10 facts about aneurin bevan

At the start of World War Two the government realised that, if it was to cope with the huge number of anticipated . Aneurin Bevan, was born at 32 Charles Street, Tredegar, on 15th November 1897. 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. The Gaitskellites typically won most of the battles inside Parliament, but Bevanism was stronger among local Labour activists. [26] In January 1931, Bevan wrote a letter to the government on behalf of the Mosley group, raising concerns over its "failure to deal with unemployment". Aneurin Bevan was born on November 15, 1897, in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, to David Bevan and Phoebe nee Prothero. Along that road is endless retreat, and at the end of it a voluntary totalitarian State with ourselves erecting the barbed wire around. They condemned millions of first-class people to semi-starvation. Bevanism was a movement on the left wing of the Labour Party in the late 1950s led by Aneurin Bevan which also included Richard Crossman, Michael Foot and Barbara Castle. Macmillan noted that despite being a "controversial figure" during his career, Bevan's death had seen an outpouring of genuine "admiration and affection". After the war, Bevan was chosen as the Minister of Health in Clement Attlee's new Labour government, becoming the youngest member of the cabinet at 47, with his remit also including housing. In parliament, he became a fierce critic of those who did not represent the interest of the working force including members of his party. [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". The collective principle asserts that no society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means. 'Nye is asleep next door. 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. In the coming decade, his support grew, particularly through the Great Depression. . His father was a miner and the poor working class family in which Bevan grew up gave him first-hand experience of the problems. 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. Aneurin Bevan, byname Nye Bevan, (born November 15, 1897, Tredegar, Monmouthshire [now in Blaenau Gwent], Walesdied July 6, 1960, Chesham, Buckinghamshire), controversial figure in post-World War II British politics and one of the finest orators of the time. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. He was no calculating machine. Aneurin "Nye" Bevan PC (/narn bvn/; Welsh:[an.rn]; 15 November 1897 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, noted for tenure as Minister of Health in Clement Attlee's government in which he spearheaded the creation of the British National Health Service. Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan (1897-1960) was the Labour MP for Ebbw Vale in south Wales from 1929-60. Aneurin Bevan - Powered by, Weapons for squalid and trivial ends House of Commons, December 5 1956, NHS 70th Anniversary and 2018 Annual Lecture, The 2017 Aneurin Bevan Memorial Lecture Professor John Bew. After General Neil Ritchie's retreat across Cyrenaica early in 1942 and his disastrous defeat by General Erwin Rommel at Gazala, Bevan made one of his most memorable speeches in the Commons in support of a motion of censure against the Churchill government. He was the architect of the National Health Service and leader of the left-wing (Bevanite) group of the Labour Party. 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). [129], A bronze statue was commissioned by South Glamorgan County Council and erected in 1987 in the city centre of Cardiff. His new job arrived in time for him to head the local miners against the colliery companies during the General Strike. Aneurin Bevan. [91], Later the same year, the Labour Party were defeated at the general election. [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. He agreed to serve as shadow foreign secretary under Gaitskell. Winston Churchill, the target of numerous diatribes from Bevan during his career, commented that Bevan was "one of the few members that I will sit still and listen to". Aneurin " Nye " Bevan PC (15 November 1897 - 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour politician. Photo by Geoff Charles Wikimedia Commons. There is a man in the British Army who flung 150,000 men across the Ebro in Spain, Michael Dunbar. Before entering Parliament, Bevan was involved in miner's union politics and was a leading figure in the 1926 general strike. In the speeches section, we will be building an archive of Bevans greatest oratory including archive recordings. 