LORD BIRKENHEAD said of the principal figures in the General Strike: “It would be possible to say without exaggeration of the miners’ leaders that they were the stupidest men in England, if we had not had frequent occasion to meet the owners.” It was an exaggeration for the sake of a good sentence, but contained more than a grain of truth.
David Torrance has written The Edge of Revolution: The General Strike that shook Britain to coincide with the centenary of the strike. Inevitably, it is a complex story with many strands, which Dr Torrance negotiates with skill. The result is a highly readable and well-judged account.
British-produced coal in the 1920s was more expensive than coal mined elsewhere. To address this, the mine owners unimaginatively asked their miners to work longer hours for less pay. The miners refused and went on strike. On 1 May 1926, the Trades Union Congress proposed a general strike in support of the miners. The TUC and the Government, led by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, began to negotiate. On 3 May, the Cabinet, learning that printers at the Daily Mail had refused to print an article denouncing the strike, called off negotiations. The General Strike began on 4 May and lasted until 12 May.
The Government refused to negotiate whilst the General Strike continued. Baldwin framed it as a constitutional issue, claiming that the strikers were “imperiling the freedom of our very Constitution”. The Cabinet neglected to consult the Crown’s law officers, but made much of a speech on 6 May by Sir John Simon, a former Attorney General, declaring the strike to be “an utterly illegal proceeding”. The subsequent view of lawyers and historians was that Simon was incorrect.
The Government invoked the Emergency Powers Act 1920. Tens of thousands of special constables were sworn in. An emergency administrative structure was inaugurated, and the UK was divided into 12 areas, each run by a Civil Commissioner. The Government produced a newspaper, The British Gazette, edited by Winston Churchill. The TUC responded by publishing The British Worker. Many undergraduates and others volunteered to drive buses, help at railway stations and docks, and ensure that milk and other essential supplies got through.
AlamyA sentry stands guard at a London bus depot on the ninth day of the General Strike, in May 1926
When Lord Durham, a mine owner, told George V that the miners were “a damned lot of revolutionaries”, the King replied: “Try living on their wages before you judge them.” The King felt a natural sympathy for the underdog, but — ever the Naval officer — was concerned for the maintenance of law and order and disliked secondary picketing. Nevertheless, the King urged moderation and advised Baldwin against rushing through legislation declaring general strikes illegal.
To the dismay of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Randall Davidson, the BBC did not allow him to broadcast a conciliatory message to try to bring the strike to an end. The Government was delighted, however, when the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Bourne (100 Years Ago, 15 May), said in a sermon that the strike was “a direct challenge to a lawfully constituted authority . . . and sin against the obedience which we owe to God”.
The TUC soon came to see that the General Strike had no obvious end in sight. On 12 May, its leaders informed Baldwin of the “unconditional” end of the strike. The miners’ strike dragged on until November, when they were forced to return to work on lower pay and with longer hours.
One particular strength of The Edge of Revolution are the detailed sketches of many of the people involved in the General Strike, which will be of value to historians of inter-war Britain. I thought as I began to read the first page that I should enjoy Dr Torrance’s study. I was not disappointed.
The Revd Dr Robert Beaken is Priest-in-Charge of Catsfield and Crowhurst in East Sussex.
The Edge of Revolution: The General Strike that shook Britain
David Torrance
Bloomsbury £20
(978-1-3994-2359-5)
Church Times Bookshop £18