10 facts about aneurin bevan

[11] Bevan remained at the college until 1921, attending at a time when a number of his contemporaries from South Wales, including Jim Griffiths, were also students at the college. They condemned millions of first-class people to semi-starvation. A poll in 2013 conducted on behalf of British Future found that the NHS was more popular then than at its creation, and was more popular than the monarchy, BBC and British Armed Forces. During the 1926 General Strike, Bevan emerged as one of the leaders of the South Wales miners. He died on July 6, 1960, leaving a significant legacy, namely the National Health Service. After his resignation, Bevan served as Shadow Foreign Secretary from 1955 to 1959. They have offended against every principle of decency and there is only one way in which they can even begin to restore their tarnished reputation and that is to get out! 9 Necessary Facts about the NHS - Fact City But it means abandonment of the class struggle and the subservience of the British workers to their own employers. Aneurin Bevan was a reversed and famous Wales Labour politician who championed social justice, the right of workers, and democratic socialism. [95] According to The Times Literary Supplement, the book was a "dithyramb with meanderings into the many side-tracks of Mr Bevan's private and public experience". When Labour supported the government's scheme with no such conditions, Bevan denounced Labour for imploring the people on recruiting platforms to put themselves under the leadership of their opponents. The National Health Service was launched in 1948, and Bevan is quoted as saying, No society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of a lack of means. "[56], The 1945 general election resulted in a landslide victory for the Labour Party, giving it a large enough majority to allow the implementation of the party's manifesto commitments and to introduce a programme of far-reaching social reforms, that were collectively dubbed the "Welfare State". At the start of World War Two the government realised that, if it was to cope with the huge number of anticipated . Attlee and Labour were ousted from power in a snap election held six months after Bevan's resignation, but Attlee continued on as Labour Party Leader. [29][30] They were early supporters of the socialists in the Spanish Civil War, and Bevan visited the country in 1938. After his studies in 1921, he returned home without work as the Tredegar Iron & Coal Company refused to re-engage him. It was during this period that he became convinced by the ideas of socialism. For the next few years Bevan was the centre of controversy within the Labour Party and involuntarily gave his name to the partys radical wing. Aneurin Bevan Facts: Aneurin Bevan was a Welsh Labour politician widely considered the architect of the National Health Service. In 1924, he found a job at the Bedwellty Colliery which would close down in just ten months. A statue of Aneurin Bevan in Cardiff. [22][23] He had solid support from his constituency, being one of the few Labour MPs to be unopposed in the 1931 General Election, and this support grew through the 1930s and the period of the Great Depression. Contact, Facts are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Photo by Spudgun67 Wikimedia Commons. Aneurin Bevan was a British Labour Party politician who took up the portfolio of Health and Housing during Clement Attlee's government from 1945 to 1951. In 1929, Bevan was elected as the Labour member of parliament for Ebbw Vale. He was later fired for refusing to unload, and successfully challenged the motion but was moved to Pochin, generally considered a punishment due to the poor site conditions. [123][124] An open-air service was held in his constituency of Ebbw Vale and was presided over by Donald Soper. These numbers were reached by lowering the quality standards originally put forward by Bevan, with council houses featuring gardens being largely dropped in favour of tower blocks and flats. The manager of the colliery found an excuse to have him dismissed; however, with the support of the Miners Federation, Bevans case was judged to be one of victimisation and the company was forced to re-employ him. Aneurin Bevan. Bevan was not good academically and was at a time repeated for a year in school. Indeed, these factors, exacerbated by post-war restrictions on the availability of building materials and skilled labour, collectively served to limit Bevan's achievements in this area. He strongly criticised the National Government's rearmament plans in the face of the rise of Nazi Germany, saying to the Labour conference in autumn 1937: If the immediate international situation is used as an excuse to get us to drop our opposition to the rearmament programme of the Government, the next phase must be that we must desist from any industrial or political action that may disturb national unity in the face of Fascist aggression. In its early stages this proved true, as the service went vastly over budget in its inaugural year, and Attlee was forced to make a radio address to the nation in an attempt to limit the strain on the system. [19] With his success in 1928, he was picked as the Labour Party candidate for Ebbw Vale (displacing the sitting MP Evan Davies),[20] and easily held the seat at the 1929 General Election. He wanted the war to be not just a fight against fascism but a war for socialism. As minister of health in Attlee's postwar government from 1945-51, he spearheaded the creation of the National Health Service in 1948. With his activism and exuberance, his employer Tredegar Iron Company saw him as a troublesome person but he amazingly became a popular local