the authority of the government." "Well, of course." "But this must be clearly understood, so that in any future talks we are in no way committed." "For us the position is clear, the TUC will have to capitulate, total surrender, complete and unconditional." "JONES:" "But with him acting the role of intermediary..." "SIR ARTHUR:" "Unofficially." "Yes." "And perhaps he'd help to widen the difference that already exists between the moderates of the trade unions and the miners." "Personally, I think this is an opportunity too good for us to miss." "Very well, then." "Draft out a letter to Samuel on those lines." "Tell him that the government isn't able under existing circumstances to make themselves responsible for any negotiations, but that, uh, we're prepared to consider any proposals he might care to put to us." "Oh, I think that's fair." "So, is there anything else, Tom?" "No, I don't think so." "Is Lord Reading here?" "Yes, sir." "And Mrs Snowden." "Oh." "This way, sir." "Mr Thomas, how nice to see you." "How good of you to come." "My dear Jimmy, how good of you..." "I tried to get here as soon as possible." "Oh, I'm sure you did." "I think you know everybody here." "Oh, I do believe you've never met Professor Harvey." "How do you do?" "How do you do?" "(ALL TALKING AT ONCE)" "Mr Stalldon you know." "Fine." "And this is Selwyn Davies." "How do you do?" "Please to meet you." "Hello, Jimmy." "What about a drink?" "Yes, a drink." "Jimmy, you must be absolutely exhausted." "It really is good of you to come." "Nice to have you!" "(LAUGHING)" "MAN:" "That is good to hear, Jimmy." "WOMAN:" "Wonderful!" "WOMAN:" "All this fuss about the money that's spent by the Prince of Wales." "WOMAN 2:" "It's too ridiculous, isn't it?" "Really." "And travel is good for trade." "If only these street-corner orators would realise that the Royal Family are the most hard-working people." "And I speak as a socialist and a Democrat." "MAN:" "In situations of this nature, of course, all types of elements tend to come to the surface, don't they?" "Well, you get all shades of opinion in my party." "Some of them even anti-monarchist." "Now..." "I have been privileged enough on a number of occasions to meet His Majesty." "And I can assure you that nobody has ever been more courteous to anybody than he was to me." "(ALL AGREEING)" "You must speak as you find." "MAN:" "I think it's important not to underestimate the power of the extremists and indeed the Communist Party, one must be aware." "Now there's..." "There's extremists in all parties." "You've got your extremists and we've got ours." "You've got control of your extremists but so have we." "(ALL SPEAKING AT ONCE)" "Well, anyway, whatever the outcome of the strike will not resolve the problem of the markets." "We still have to produce things more cheaply" "than our competitors." "That's very true, very true." "But not only at the expense of the workers." "Oh, no, no, no, no." "Everybody must pull their weight." "LADY WIMBORNE:" "What about emigration?" "WOMAN:" "I beg your pardon?" "Emigration." "MAN:" "Well, what about it, my lady?" "Well, I should have thought that one humane solution to the problem of the unemployed would be for some of the workers and their families to emigrate." "MAN:" "Where to?" "Ah, well..." "Australia," "Canada, New Zealand," "America." "Mr Thomas, I'm sure your people would prefer that to being constantly unemployed." "It must be so humiliating for..." "It is, Lady Wimborne, but I don't think my members would fancy very much being forced to emigrate..." "LADY WIMBORNE:" "Not forced." "...just because society couldn't cope." "MAN:" "I quite agree." "WOMAN:" "Yes." "Besides, it costs money." "Uh, Rogers." "Dismiss the servants, will you, and wait outside." "Don't come back unless I call." "Yes, my lord." "MRS SNOWDEN:" "Although many do a good day's work, there are a great many people who have no intention..." "No." "I'm afraid that's true." "MRS SNOWDEN:" "Look at the number of people who are forced onto the dole." "MAN 1:" "I think, Mrs Snowden, "forced" is just too strong a word." "I think they're voluntarily there." "I think they have no desire to work." "MAN 2:" "There are so many who wish to work and just haven't got the work, Lady Wimborne." "Did you know that Samuel is back in London, Jimmy?" "No." "I thought he was supposed to be in Italy?" "Yes." "I met him this afternoon at the Reform Club." "He seems pretty keen to get things going." "About time somebody set the ball rolling." "Hmm." "Matter of fact, he asked me to pass on a message to you." "Yes?" "Wants to know if you'd be willing to organise a meeting between him and the negotiating committee." "It would have to be on the hush-hush." "Oh, I understand that." "Well, if you like, you can use this place, Jimmy." "No, but thanks all the same." "I mean..." "Mrs Snowden's got a big mouth," "and if she's seen us..." "Of course, I understand." "I think I might be able to arrange a meeting at Bryanston Square." "You know, Abe Bailey's place." "The mining millionaire?" "He's an old pal of mine." "Truth is not the property of any one class." "I never pay any attention to things like that." "How do you think the miners will react?" "Oh, they mustn't be told." "That would ruin everything." "Let's try and get something out of it first," "before we bring them in." "Yes, definitely." "How rigid are the miners?" "Well, the miners have taken such a hammering," "I'm sure they're ready to accept the Samuel Report, wage cuts and all." "Really?" "Yes." "If it's handled right." "Well, it does surprise me." "It's more than we've been led to believe." "If it hadn't been for them bloody printers down at The Mail, we could've forced it on the miners a week ago and there wouldn't have been any strike." "MAN:" "But this issue of The Mail raises serious issues." "It's a question of the freedom of the press, isn't it?" "Mmm-hmm." "It's absolutely disgraceful" "if one's not allowed..." "I should be interested to know what comes out of this." "We must keep in touch." "Yes, but don't forget what I told you." "Keep it under your hat." "Oh, yes, of course." "(TELEPHONE RINGING)" "Selwyn Davies for you." "Yes, put him through, will you, please?" "Hello, Selwyn." "Tom