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? He had then joined the board of the socialist newspaper, the Tribune in 1936. With his activism and exuberance, his employer Tredegar Iron Company saw him as a troublesome person but he amazingly became a popular local speaker. Lesser-known, perhaps, is Bevans own personal background. [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". This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. This was after he had won a seat on the Monmouthshire County Council in 1928. He was cremated at Gwent Crematorium, Croesyceiliog. [106] Bevan's remark that "I know the right kind of political Leader for the Labour Party is a kind of desiccated calculating machine" was assumed to refer to Gaitskell, although Bevan denied it (commenting upon Gaitskell's record as Chancellor of the Exchequer as having "proved" this). C. 1924. He read Marxism at the college and was a brief follower of Noah Ablett,[11][12] developing his left-wing political outlook. [12] Harold Macmillan ended his Prime Minister's Questions session in Parliament two days after Bevan's death by paying tribute to the opposition MP, describing him as "a great personality and a great national figure". Bevanism was opposed by the Gaitskellites, moderate social democrats within the party. 11. In 1947, Bevan stated "All I am doing is extending to the entire population of Britain the benefits we had in Tredegar for a generation or more. Shortly afterwards he resigned from the government in protest at the introduction of prescription charges for dental care and spectacles. In 1926, he became a key leader of the South Wales miners during a General Strike, being largely responsible for the distribution of strike pay in Tredegar and for forming the Council of Action, an organisation that helped to raise money and provide food for the workers. Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan (1897-1960) is widely regarded as one of the most influential left-wing politicians in British history. His National Health Service policy met great disapproval from the British Medical Association. He was a strong critic of the arming policy the British government adopted during the rise of Hitler. [96] In the opening page of the book, Bevan begins: "A young miner in a South Wales colliery, my concern was with the one practical question: Where does power lie in this particular state of Great Britain, and how can it be attained by the workers? Bevan ended up in a fist fight with a group of miners who refused to strike over his rejection. [128], Bevan was particularly noted for his public speaking, being described by Robin Butler, Baron Butler of Brockwell, as "the greatest parliamentary speaker since Charles James Fox". Read more. The latter sale and purchase of goodwill often placed new entrants to the GP profession under large amounts of debt. He was the sixth of ten children born to Phoebe and David Bevan, of whom only eight survived infancy and only six to adulthood. Portrait of Aneurin Bevan. Lee became a considerable influence upon Bevans career. As minister of health in Attlee's postwar government from 1945-51, he spearheaded the creation of the National Health Service in 1948. His influence waned after his departure, although a left-wing group (not under his control) within the party became known as "Bevanites". While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. In February 1925, his father died of pneumoconiosis, an illness caused by the inhalation of coal dust. Aneurin Bevan and the setting up of the NHS The National Health Service. 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. [1][3], The couple had ten children altogethersix boys and four girlsalthough four died in infancy and one died at the age of eight. KidzSearch Safe Wikipedia for Kids. Photo by Howard Coster Wikimedia Commons. [38], By March 1938, Bevan was writing in Tribune that Churchill's warnings about German intentions for Czechoslovakia were "a diapason of majestic harmony" compared to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's "thin, listless trickle". [1], Both Bevan's parents were Nonconformists: his father was a Baptist and his mother a Methodist, although he became an atheist. ", "The NHS: even more cherished than the monarchy and the army", "Aneurin Bevan / 100 Welsh Heroes / 100 Arwyr Cymru", "Hospital named after Aneurin Bevan opens in Ebbw Vale", contributions in Parliament by Aneurin Bevan, Aneurin Bevan and the foundation of the NHS: Socialist Health Association website. By 19 he was active in trade unionism and was head of his local miners' lodge . With his posture, the manager of the colliery found reasons to lay him off but with support from the Miners Federation, he was re-employed by the company as his case was seen as victimization. [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. 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. [101] He later said that he had resigned his position to "call attention to the fact that their movement was in grave crisis", and stated his belief that he would have been party chairman by the following year if he had remained. In his biography of Bevan, John Campbell wrote, "Bevan's impetuous temperament, undiplomatic tone and reputation as an extreme left-winger combined to make the Foreign Office seem the last place a prudent Prime Minister would think of putting him at any time. Find out more about how the BBC is covering the. Bevan shared a liberal ideology and was additionally a supporter of the Liberal party that had a change of ideology to socialism after reading Robert Blatchfords in the Clarion. 