speaker. Hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and subscriber rewards. KS2 All About Aneurin Bevan PowerPoint (Teacher-Made) His father was a miner and the poor working class family in which Bevan grew up gave him first-hand experience of the problems. [64] The scheme was achieved having overcome political opposition from both the Conservative Party and from within his own party. Bevan had been a supporter of the Liberal Party in his youth, but was converted to socialism by the writings of Robert Blatchford in The Clarion and joined the Independent Labour Party. Photo by Howard Coster - Wikimedia Commons, Portrait of Aneurin Bevan. [32][33] Bevan and another expelled MP, George Strauss, appealed against the decision. [1] The town was situated in the South Wales Valleys and was on the northern edge of the South Wales coalfield. Aneurin's name is pronounced 'uh-ny-rin'. Confrontation with the British Medical Association (BMA) was led by Charles Hill, who published a letter in the British Medical Journal describing Bevan as "a complete and uncontrolled dictator". Photo by Jeremy Segrott from Cardiff, Wales, UK Wikimedia Commons. We may all come from different walks of life but we have one common passion - learning through travel. 'Nye is asleep next door. Members of the BMA had dubbed him the "Tito of Tonypandy". photo by Elliott & Fry Wikimedia Commons. [44] Churchill was a frequent target of Bevan's, who already held a dislike of him following his intervention in the Tonypandy riots and the 1926 United Kingdom general strike which Bevan considered heavy handed. Photo by Howard Coster Wikimedia Commons. [68], Conservative opposition of the National Health Service scheme feared that the sudden access to free health care would be overrun. He was Chief of Staff in Spain, he won the Battle of the Ebro, and he is a sergeant. Bevan left school at 13 and began working in a local colliery. Excerpts from Bevan's speeches are included in Greg Rosen's book Old Labour to New: the dreams that inspired, the battles that divided (published by Methuen in 2005 (ISBN978-1-84275-045-2)). Bevan was elected unopposed as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in 1959, succeeding Griffiths. Why Did Shakespeare Paint Richard III as a Villain? Bevan then endured another year of unemployment, the family surviving on his sister's wages, when his unemployment benefit was stopped due to her income, and his father's sick pay. His remains were cremated at Gwent Crematorium in Croesyceiliog in a private family ceremony. I believe that is essential for the full life of citizen to see the living tapestry of a mixed community. Bevan attended the local school, where he was deeply shy because of a severe stammer that he developed as a child. [27] Mosley broke from the Labour Party in early 1931 to form the New Party, but Bevan refused to defect and instead announced that he had no intention of leaving the Labour Party. The memorial stones of Aneurin Bevan in Tredegar, 2011. A colourful public personality and a brilliant spontaneous debater, he had great personal charm but was sometimes so rude to opponents that Churchill once called him a merchant of discourtesy. After his defeat as party leader by Hugh Gaitskell (1955), he accepted his partys policies and became shadow foreign secretary. [113] According to the journalist Paul Routledge, Donald Bruce, a former MP and Parliamentary Private Secretary and adviser to Bevan, had told him that Bevan's shift on the disarmament issue was the result of discussions with the Soviet government, where they advised him to push for British retention of nuclear weapons so they could possibly be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the United States.[114]. In Parliament, Bevan argued that this was the logical outcome of the government's foreign policy. Top 10 Interesting facts about Aneurin Bevan - Discover Walks Image Credit: Anenurin Bevan, Minister of Health, on the first day of the National Health Service, 5 July 1948 at Park Hospital, Davyhulme, near Manchester / Wikimedia Commons. Bevan opposed the heavy censorship imposed on radio and newspapers and wartime Defence Regulation 18B, which gave the Home Secretary the powers to intern citizens. This was after he had won a seat on the Monmouthshire County Council in 1928. Photo by University of Liverpool Faculty of Health & Life Sciences from Liverpool, United Kingdom Wikimedia Commons. Aneurin Bevan Facts: Aneurin Bevan was a Welsh Labour politician widely considered the architect of the National Health Service. [43] Bevan was relieved that the country had united against Nazi Germany in the fight against fascism to provide a common enemy away from the working class. Aneurin Bevan (1897-1960) Atheism Healthcare Politics Social Reform He was a great humanist whose religion lay in loving his fellow men and trying to serve them. Nonetheless, for the next few years, Bevan was at the centre of controversy within the party earning the nickname Nye the Rhetorician and ultimately gave his name to the partys more left-leaning radical wing, which included campaigning for nuclear disarmament. In his political career, Bevan served as a minister of health in Clement Attlees Labor government of 1945, he was responsible for developing housing programs and for establishing the National Health Service. Bevan was the sort of principled politician we seem to lack these days. As a result of this success, he was picked as the Labour Party candidate for Ebbw Vale, then easily held the seat in the 1929 General Election, receiving more than twice the number of votes as the Liberal candidate. [54], He believed that the Second World War would give Britain the opportunity to create "a new society". [36] He was a strong critic of Chamberlain, arguing that his old rival Winston Churchill should become prime minister. [16][17] In 1926 he found work as a paid union official. Humanist Heritage: Aneurin Bevan (1897-1960) Aneurin Bevanand other members were briefly suspended from the Labour Party in March 1939 as he advocated for a united socialist front of all parties of the left. The statue of Aneurin Bevan (1897-1960) by the late Robert Thomas on Queen Street Cardiff. Aneurin Bevan was born on November 15, 1897, in Tredegar in Wales. 