here." "Tom, this is just to let you know that they're meeting at Sir Abe Bailey's house." "Oh, that's all right, is it?" "Yes, he's very keen on the idea." "Well, I'll let the Prime Minister know." "Ah, is he returning to Wimborne House at all?" "Yes, I think he will be." "Good." "Well, I think we should keep these meetings going." "And you'll keep in touch, will you?" "Yes, indeed I will." "Righto, Selwyn." "Bye, now." "Bye, Tom." "Whisky, Sir Herbert?" "Just a small one." "Oh, Jim, what about you?" "Ta." "Perhaps the others won't be coming." "Oh, don't worry, Abe." "They'll be along." "What about you?" "Just a little." "You know, we thought it best to leave the TUC separately, in case anybody saw us." "THOMAS:" "There's reporters all over the place." "Yes, yes, I'm sure there are." "That's probably why they're late." "Well, I'm sure you fellows want to talk, so I'll leave you to it." "THOMAS:" "Don't let us turn you out, Abe." "No, no, I've got things to do anyway." "And make yourselves at home." "Help yourselves to anything you want." "And the servants have been forbidden to enter this room while you're here." "So, if you do want anything, you'll have to ring for it." "SAMUEL:" "Thank you." "My pleasure." "Excuse me, gentlemen." "THOMAS:" "Thank you, Abe." "SAMUEL:" "How many more are there?" "Just the two." "Citrine and Swales." "Well, I suggest we make a start, then." "All right?" "SAMUEL:" "Yes, I think perhaps we'd better." "WALTER:" "Our problem is that we've agreed to consult all the interested parties." "We can't risk telling the miners what we discussed with Samuel." "That'll be too dangerous altogether." "We could explain that there was no point us fetching the men until something tangible turned up." "You mean, without discussing any of the proposals?" "You know what Smith's like." "He's worse than Cook." "Aye." "Probably insist on consulting his executive." "(SIGHS)" "Well, now, let's try to think this thing out." "It's evident to me how hopeless it is to continue the strike if the intention is that in no circumstances will the miners accept any reduction in wages." "MAN:" "They'll bloody well have to." "I cannot see any possibility of us winning on this negative issue, and therefore, I disagree with you." "I think we should introduce the miners to the memorandum we've drawn up with Samuel." "And let's hope we can convince them of the effectiveness of reorganisation, and that it will minimise the possibility of wage cuts." "Yeah, I should hope so, too." "Well, I suggest we take the miners along with us to see Samuel." "Well, there's no alternative." "WALTER:" "Good idea." "Yeah, let's hope bloody Smith knows how to behave himself." "WALTER:" "Fat bloody chance." "The mine owners, on their part, say, and with truth, that the large majority of the mines cannot afford to keep working under present terms of employment without a subsidy." "And to this, the government say, also with convincing force, that they would not be justified in asking from the taxpayer a continuance of the subsidy, even for the period of renewed negotiations, unless there was a good prospect of a settlement in the end." "And that such a settlement is not possible if the miners rule out, from the start, the acceptance, in any circumstances, of one important section of the Commission's recommendations that relate to wages." "Well, you can stop right there, because we're not accepting any wage cuts." "But you haven't heard the rest, Herbert." "We don't have to hear the rest." "We're having no wage reductions." "You can stop right there." "There's to be no wage reductions." "There's no good in reading that through because we're just not agreeing to it." "You have, at least, agreed to meet Sir Herbert..." "ARTHUR:" "Yes, but we didn't know he was going to spring that on us." "Now, Arthur, the wage..." "Please, please." "Just listen to what he has to say." "Please, hear him out, and then we can discuss it." "All you're offering us is a new suit of clothes for the same body." "ALONZO:" "But hear him out." "And we're not having it." "Hear him out, and then we can discuss it." "You see, in any case, one is going to rule the other out, isn't it?" "If we accept the measures for reorganisation, then there'll be no need to revise wages..." "SAMUEL:" "Yes, but gentlemen, if you'd just listen to what I have to say." "We've made it clear, we're not prepared to consider any wage cuts at all." "But you are prepared to consider reorganisation of the industry?" "Just a moment." "Excuse me, but I was led..." "I was quite clearly led to believe that in return for adequate guarantees of a reorganisation, that they would be prepared to consider wage reduction." "HERBERT:" "Not by us, you wasn't." "Wherever you got those impressions, it wasn't from us." "We have never agreed to a reduction in wages." "So, wherever you heard them from, you haven't heard them from us." "We've always been against wage reduction." "Gentlemen, I have come here in good faith, at nobody's invitation, as chairman of the Coal Commission," "merely to try to do my best as a good citizen, to try to put things straight." "And we appreciate it." "At least some of us do." "That's not the issue at all." "Our first loyalty is to the miners." "And don't talk to us about appreciation." "It's about time you started to appreciate the working class struggle." "Oh, good Lord!" "What about us?" "What about the TUC?" "How about our loyalty to the whole of the Trade Union Movement?" "You get your instructions from the rank and file, same as us." "And if you're not satisfied the way things are going, you can recall the TUC and let them decide." "Come on." "Arthur, come on." "THOMAS:" "Aren't you going to listen?" "Let's go." "Aren't you going to listen?" "It was a waste of time to come here." "No, there's nowt doing." "We've had enough." "We're bloody well fed up." "We're going." "Listen?" "You say listen?" "We've listened long enough." "A waste of time with you people." "(ALL MUTTERING)" "Let's get going." "Let's file our reports, gentlemen." "SAMUEL:" "I got the impression from you, Mr Thomas, there was absolutely no question of a veto on wage reductions." "Don't worry about it, Sir Herbert, it's not them that makes