ANEURIN BEVAN
Aneurin (Nye) Bevan was born in Charles Street, Tredegar, Monmouthshire on 15th November 1897.
One of ten children, Nye's early years at school were unspectacular in terms of academic prowess. He left school at the age of 13 and began work at the local Ty Tryst Colliery.
He often frequented Tredegar Workmen's Institute Library and it was there that he developed a love of reading, and a thirst for knowledge, particularly on political matters relating to his own mining environment.He became a member of the Independent Labour Party and joined the South Wales Miners' Federation where became chairman of his local lodge at the youthful age of nineteen.
Although afflicted with a stammer, Nye worked to overcome it and gained a reputation locally as a political activist with a gift for oratory.
In 1919, sponsored by the SWMF, he studied at the Central Labour College, London where he became acquainted with Communism, and became a devotee of the doctrines of Marx and Engels.
On his return to Tredegar, Nye found it difficult to obtain work as his former employers, the Tredegar Iron and Coal company considered him a revolutionist and troublemaker.
He eventually found work at nearby Bedwellty Colliery but this was shortlived as the colliery closed soon after.
The local Miners' Lodge employed Bevan as a union official and during the General Strike in 1926 he became influential as one of the leaders of the South Wales Miners.
In 1928 he was elected as a member of Monmouthshire County Council and in the following year stood as Labour candidate for Ebbw Vale in the 1929 General Election.
Nye won the seat easily and it was now that his political career was to start in earnest.
His outspoken views made him many enemies, and a long standing battle began with his main adversary in the House, Winston Churchill.
Punch Cartoon
After the second World War in 1945 and the Labour landslide at the General Election, new Prime Minister Clement Attlee appointed Bevan as Minister of Health.The new National Insurance Act was passed the following year, a system of compulsory contributions which would fund the new National Health Service, whereby people would be provided with free medical, dental and opthalmic services.
Guided by Bevan, the National Health Service became operational in 1948.
The NHS was said to have been modelled on the Tredegar Medical Aid system which had existed in Tredegar for many years, using miners' contributions to provide free medical treatment to members.
Nye became Minister of Labour in 1951 but resigned his post shortly afterwards when Chancellor of the Exchequer, Hugh Gaitskell, announced new prescription charges for the Health Services in direct contradiction of Bevan's vision of a free service.
In 1956, with the Labour Party now in opposition, Bevan became shadow foreign secretary under leader Hugh Gaitskell.
Although he had vociferously opposed nuclear weapons for many years, Nye was to surprise and shock his colleagues by arguing against unilateral nuclear disarmament.
Bevan became deputy leader of the Labour Party in 1959 but died of cancer on 6th July 1960.
Bevan memorial stones
Click on image for inscription
BEVAN QUOTES
ON WINSTON CHURCHILL:
He never spares himself in conversation. He gives himself so generously that hardly anyone else is permitted to give anything in his presence.
The Prime Minister has very many virtues, and when the time comes I hope to pay my tribute to them, but I am bound to say that political honesty and sagacity have never been among them.
He is a man suffering from petrified adolescence.
ON THE PRESS:
I read the newspapers avidly. It's my one form of continuous fiction.
ON NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN:
The worst thing I can say about democracy is that it has tolerated the right honorable gentleman for four and half years.
Listening to a speech by Chamberlain is like paying a visit to Woolworth's, everything in its place and nothing above sixpence.
ON THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY:
No amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction, can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred of the Tory party. So far as I am concerned, they are lower than vermin.
ON ECONOMIC STRATEGY:
This island is made mainly of coal and is surrounded by fish. Only an organizing genius could produce a shortage of coal and fish at the same time.
ON INDECISION:
We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run down.
 |
 |
