Miners Strike-Thoughts of The Lumpen

The Miners' Strike of 1984–1985:Perspectives

Writers & Academics

Tony Benn (Labour MP and diarist)

“The miners’ strike was a class war, deliberately provoked by a government determined to break the power of organized labor. The cruelty lay not just in the closure of pits but in the systematic dismantling of communities, leaving generations without hope.”
— From his diaries (1984–1985)

Owen Jones (Journalist and author)

“The strike wasn’t just about coal. It was about whether working-class people had the right to defend their livelihoods. The state’s response—police brutality, demonization in the press, and the starvation of families—was a calculated act of social cruelty.”
— Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class

David Peace (Author)

“The strike exposed the brutality of power. Men were beaten, families starved, and communities criminalized—all to prove a political point. It was a war without bullets, but the scars are still raw.”
— GB84 (2004)

John Pilger (Journalist)

“Thatcher’s Britain criminalized poverty and resistance. The miners’ strike was a watershed moment where the state unleashed its fury on its own people, all in service of neoliberalism’s cold ideology.”
— The New Rulers of the World (2001)

Raphael Samuel (Historian)

“The strike’s legacy is one of trauma. The violence inflicted on mining communities—both physical and psychological—was a deliberate strategy to crush solidarity and enforce submission.”
— The Lost World of British Communism (1985)

Musicians & Cultural Figures

Billy Bragg (Singer-songwriter)

“Between the wars, we fought for dignity. In 1984, the miners fought for their futures. Thatcher’s government didn’t just want to close pits—they wanted to close down the very idea of collective resistance.”
— Interview (1985)

Paul Weller (The Style Council)

“When we wrote ‘Soul Deep,’ it was about the human cost of the strike. Kids going hungry, families torn apart by poverty and police batons. That’s not democracy—it’s class war.”
— Commentary on Soul Deep (1984)

Jeremy Deller (Artist)

“Orgreave wasn’t a battle—it was a massacre. The state orchestrated violence to teach workers a lesson: resist, and you will be broken.”
— The Battle of Orgreave (2001)

Morrissey (The Smiths)

“Margaret Thatcher’s handling of the miners’ strike was a disgrace. The government’s cruelty toward working-class communities revealed the true face of conservatism—heartless and vindictive.”
— Melody Maker interview (1985)

Activists & Politicians

Arthur Scargill (NUM President)

“They used every weapon—police, courts, media—to starve us back to work. But the real crime was the destruction of communities that had given their lives to fuel this nation.”
— 30th anniversary commemoration (2014)

Jeremy Corbyn (Former Labour Leader)

“The miners’ strike was a defining moment of injustice. The state mobilized not to protect people, but to punish them for daring to fight for their jobs and their futures.”
— Parliamentary speech (2014)

Stella Dadzie (Feminist activist)

“Women of the mining communities showed immense courage, organizing soup kitchens and defying stigma. Their struggle was a rebuke to a government that weaponized hunger against its own people.”
— The Heart of the Race (1985)

Literary & Poetic Responses

Seamus Heaney (Poet)

“In the shadow of the strike, the lantern’s light flickered. The ministry of fear ruled—not with laws, but with the quiet violence of closed pits and broken men.”
— The Haw Lantern (1987)

Barry Hines (Author)

“The strike laid bare the hypocrisy of a nation that once glorified its industrial heartlands, then abandoned them to rot. The cruelty was in the betrayal.”
— A Kestrel for a Knave

Contemporary Reflections

Naomi Klein (Author)

“The miners’ strike was a laboratory for neoliberalism. The tactics used—privatization, union-busting, media manipulation—became the blueprint for global capitalism’s assault on workers.”
— The Shock Doctrine (2007)

Mark Serwotka (Trade Unionist)

“The strike wasn’t lost in 1985—it’s still being fought today. Every time a food bank opens or a worker’s right is stripped, Thatcher’s ghost smiles.”

Legacy in Film & Media

Ken Loach (Director)

“The strike was a story of courage and betrayal. The media painted miners as violent thugs, but the real violence was economic—the slow death of communities denied their dignity.”
— Which Side Are You On? (1985)

Jimmy McGovern (Screenwriter)

“Billy’s story isn’t just about ballet. It’s about a boy growing up in a world where his father’s livelihood is criminalized. The strike wasn’t just political—it was personal.”
— Billy Elliot (2000)