105 Facts About Aneurin Bevan | FactSnippet Aneurin Bevanwas selected as the Labour Partys parliamentary candidate for Ebbw Vale for the 1929 General Election. 2. Former Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan ended his Prime Ministers Questions two days after Bevans death with a tribute to him, describing him as a great personality and a great national figure. Tomorrow he will be cremated in keeping with his known views. You cannot collaborate, you cannot accept the logic of collaboration on a first class issue like rearmament, and at the same time evade the implications of collaboration all along the line when the occasion demands it.[38]. Bevan gained more than twice the votes of Liberal candidate William Griffiths, receiving 20,000 votes to Griffiths' 8,000. [46] Historian Max Hastings described Bevan's role in Parliament during the war as "his figures were accurate but his scorn was at odds with the spirit of the momentfull of gratitude, as was the prime minister". [103] Although unsuccessful in his bid, he did celebrate 25 years as the MP for Ebbw Vale. Student Activities. In parliament, he became a fierce critic of those who did not represent the interest of the working force including members of his party. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Despite Bevan's criticism of the new party leader, Gaitskell decided to appoint him as Shadow Colonial Secretary,[109] and then Shadow Foreign Secretary in 1956. The three won their case, and obtained financial damages of 2,500 each. A blue plaque was erected in 2015 by English Heritage at 23 Cliveden Place, Chelsea, London SW1W 8HD, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. His wage of 5 a week was paid by the members of the local Miners' Lodge. The National Health Service and the Welfare State have come to be used as interchangeable terms, and in the mouths of some people as terms of reproach. Aneurin Bevan Worksheets & Facts | Life, Political Career, Legacy His "vermin" speech still resonated: imagination shuddered at a repetition of that on the international stage. Photo by No Swan So Fine Wikimedia Commons. When Attlee retired from the leadership in 1955, Bevan unsuccessfully contested the party leadership with Hugh Gaitskell, but was appointed Shadow Colonial Secretary and later Shadow Foreign Secretary. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aneurin-Bevan, British Broadcasting Corporation - Biography of Aneurin Bevan, Spartacus Educational - Biography of Aneurin Bevan. At a dinner in late 1955 or early 1956 to celebrate the publication of the Guillebaud Report into NHS costs Bevan remarked to Julian Tudor Hart "ultimately I had to stuff their mouths with gold" about his handling of the consultants. [10] The Query club started in 1920 or 1921 and they met in Tredegar. This statement is often misconstrued: Bevan argued that unilateralism would result in Britain's loss of allies, and one interpretation of his metaphor is that nakedness would come from the lack of allies, not the lack of weapons. Bevan was largely responsible for the distribution of strike pay in Tredegar and the formation of the Council of Action, an organisation that helped to raise money and provide food for the miners. Bevan Festival. C. 1924. In one of his most noted speeches made against Churchill, he railed that the prime minister "wins debate after debate and loses battle after battle". Bevan, Aneurin (1897-1960). However, the. [31] In 1936 he joined the board of the new socialist newspaper Tribune. Perhaps the greatest and certainly one of the most controversial of Labour Party politicians, Bevan was born in Tredegar, a miner's son in a dissenting family. He was a strong critic of the arming policy the British government adopted during the rise of Hitler. If we accept the contention that the common enemy is Hitler and not the British capitalist class, then certainly Churchill is right. Bevan was critical of the leadership of the British Army, which he felt was class bound and inflexible. [41] The Military Training Act 1939 reintroduced conscription six months later, and Bevan joined the rest of the Labour Party in opposing it, calling it "the complete abandonment of any hope of a successful struggle against the weight of wealth in Great Britain". BBC 2014 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. When Bevan was made a minister in 1945, he envisaged the social housing sector as a housing service similar to the National Health Service, ensuring that everyone had access to decent and affordable homes, with people still having the option to live in owner occupation or the private sector if they so chose (with grants made available to owner-occupiers and private landlords to bring dwellings up to decent standards). If nations more powerful than ourselves accept the absence of principle, the anarchistic attitude of Eden and launch bombs on London, what answer have we got, what complaint have we got? The club intended to break the hold that the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company had on the town by becoming members of pivotal groups in the community. With less motivation for studies, he left school at age 13 to work at a local Ty- Trist Colliery. Use