the decision, it's us." "We are the negotiating committee." "WALTER:" "Perhaps it was a mistake after all to bring them in at this stage." "We had to." "SAMUEL:" "Of course you did." "You can see what we're up against." "I can, indeed." "I don't see how you can possibly end this strike without the miners' concurrence." "Unless we break with them." "That's for the General Council to decide." "THOMAS:" "I know what my feelings are about today's performance." "I think they treated you disgracefully." "SAMUEL:" "Oh, don't worry about that." "Well, a full report of what's happened here today will be placed before the General Council tomorrow morning." "And perhaps we could have another meeting, say, tomorrow afternoon." "Er, without the miners?" "Yes." "THOMAS:" "Yeah, certainly." "Yes." "SAMUEL:" "I'll be here, Mr Pugh, as long as I can be of some service." "Now, listen." "Nothing." "Mmm-mmm." "I got to get it going, for some information." "What's that for there?" "Gee, God!" "Look, take your ciggie away." "Should be giving your money to the Party, anyhow and not smoking them bloody things." "JANE:" "You want a cup of tea?" "Oh, yeah." "Smashing, Jane." "Thanks a lot, love." "Thanks, kid." "What are you doing, eh?" "Where's Peter?" "Next door." "What's he doing?" "Fighting with Peter and Tommy." "Well, you..." "He's hitting Tommy." "He's not, is he?" "Well, you go next door and tell him that as soon as I've finished these lists, if he's still fighting, I'll go and fight him." "All right?" "Would you like some tea?" "Oh, yeah." "Very nice." "There's no sugar in it." "Do you want some?" "Yes, I'll have some." "Did the Special give any legal warning to you?" "MAN:" "No." "(MEN TALKING, INDISTINCT)" "You sure he's going to make it tomorrow" "at the Elephant?" "Which one, love?" "Sam Sullivan." "SARAH:" "Yeah, he'd better." "WOMAN:" "It's amazing the number of people that come from the railways" "to volunteer, isn't it?" "Mmm-hmm." "Stands to reason though, doesn't it?" "General strike's one step away from the revolution." "If we don't understand that, we might as well pack up." "TUC realise it, that's why they're trying to sabotage it." "What are you trying to say, then?" "Well, what I'm saying is we should break with the TUC, the Communist Party, fight for the leadership of the strike." "But we're still a minority, how can we?" "Yeah, but working class are learning fast." "They know what the score is." "They're going to..." "They'll follow whoever comes up with the right ideas, the right answers." "But it's not as if the Party's ever been uncritical of the TUC." "Yeah, I know." "Or part of the General Council, that's always been the party line, without any sort of qualification." "PETER:" "Look, there's a reason for that, though." "WOMAN:" "Yeah, there was." "Well, 12 months before the strike started, the Communist Party cultivated this so-called left-wing bloc of Swales and Purcell inside the TUC." "And you led people to believe that somehow those men were going to act differently." "PETER:" "How did we know which way they were going to jump?" "BEN:" "Yeah, but we should know, shouldn't we, Peter?" "That's the point." "That's what we're here for." "Communist Party has to protect the working class from being betrayed by buggers like them." "At that moment in time, these people were crucial." "SARAH:" "Stop waving that bloody screwdriver, you'll do some real damage." "Oh, the facts of the matter is that we needed these people." "They were the only links we had on the General Council of the TUC that had any sympathy with the Soviet Union." "And without them, there wouldn't have been no" "Anglo-Soviet Trade Union Committee." "BEN:" "Yeah, but the point is, we don't support the Russian Revolution." "We don't promote a revolution here by supporting Labourite renegades." "I mean, look, the survival of our struggle does depend on the survival of Russia." "And the survival of Russia overrides everything else." "Does it?" "Yeah." "PETER:" "Absolutely." "The girl's right." "Russia stands like an oasis in the desert." "If we've got to make compromises and deals with the likes of Purcell in the fight to establish socialism, it's an overhead of the struggle, but it's got to be done." "WOMAN:" "We haven't got any choice." "SARAH:" "So, what you're saying, in fact, is that we're expendable?" "No!" "Yeah, but it looks that way, Sarah." "BEN:" "Supporting..." "Is there any more tea there, Sarah?" "(MEN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)" "No, I mean, the thing is that in a situation like this, you've got to trust the Party." "Because, I mean..." "We only get a very subjective view of things." "And you got to trust the leadership." "PETER:" "No such thing." "Well, there is a historical precedence, so it might be worth, you know, going into that." "It's what happened three years ago in Germany." "Where, to some extent, the situation was similar." "There was mass unemployment, hunger, hyperinflation, where the German mark went, in four weeks, from being worth five million to the pound to being worth 47 million to the pound." "Now, during this period, the workers turned to the Communist Party for leadership." "There were riots, demonstrations, there was the general strike which brought down the government." "German capitalism was facing disaster." "And yet, the Communist Party did nothing." "It refused to take power because Comrade Stalin told them not to." "PETER:" "Are you sure of your facts, Jim?" "I mean, you know more than we know." "Look, Brandler, the head of the German Communist Party, was under orders from Zinoviev, who in turn was responsible to Stalin." "And he decided..." "SARAH:" "But what exactly did Stalin say?" "He decided that the German Party wasn't mature enough and that if they took the power they might not be able to hang on to it." "PETER:" "Maybe he was right." "He reasoned that it'd be to our advantage if the Fascists attacked first." "And then, the working class would gather round the Party." "What do you make of all this, then?" "I don't really know, Ben." "If our comrades there had succeeded, then Germany today could have been a workers' state." "But then this would've dragged Russia in, and wrecked Stalin's attempts to