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. [59] Bevan had clashed frequently with Attlee during his time as an MP, believing that the Labour leader failed to apply enough pressure on the Tory government during the war. Along with this, the Medical Practices Committee was to oversee the distribution of GP practices a proposal which the previous Coalition Minister had withdrawn after opposition from the British Medical Association. [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]. Here you can learn about the life and work of Aneurin (Nye) Bevan (1897-1960), founder of Britain's National Health Service and one of the Labour movement's greatest orators and thinkers. [75][76][77] 1946 saw the completion of 55,600 new homes; this rose to 139,600 in 1947 and 227,600 in 1948. After his studies in 1921, he returned home without work as the Tredegar Iron & Coal Company refused to re-engage him. [90] Bevan received unanimous support for his actions from his local Labour constituency leaders. Bevans role as Minister for Health was hugely important given Labours pledge to create a welfare state that included sick pay, unemployment benefits, pensions and free healthcare for all, irrespective of wealth or background. We want the complete political extinction of the Tory Party, and twenty-five years of Labour Government. Photo by Kaihsu Tai on 2005-07-07 Wikimedia Commons. In 1987, a bronze statue of Bevan was erected in the city centre of Cardiff, while the Aneurin Bevan Memorial Stones were erected at the beginning of the Sirhowy Valley Walk with three smaller stones (representing three towns of his constituency Ebbw Vale, Rhymney and Tredegar) surrounding a larger stone, which represents Bevan. 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". His father was a coal miner and his mother worked as a seamstress. In his 2014 biography, Nick Thomas-Symonds described "an outpouring of national mourning" that followed Bevan's death. Are we prepared to accept for ourselves the logic we are applying to Egypt? [40] When the government introduced voluntary national service in December 1938, Bevan argued that Labour should demand the nationalisation of the armaments industry, support the democratic government of Spain and sign an Anglo-Soviet pact in return for its support. [62] This system proved so popular that 20,000 people supported the organisation during the 1930s. [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]. 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. Aneurin Bevan was a reversed and famous Wales Labour politician who championed social justice, the right of workers, and democratic socialism. He was not a cold-blooded rationalist. The former aimed to provide a uniform standard of consultant led care and expertise throughout the country and to replace the patchwork of voluntary and municipal hospitals which existed at that point. Pronunciation of Aneurin Bevan: Learn how to pronounce the word Aneurin Bevan.Definition and meaning can be found here: https://www.google.com/search?q=defin. 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. His father died by pneumoconiosis (a lung condition caused by long term inhalation of coal dust) but no compensation was paid to him, as it was not classed as an industrial disease under the Workman's Compensation Act. Some historians have questioned how influential the college was on his political development. Therefore I say to Anthony, I say to the British government, there is no count at all upon which they can be defended.They have besmirched the name of Britain. A statue of Aneurin Bevan in Cardiff. [52] An administrative committee voted 71 to 60 in favour of retaining Bevan as an MP,[53] although it was announced that party discipline was to be strengthened in future. His dad was a miner and the poor working class family in which Bevan grew up gave him first-hand experience of the problems of . They have made us ashamed of the things of which formerly we were proud. [48][65] They threatened to derail the National Health Service scheme before it had even begun, as medical practitioners continued to withhold their support just months before the launch of the service. [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". We are going to Tredegar-ise you. He is also known for his wider contribution to the founding of the British welfare state. Bevan had said "I would rather be kept alive in the efficient if cold altruism of a large hospital than expire in a gush of warm sympathy in a small one". His work in the mines paid off as he gained sponsorship from the South Wales Miners Federation to study at Central Labour College in 1919. Bevan called for the nationalisation of the coal industry and advocated the opening of a Second Front in Western Europe to help the Soviet Union in its fight with Germany. Bevan was not good academically and was at a time repeated for a year in school. [34] Bevan was readmitted to the party on 20 December 1939,[35] after agreeing "to refrain from conducting or taking part in campaigns in opposition to the declared policy of the Party".