the tabs above to learn about Nye Bevan's life, work and ideas, as well as the history of the NHS. . Born into a working class family in Monmouthshire, Wales, Bevan worked in a coal mine as a teenager, and it was through a miners union that he first became interested in politics. No falsity must touch him once he is no longer available to defend his views. An estimated 125,000 nurses and 5,000 consultants were available to care for hospital patients. [127] Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell also paid tribute to his former shadow cabinet member and ended his speech by labelling Bevan as "one of the great men of our day". [133] The following year, Bevan was voted number one in the 100 Welsh Heroes poll, a response to find the public's favourite Welsh people of all time. There is a man in the British Army who flung 150,000 men across the Ebro in Spain, Michael Dunbar. [1] The town was situated in the South Wales Valleys and was on the northern edge of the South Wales coalfield. For local insights and insiders travel tips that you wont find anywhere else, search any keywords in the top right-hand toolbar on this page. Welsh Greats - Aneurin Bevan - YouTube [104] The Parliamentary Labour Party voted 141 to 113 to withdraw the whip from him, but it was restored within a month, due to his popularity. Aneurin Bevan | Encyclopedia.com He was born in Tredegar, Wales, on 15th November 1897. Like many other students of Bevans class, his formal education ended when he was 14 years of age when he began to work in the mines. Bevan was not academically sharp Aneurin Bevan with his eye on the Ball. His creation of the National Health Service in 1948 remains Labour's most enduring legacy to the people of the United Kingdom.During the war years he was virtually a one-man opposition to Churchill and had . At an early age of only 19 years, he became a trade union activist and headed the local miners lodge after joining the Tredegar branch of the South Wales Miner Federation. Get time period newsletters, special offers and weekly programme release emails. [42] He emphasised that the government had no arguments to persuade young men to fight "except merely in another squalid attempt to defend themselves against the redistribution of international swag". He became a well-known local orator, and was regarded with suspicion by his employers, the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company. Photo by Lesbardd Wikimedia Commons. From 1950, onwards it's been attacked, the reason he resigned from government, but has managed to last 75yrs. [91], Later the same year, the Labour Party were defeated at the general election. He developed a severe stammer as a child and, according to his younger sister Myfanwy, became "a lonely chap", due to the need to shy away from the attention it brought him.[5]. [129], A bronze statue was commissioned by South Glamorgan County Council and erected in 1987 in the city centre of Cardiff. It was Aneurin Bevan, the Minister of Health in the UK from 1945 to 1951, who started the NHS in 1948. The manager of the colliery found an excuse to get him dismissed. He was called up for service during the First World War, and was briefly arrested when his sister Blodwen burnt his conscription papers and he failed to report for duty. Bevan passed on July 6, 1960, at age 62 in his Asheridge Farm home in Chesham, Buckinghamshire a year after being diagnosed with stomach cancer. On 5 July 1948, the government took over responsibility for all medical services and there was free diagnosis and treatment for all. Rediscovering Richard III with Matt Lewis, Rome and the Amalfi Coast with Tristan Hughes, Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, How Rome Became the Sole Superpower in the Mediterranean, Charles Martel: A Heroic Leader of Medieval Europe. Bevan led the left wing of the Labour Party, known as the 'Bevanites', for the next five years. He went on to serve as shadow foreign secretary from 1956-59 and deputy leader of the Labour party from 1959-60. [121] In May 1960 Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India, while in England visited Bevan at his home in Asheridge Farm (where Bevan was a keen amateur farmer, keeping cattle and pigs).[122]. Aneurin Bevan Biography, Life, Interesting Facts Bevan's key speeches in the legislative arena are to be found in: For the local health board headquartered in Caerleon, Wales, see, Minister of Labour and National Service (1951). Photo by Duncan from Leicestershire, UK Wikimedia Commons. [1], Both Bevan's parents were Nonconformists: his father was a Baptist and his mother a Methodist, although he became an atheist. In 1955, he stood as one of the candidates for party leader but was defeated by Hugh Gaitskell. They collected monies among themselves was what they did to support a member who needed it each week. Reciting long passages by William Morris with the help of an elocution tutor, Bevan gradually began to overcome the stammer that he had since childhood. You can also find out more about the Bevan Society, our activities and programme of lectures. As exposure to the atmosphere reduces all mummies to instant dissolution, so war passes supreme judgment upon social systems that have outlived their vitality. What does Aneurin Bevan's legacy mean today? - Cardiff University [136], In 2015, Welsh actor Michael Sheen gave a speech in which he described Bevan as a mythical creature, stating, "He had cast-iron integrity and a raging passion".[12]. A powerful speaker, debater and champion of the working class, Bevan was voted number one in the 100 Welsh Heroes poll, a response to find the publics favourite Welsh people of all time.

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