build socialism in one country." "Which means, above all, living alongside and building friendly relations with capitalist countries." "At least, I think that was Stalin's way of thinking." "And I mention it here, now, today, because to some extent, we are facing exactly the same dilemma." "SARAH:" "What happened to the German workers?" "BEN:" "Repression." "Yeah." "The Fascists are out on the streets now in Bavaria, kicking people's heads in." "The Party is illegal there." "Nine thousand workers have been arrested and sent for trial." "Some of them have been shot "attempting to escape", as the authorities put it." "They've lost the eight-hour day, wages have dropped." "They've lost an enormous amount." "Mmm." "Same thing will happen here and all if we lose this strike." "SARAH:" "They'll walk all over us." "PETER:" "It'd be dangerous to make snap judgements, Sarah." "I mean, the situation doesn't compare here." "CONNORS:" "I'm not saying that the situation exactly compares, but in the elements that it does compare, we should study those elements." "And even so, I mean, valuable lessons are being learnt." "SARAH:" "Such as?" "Well, like leadership." "There's everything going on around us, and what's our Party newspaper telling us to do?" "Return a Labour government." "WOMAN:" "Well, what do you want them to say?" ""All power to the Soviets."" "Sod the TUC and the Labour Party," "bypass them." "WOMAN:" "What Soviets?" "Eh?" "What Soviets?" "Well, us, Councils of Action, strike committees." "It don't matter what you call them, they're the same thing." "We should be out there warning people against these bastards, not... not bloody well telling them to vote for 'em." "We've got best recruiting sergeant we could have out there working for us, and we're not using him." "WOMAN:" "What do you mean?" "Well, the strike itself." "Do you know, the working class has learnt more in five days of being on them streets than they would in five years of reading newspapers and pamphlets and voting in elections." "And we're doing nowt about it." "SARAH:" "I mean, just look at our own Council of Action." "We've got people coming in here who've never even bothered to vote before and now they're up in arms, and moving so fast," "I've got to run to catch up with them." "And what does the Party do?" "Bloody stands back with its bloody arms folded." "PETER:" "That's below the belt, Ben." "I mean, you know we're pulling our pipes out." "Listen, when I first joined the Party, you quoted Lenin at us." "Do you remember?" "Business about the hanged man?" ""We support the Labour Party as a rope supports a hanged man."" "Do you remember?" "I'm with you." "Aye." "Well, it's time we cut that rope, opened that trap and got shut, and stop messing about." "PETER:" "We aren't ready yet." "We're still in a minority." "The Bolsheviks were in a minority." "Lenin was on the run, Trotsky was in jail," "it didn't bloody stop them." "CONNORS:" "That's true." "PETER:" "You've got to trust the Party." "They'll know what they're doing." "(SARAH SIGHING)" "Sorry, love, did I wake you?" "What time is it?" "It's just after 12:00." "What's it like out?" "Quiet, is it?" "Yeah, there's not a soul about." "The streets are empty." "Did you see the, uh, the bit in the British Worker?" "No, I haven't seen the paper." "What does it say?" "It's attacking the government for not letting the Archbishop of Canterbury broadcast." "Here it is, look, front page." "So much for the neutrality of the BBC." "(LAUGHS) Oh!" "What are you laughing at?" ""Representatives of the Christian churches in England" ""are convinced that a real settlement will only be achieved" ""in a spirit of fellowship and cooperation," ""and not one of war."" "And what's wrong with that?" "What a load of old cobblers." "It's quite possible to appreciate the sincerity of the thing, without necessarily accepting what it says." "They're scared." "Concerned." "Their only concern starts happening when the workers decide that they've had enough and decide to start hitting back." "My God, Sarah, you've got so cynical." "Have I?" "(SCOFFS)" "If the strike ended tomorrow, that's the last you'd hear from them." "The miners could starve to death, if they did it quietly and didn't cause any trouble." "They make you sick." "(COUGHS)" "Budge up." "It's really not like you, you know." "Oh, come on." "Where's your leg?" "I mean, you can't just dismiss people like that." "Is this it?" "I mean, if the government really has decided to... to ban that announcement, it's a very significant thing." "SARAH:" "Mmm." "That's better." "I mean, the whole point of having that..." "I mean, you can't just censor people..." "Philip." "...like that, especially in a time of..." "Philip." "What?" "Let's forget about the bloody strike tonight, eh?" "Sod 'em all." "Sod the Archbishop of bloody Canterbury." "Nice of Lord Wimborne to send the car." "But what's the hurry?" "Something's come up." "What?" "Oh, I don't know, Jimmy." "But it's important, whatever it is." "Lord Wimborne and Lord Reading want you to try to get the strike called off immediately." "The situation is now one of the utmost urgency." "Has this got something to do with them rumours that's going round?" "Rumours?" "Well, warrants have been issued for the arrest of members of the General Council." "Oh, I don't know." "I couldn't say." "Well, you can tell Lord Wimborne that we'll probably win in the course of the day." "Very good." "I can tell you that the General Council is on the point of dissociating itself from the miners." "What exactly is your timetable?" "This afternoon you're meeting Samuel." "To get a final draft of his proposals." "Which the negotiating committee will probably accept." "And then what?" "At half past eight we meet the miners." "Put the proposals to them." "That's when the fireworks will start." "How are we going to keep in touch?" "Oh, I don't know." "Unless you come round to Eccleston Square, say about 10:00?" "Isn't that rather dangerous?" "No, not if nobody sees you." "You can mix with the crowd and I can make an excuse and nip out, tell you what's going on." "What's happening?" "We're very nearly there, but the miners have withdrawn to discuss it amongst themselves." "Do you