[36][37]. After an overwhelming victory for the Labour Party in the 1945 General Election,Aneurin Bevanwas appointed Minister for Health also responsible for housing by Prime Minister Clement Attlee. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Bevan countered that the initial overspending was down to years of underinvestment in the British medical system prior to the Second World War: by the start of the 1950s, the early overspending had come to an end.[65]. The manager of the colliery found an excuse to get him dismissed. [9][20] In keeping with his background, Bevan described his initial thoughts on the House of Commons as a shrine to "the most conservative of all religions ancestor worship". Photo by Lesbardd Wikimedia Commons. They collected monies among themselves was what they did to support a member who needed it each week. 12. He often quoted an 1855 passage from Karl Marx that was published in The New York Times in 1865: "The redeeming feature of war is that it puts a nation to the test. 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. He became a well-known local orator, and was regarded with suspicion by his employers, the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company. Though described as an outstanding back-bench critic and an excellent debater, Bevan had long clashed with Attlee, even before being in his cabinet, because he thought he hadnt held the Tory party to account properly throughout World War Two. [45][by whom? [110] He was a vocal critic of the Conservative government's actions in the Suez Crisis, noticeably delivering high-profile speeches at a protest rally in Trafalgar Square on 4 November 1956, and criticising the government's actions and arguments in the Commons on 5 December 1956. In 1957 he argued that sovereignty would be taken away from parliament if Britain was to join, much the same argument as Brexiteers make today. 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. His contribution to the Welfare State has been immense. During World War Two, Bevan was one of the leaders of the left in the House of Commons. Despite his conflict with Attlee, Bevan was instrumental in developing a program that oversaw the building of 850,000 new homes between 1945 and 1950, which were good quality houses, owned by local councils and rented out to people at affordable prices. [16][17] In 1926 he found work as a paid union official. 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. Bevan, Aneurin (1897-1960). Aneurin Bevan was born on 15 November 1897 at 32 Charles Street in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, a working-class mining town, where an estimated 90 per cent of the town's inhabitants relied on the local mines for employment. [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]. He was convinced that. His nomination received a severe blow on the same day it was announced, when two unions that traditionally sided with the left, the National Union of Mineworkers and the Amalgamated Engineering Union, pledged their support for his opponent. 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. [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. Aneurin Bevan His appointment came during the post-war housing shortage and the need for a radical change in the National Health Service. The Tredegar Query Club by friends including Aneurin Bevan and Walter Conway. Photo by Jeremy Segrott from Cardiff, Wales, UK - Wikimedia Commons In 1929, Bevan was elected as the Labour member of parliament for Ebbw Vale. 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. A blue plaque was erected in 2015 by English Heritage at 23 Cliveden Place, Chelsea, London SW1W 8HD, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. [88][89] Two other ministers, John Freeman and Harold Wilson, resigned at the same time. FIGHT FOR OUR NHS free at the point of need for all. Bevan always stood up for the underdog, and was a voice for the unemployed in the period between the two world wars when joblessness was a major domestic political issue. Aneurin Bevan was born on 15 th November 1897 in Tredegar, Monmouthshire (now in Blaenau Gwent). Two of the key elements of Bevan's proposals were this nationalisation of the hospital services and the abolition of the sale and purchase of goodwill by general practitioners. [5] Bevan also joined the Tredegar branch of the South Wales Miners' Federation and became a trade union activist: he was head of his local Miners' Lodge at 19 years of age. Image Credit: https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portraitLarge/mw58048/Aneurin-Bevan / Wikimedia Commons, The Road to the Crown - Elizabeth I's Coronation Procession, Built by a Giantess? An estimated 125,000 nurses and 5,000 consultants were available to care for hospital patients. [51] He also voiced criticism of trade union leaders, which drew complaints from both the Miners' Federation and the Trades Union Congress. The new Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, appointed Bevan as Minister of Health, with a remit that also covered housing. 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.

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