think they'll accept?" "Not a chance, but it doesn't matter." "You tell the Prime Minister by about 2:00, it'll all be over." "And the strike will be called off?" "Yes." "Shall I come back?" "You can do." "But don't forget to tell them what's happening first." "Yes, of course I won't." "Well, I'd better get back in there." "Good luck." "(ALL CHATTERING)" "Any news from them yet?" "Nothing yet." "Where have you been?" "In the lavatory." "Hmm." "They've turned it down." "I can tell from their faces." "There was never a chance." "Wasn't even on the cards." "THOMAS:" "Well, brothers, can we call the meeting to order?" "First of all," "Mr Pugh, brother Pugh, the miners' executive wants to place on record our objection to the fact that unknown to us, further discussions took place with Samuel and members of this negotiating committee." "THOMAS:" "As we've already explained to you..." "Why were we excluded from these talks?" "Well, the General Council has an obligation to the whole movement to get a settlement as quickly as possible." "You've been on the Prime Minister's doormat ever since this bloody started." "That's a lie!" "Please withdraw that." "(MEN SHOUTING)" "ERNEST:" "Brothers, let's have none of that." "This council have no excuses to offer, no apologies to make for the conduct of this strike." "Mmm." "Well..." "It bloody should have." "What is your..." "What is your decision?" "Uh..." "Paragraph four of these proposals reads," ""There should be no revision of the previous wage rates" ""unless there are sufficient assurances" ""that the measures of reorganisation will be put into effect."" "Now, in our opinion, this leaves a hole big enough to drive a bloody horse and cart through." "Now, what we'd like here is an alteration in this paragraph so that it would then read," ""No revision of previous wage rates," ""because if the measures for reorganisation are put into effect," ""such revisions will not be necessary."" "Now this is the amendment that we would like to put before you." "I must make it absolutely plain." "There can be no amendments." "You what?" "No amendments?" "There can be no amendments." "Well, this is ridiculous, isn't it?" "Absolutely ridiculous!" "Do you realise what you're doing?" "Do you realise that you're betraying the men that you're supposed to represent?" "We have a situation where your refusal to accept this phrase..." "(MEN GRUMBLING) -...this paragraph four, which says "no revision of wages," ""unless measures are effectively adopted", your refusal has prevented us from having any real basis for reopening negotiations." "HERBERT:" "Our refusal nothing." "Our men back home have given us our instructions and we're not going to shift from them." "Gentlemen, have you considered the enormous responsibility of continuing with this strike?" "Have you considered what you're trying to ram down our throats?" "Arthur, we're trying to ram" "nothing down your throats." "Oh, yes, you are." "We simply believe that these proposals, they form a basis" "for a possible honourable settlement." "Honourable?" "Honourable nothing!" "Too ridiculous." "Well, we're not accepting it." "There will be no revision of the previous wage rates," "or conditions, and that's it." "That's right." "Then I must tell you the General Council's decision is that we accept the Samuel memorandum and that the general strike will end tonight." "(ALL MUMBLING INDISTINCTLY)" "I told you, you know." "What a bloody sell-out!" "This is the sell-out..." "What a bloody sell-out." "...we warned you about." "And we gave you the job of negotiating on our behalf." "HERBERT:" "Do you realise the serious situation you are putting yourself in?" "Are you going back without any consideration at all for the lads that's going to be victimised?" "The question of victimisation has been fully considered and need not concern you." "ALL:" "Not concern us!" "They're comrades of ours." "ERNEST:" "Herbert!" "Herbert!" "They've fought alongside us in this fight." "Of course we're concerned for them." "ERNEST:" "In support of the movement" "and the splendid solidarity..." "Oh, don't give us that." "Don't give us that." "...shown by the workers of this country..." "Don't preach to us." "...and in support of your members..." "Don't preach to us." "...will you please reconsider your decision?" "No." "You can split the movement wide open." "And most certainly be offered worse terms in the future." "Yes, yes." "Rubbish!" "What guarantee have we got that these recommendations will be accepted?" "What reliance can we put on the government that they'll accept the Samuel proposals?" "THOMAS:" "Whether you take..." "Answer that." "THOMAS:" "Whether you take our word or not, surely you can take the word of a British gentleman who was Governor of Palestine?" "I couldn't care less if he was the Governor of Timbuktu." "As far as we are concerned, we can only see what's on this table, which is wage reductions, and which is something that we will not accept under any circumstances!" "MAN:" "Not likely!" "Get us a new deal." "Look, Arthur." "Arthur, now, look." "You all know me." "Yes, I know you." "I'm prepared to fight alongside you." "And I'm prepared to suffer the consequences of fighting alongside you, if I can see some benefit and good come out of it." "But I can't, and I'm not prepared to have my friends kneeling over my throat." "COOK:" "Well, if you want to pull out, very well, pull out." "Look, the strike's on a slippery slope, now the lads are going back to work." "(ALL TALKING AT ONCE)" "THOMAS:" "Yes, they are." "They are going..." "They are going back to work and I can vouch for it!" "Not according to these figures, you know." "What are these figures?" "Your own." "From your own union." "All right, I'll answer it." "I'll read them to you." ""Locomotive engineers who have returned to work." ""Great Western, out of a total staff of 6,206," ""only 104 have returned."" "MAN:" "There you are." ""LMS, out of 14,671," ""273." ""LNER, labour force of 11,500," ""127." ""Southern, 238 out of 7,044."" "And if you want the figures of the signalmen, you can have them, too." "Now, let's get these figures in perspective." "These were produced by the District Council." "They were produced for a specific purpose." "They were produced for the press." "They were propaganda figures." "Oh, rubbish." "I'm telling you that the men are going back and those figures are suspect." "Those figures are suspect." "You are undermining this fight." "You are undermining this fight." "Now, I've got to tell you the truth." "That's what I'm here to do, to tell you the facts." "And the facts are that my men are starting to go back." "Your men are telling us that they're on our side," "they're supporting us, you're not." "Well, I'm telling you that if we don't get a return to work by next Tuesday, my men will be back to work and I shall recommend it." "(ALL SHOUTING)" "You ought to be ashamed of yourself." "You've got to face the reality of the situation." "Well, order your men back." "Order them bloody well back, because you hold them in bloody contempt, and if you people think same as him, you do as well." "Now, gentlemen, is that your final word?" "Do you refuse to accept the proposals?" "Yes, we do." "Well, I'm afraid that's it, then." "Because they imply wage cuts and we're not having it." "There's nowt doing." "Come on." "Brothers, will you not reconsider?" "The workers of this country have suffered and will continue to suffer because of the loyalty they gave us." "And if we cave in now, their sacrifice will be meaningless." "The calling off this strike rests with the General Council." "Rests with you people." "You'll have to answer to the rank and file." "They're too bloody parochial." "They think they know better themselves." "Well, I'm not prepared to put everything my union has into the pawnshop for them." "It's to be hoped the lads don't think we've let them down, though." "We've nothing to reproach ourselves for, we've worked like bloody Trojans for them." "Look, let's be quite clear about this." "If we call the strike off, does this mean that the Samuel document will be made public?" "Will the government accept what's in it, the lockout notices be withdrawn simultaneously to our ordinary resumption of work?" "Yes." "Are you sure about that?" "There's no doubt about that?" "Not the slightest." "You're sure about that?" "Yes." "(TELEPHONE RINGING)" "We don't want no backsliding." "Hello?" "Who?" "Yes, hang on just a moment." "Walter?" "Walter, phone for you." "Yes?" "(MEN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)" "Thank you." "Hello?" "It's Sir Patrick Gower, the Prime Minister's Secretary." "MAN 1:" "What does he want?" "But the Council is still in session." "Just a minute." "Seems like the PM's been sitting up for us, wants to know if we've any news for him." "MAN 2:" "Any news?" "What does he mean any news?" "Um, do we want to see him tonight?" "How could he possibly ask, or even know that we may want to see him?" "PUGH:" "Well, now that we're decided," "I suppose you'd better tell him we'll see the PM at noon tomorrow." "WALTER:" "Hello?" "Yes, the Council will be ready to see the Prime Minister at noon tomorrow." "I beg your pardon?" "I see Winston's quoting Tennyson this morning." "Yes." "Oh, thank you." "Thank you." "Now that the strike's over, or will be when we see the TUC at lunchtime, we have to decide what to do about Samuel." "His intervention has rather queered the pitch for us." "We must repudiate him at once." "That'll be difficult." "It depends how he reacts." "He's a man of stern principle and integrity." "Why don't we invite someone like Lord Reading to sit as independent Chairman of the Wages Board?" "He's very well respected." "Yes, but we're still faced with the problem of the Samuel proposals, which the TUC accepted before calling off the strike." "They're bound to suggest to the public that these proposals were in some way a condition of their calling it off." "Which of course it was not." "Still leaves us with a difficult problem." "There's only one answer." "At the very outset, even before the talks began, you made it quite clear to Samuel that he was acting on his own initiative, and the government was in no way committed." "And we have that in writing?" "Yes." "All that remains is for the government to publish the exchange of letters between Steel-Maitland and Samuel, which makes it clear." "Yes." "Yes, good." "That should do it." "And what can I do for you, gentlemen?" "Oh, we've got an appointment to see the Prime Minister." "I'm sorry, I have no record of any such appointment today." "I made the appointment with Sir Patrick Gower." "I'm sorry, gentlemen." "I cannot let you in without an appointment." "What's going on here?" "There is an appointment." "I have no record of any such appointment." "What is you want?" "To see the Prime Minister." "He's expecting us." "Why do you want to see him?" "Now, stop acting the goat." "Tell him we're here." "You must first state your business." "We've come to discuss the position." "What position?" "Oh, for Christ's sake, if this is the way they're going to treat us," "let's call the bloody thing on again." "Well, I'm sorry, but..." "We're here to discuss the termination of the strike." "Ah." "Now can we see him?" "Well, in that case, this way, please." "MAN:" "Who do they think we are?" "(MEN MUTTERING)" "The TUC are here to see you, Prime Minister." "Thank you very much." "Come in, gentlemen." "Good morning, Prime Minister." "Good morning." "Good morning, Mr Prime Minister." "Very good morning." "Mr Prime Minister." "Well, gentlemen." "We've come here, Mr Prime Minister, to tell you that the general strike is to be terminated forthwith." "I thank God for your decision." "That is the announcement that the General Council is empowered to make." "And what about the miners?" "Well, unfortunately, they have decided to continue." "Without the assistance of the TUC?" "Yes." "We feel that, in the interests of our people and the country, it's both wrong and meaningless to continue." "But unfortunately, they've seen fit to disagree." "But perhaps reason will prevail and common sense assert itself now that they're on their own." "THOMAS:" "We certainly hope so, Mr Prime Minister." "We also hope that you and your colleagues here will appreciate what a great thing we have done in calling off the strike," "and a favourable reception from you" "will be of great assistance to us." "MAN:" "Yes." "We naturally trust your word as a Prime Minister, and we're asking you to help us in a way only you can help us, by persuading the employers to make the position as simple and smooth as possible." "One thing we must avoid is guerrilla warfare." "That must be avoided at all costs." "Absolutely." "And nothing could be worse than that the great decision which we have taken should be regarded as anything but a general desire to help the country" "at a difficult moment in our history." "BALDWIN:" "Yes, well, now that you have accepted our terms of unconditional surrender, the government will do all in its power to restore order and confidence and will of course discourage any acts of recrimination among employers, although I doubt that this will be necessary." "ERNEST:" "Look, we've taken a great risk in calling the strike off, and I want to urge upon you that it must not be regarded as an act of weakness." "ALONZO:" "More an act of strength." "I beg your pardon, Mr Swales?" "More an act of strength." "ERNEST:" "I must stress Mr Thomas's point." "Are you prepared to issue a general request as Head of Government that facilities for reinstatement be issued forthwith?" "I cannot say more at this meeting now." "You know my record." "You know the object of my policy." "And I think you can trust me to consider what has been said here today with a view to getting this country quickly back into that condition which we all want to see it." "I shall do my part and I have no doubt you will do yours." "Prime Minister, the Samuel proposals, they've not been mentioned but can we take it that you will accept..." "Mr Purcell, I think you must rely on me to complete the work towards peace which you gentlemen have begun today." "The whole country will be very grateful to you." "And now, Mr Pugh, we both of us have a great deal of work to do, and the sooner you get to your work and the sooner I get to mine the better." "Oh, thank you, Mr Prime Minister." "Well, gentlemen, I think that sums up the position for the moment." "Sorry to be so persistent about this, and I don't want to take up your time, but are we meeting again on this?" "I cannot say that, Mr Bevin." "I think it may be that whatever decision I come to, the House of Commons may be the best place in which to say it." "Well, goodbye, gentlemen, and thank you again for your decision." "Goodbye, Mr Thomas." "Mr Pugh." "Prime Minister." "Mr Clynes and Purcell." "What a pathetic bunch they all are." "Their surrender was so humiliating that some instinctive breeding makes one unable to even look at them." "NEWSCASTER ON RADIO:" "Surprise for returning workers." "The men of the Stratford Works of the LNE Railway presented themselves in great numbers this morning for work and were met by the following notice." ""Arrangements are being made to reopen the Works as early as possible" ""to the men whose services are required." ""Such men will be notified at their present addresses by post" ""or other means. "" "Italian comment." "Commenting on the end of the strike, the Rome newspaper Il Giornale d' Italia says," ""Its sudden collapse is an avowal of the complete failure of the movement" ""and a great victory for Mr Baldwin's Cabinet," ""which conquered after refusing to make any parliamentary compromise" ""by means of the organisation of the public services with volunteer labour. "" "Here's a special message." "In view of the importance of a rapid reestablishment..." "Where's everybody?" "Everybody's gone, sir." "Did you see my wife?" "Yes, she's gone out for shopping." "She'll be back." "She'll be back?" "Yes." "How did the meeting go?" "Oh, terrible." "Everyone's in a very bad way." "It kicked off and all." "NEWSCASTER: ...has no power to compel employers to take back every man who has been on strike..." "SARAH:" "I don't think that's right, Ben." "SARAH:" "Philip." "BEN:" "What the hell are you doing here?" "I came to get the typewriter." "How'd your meeting go?" "Oh, as you'd expect." "How'd yours go?" "We ended up singing God Save The King, will that do you?" "BEN:" "Then we gave three hearty cheers for the Judas goats down the TUC, you know." "I'm sorry." "SARAH:" "Where were you last night?" "BEN:" "Out celebrating?" "At a meeting." "We did a bit of celebrating ourselves, didn't we, Ben?" "Thought we'd won last night." "Yes." "Yes, I know." "BEN:" "Well, that's more than we did, Phil." "We had to wait for Baldwin to tell us on the wireless before we knew." "Well, it all happened so quickly." "SARAH:" "Didn't happen that quick." "It wasn't too quick for your pal Bevin to go spouting about what a wonderful victory he'd won, were it?" "PHILIP:" "Ben, if you want an argument... (LAUGHS) If I want an argument." "I'll say I want a bloody argument!" "SARAH:" "What are they up to now, then, eh?" "What's the latest?" "Oh, it's all a bit vague and disorganised, but Citrine's sending out telegrams to the lads telling them not to resume work till they get instructions from their own unions." "BEN:" "That's if he gets 'em back at all." "So we can avoid a stampede." "Plus, of course, the fact that we want assurances there'll be no victimisations." "BEN:" "You what?" "What assurances?" "You're not saying they've thrown the towel in without any guarantees on jobs or owt?" "Well, as far as I can gather, they were under the impression that that was part of the deal but..." "SARAH:" "And now they find out that it isn't?" "Well, is it or isn't it?" "No, I'm afraid not." "Seems the employers have been given a free hand." "What a miserable bunch of cowardly bastards, you included!" "Good God, your words meant nothing!" "SARAH:" "Ben." "Not even our jobs back?" "We could have got exactly what we wanted." "We had it there and you stole it straight out of our hands." "God!" "PHILIP:" "Nothing to do with me." "Of course it's to do with you." "It's you as well." "You stand round there peeping through keyholes, watching it going on." "And then you see something you can't handle, so you get frightened, you turn tail and give the keys back to the jailer." "And now you'll plunder what we fought for." "No good standing there with your face like a new smacked arse, Ben's right." "You think so?" "I'm ashamed of you, Philip." "Even if you weren't built for this kind of excitement, the least you could have done was to warn us." "PHILIP:" "How could I, if I didn't know?" "I never thought you'd end up a closet on their side." "Well, at least now you and I know where we stand, don't we?" "Philip, I'm not saying that you're personally corrupt or owt like that." "Thank you very much." "It's your politics that we're on about." "You're a social democrat, and social democrats always betray." "BEN:" "It's what you stand for that counts." "You believe in Parliament, and Parliament's just one big open sore and if you touch it, you're infected." "It's their club, you finish up playing for their team." "Likewise the TUC." "Why, when we were winning, did they have to give in?" "BEN:" "Oh, 'cause it were getting too successful, that's why." "PHILIP:" "No." "BEN:" "Of course it was!" "And they're still coming out in the thousands, despite the sell-out." "It'd take a bloody shovel to get them back." "I could have wept this morning, Philip." "It broke my heart that I had to stand up in front of those people and tell them that knowing that you were part of it." "PHILIP:" "What?" "What do you mean?" "BEN:" "The sell-out." "Which you must have had wind of." "Look, let's get one thing clear, right?" "I had no idea that any negotiations of any kind were taking place." "All I heard was what I heard at the report-back meetings." "I was outside all of that." "But having said that, I'm glad the strike's been called off." "SARAH:" "Why?" "BEN:" "It's obvious." "Because, unlike Ben here," "I'm concerned with the real interests and welfare of this country." "SARAH:" "What about the miners?" "Them especially." "They only came to grief because of the hardheaded intransigence of their own leaders." "BEN:" "What balls!" "PHILIP:" "I mean, the cause was justified, no one disputes that." "I mean, that's why the TUC brought the country to a standstill." "SARAH:" "Because they were forced to." "Yeah, 'cause we made them." "All right!" "But organised labour has now shown its muscles, displayed its loyalty." "And if you really want to help the miners now, you should get this country back on its feet and continue to negotiate the miners' cause." "BEN:" "God, I think I'm going daft or summat." "And if you're so eager to display your solidarity, then what you should do is put your hand in your pocket and make a contribution towards the special fund" "we're sitting up for miners..." "Charity." "I'm not talking about bloody charity!" "What are you talking about, handouts?" "They don't want them." "PHILIP:" "I'm talking about brotherhood, about solidarity!" "SARAH:" "Oh, Philip, we've not been through all this to start passing the plate round now, surely." "It's not a question of that." "BEN:" "No, you can say that again." "SARAH:" "What is it a question of, then?" "It's a question of this." "We have now learnt that as a weapon of struggle, the general strike is obsolete." "BEN:" "Wrong!" "And we should now get back to what we know gets results." "And that's the parliamentary machine." "SARAH:" "Oh, the parliamentary machine." "Listen, what we've learned is that the method was wrong and the leadership was missing." "Yes, Sarah, Parliament." "'Cause that's where the true interests of our movement lie." "Parliamentary reform!" "SARAH:" "You and I, Phil, we just talk a different language." "Yes, you're quite right." "Parliament!" "All you've got there is a ticket of admission." "They can take it away from you whenever they like." "If we, if the Labour Party won tomorrow, our Labour Party, really committed to social ownership, we wouldn't be empowered, we'd be under house arrest." "(SIGHS)" "That's what your precious Parliament's about." "The Labour leaders and the TUC are there to deliver the workers to their bosses." "It's taken me a long time to realise that, Phil, but now I do, I can see it clearly." "BEN:" "Listen, I'll tell you what you've got." "You've just got a meal ticket." "(SCOFFS)" "Well, you did well enough out of it for three months, didn't you, Ben?" "I wouldn't sleep under the same roof." "You don't need to." "Right, well, that's soon sorted out." "SARAH:" "Let's not have a slanging match." "PHILIP:" "Besides, if you feel that strongly about it, why don't you do something?" "Do something?" "We just bloody did something, actually, and you fouled it up." "SARAH:" "Like what?" "Like getting inside the Labour movement." "I mean, it's so easy to prowl around on the outside, picking up disillusioned radicals and selling one another newspapers." "But it's a thousand times harder and more worthwhile to actually get inside the party and work there." "Yeah, well, we tried that, you know." "Have you forgotten?" "Ramsay Mac kicked us out." "Well, you're easily defeated." "Try again, I'll support you." "Oh, I see, is your conscience playing you up, is it?" "Let's get this place sorted out." "Philip," "I saw ordinary working people suddenly realising how to organise themselves and that they could." "BEN:" "Yeah, well, despite the TUC." "They were organising Councils of Actions, writing articles, producing newspapers, the lot." "All of which is marvellous." "BEN:" "Marvellous?" "Really, marvellous?" "it's revolutionary." "And they did it from scratch, learning in nine days." "BEN:" "So what couldn't they have done in 90 days?" "But it's always the same with you people, isn't it?" "I mean, the revolution is just around the corner." "BEN:" "No!" "Oh, you sarcastic bastard!" "I'm not being sarcastic, it's true." "Go on, sod off back to the TUC, where you look your best." "(EXHALES) Well, I've had enough." "I'm going home." "Are you coming?" "SARAH:" "No." "When will you be back?" "I'll go to Martha's, that's where the kids are." "You can expect me when you see me." "(SARAH SNIFFING)" "Come on, never mind, our kid." "We know the blinkers were off." "We know that people were looking round and seeing what were going on, knew what to do about it." "It'll happen again, it's bound to." "It'll go on staggering on from crisis to crisis, feeds on unemployment, slump." "The next time we'd better be ready and have an organisation that can carry it through." "Thought you said you were going to clear this place up." "Yeah."