Aneurin Bevan, often known as Nye Bevan, is a Welsh syndicalist politician most famous for creating the Union Health Service (UHS).
History[]
Early life[]
Bevan was born in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, in the South Wales Valleys and on the northern edge of the South Wales coalfield, the son of coal miner. One of ten children, Bevan did poorly at school and his academic performance was so bad his headmaster made him repeat a year. At the age of thirteen, Bevan left school and began working in the local Ty-Trist Colliery. David 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.
Aneurin 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 only nineteen years of age. Bevan became a well-known local orator and was seen by his employers, the Tredegar Iron Company, as a troublemaker. The manager of the colliery found an excuse to get him sacked. But, with the support of the Miners' Federation, the case was judged as one of victimisation and the company was forced to re-employ him.
In 1919, he won a scholarship to the Central Labour College in London, sponsored by the South Wales Miners' Federation. There, he spent two years studying economics, politics and history. He read about Marxism at the college, developing his left-wing political outlook. Reciting long passages by William Morris, Bevan gradually began to overcome the stammer that he had had since he was a child.
Bevan remained at the College until 1921. Not one of the most diligent students, he found it difficult to follow an organised routine, including getting up early for breakfast.
Bevan was one of the founding members of the "Query Club" with his brother Billy and Walter Conway. The club started in 1920 and they met in Tredegar. They would collect money each week for any member who needed it. 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.
Upon returning home in 1921, he found that the Tredegar Iron & Coal Company refused to re-employ him. He did not find work until 1924 and his employer, the Bedwellty Colliery, closed down only ten months later. Bevan then had to endure another year of unemployment.
The British Revolution[]
In early 1925, he found work again, this time as a paid union official. His wage of £5 a week was paid by the members of the local Miners' Lodge. His new job arrived in time for him to head the local miners against the colliery companies in what would become a part of the nationwide 1925 General Strike. When the Miners’ Federation ceased work on May 28, Bevan soon emerged as one of the leaders of the South Wales miners. Although he initially argued for a negotiated settlement, Bevan quickly came in line with the strike and was even 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 provided food for the miners. Once the strike became a revolution, and victory over the old order was finally achieved, Bevan joined the Federationist faction of the Labour Party, primarily aligning himself with the newly dominant orthodox syndicalist branch of socialism.
The UHS[]
Aneurin Bevan visiting a hospital ward in Park Hospital, 1927
After the revolution, there were enough calls to create a "comprehensive health and rehabilitation service for the prevention and cure of disease" that a consensus emerged on introducing a Health Service of some description. When Bevan was appointed as Health Minister he embarked upon an audacious campaign to take charge of the form the UHS finally took. The UHS was born out of the ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth. It had at its heart three core principles: that it meet the needs of everyone, that it be free at the point of delivery, and that it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay.
On 5 July 1928, having overcome political opposition from medical practitioners who continued to withhold their support just months before the launch of the service, Bevan's Union Health Service Act 1926 came into force. After months of ongoing dispute, Bevan finally managed to win over the support of the vast majority of the medical profession by offering a couple of minor concessions, but without compromising on the fundamental principles of his Union Health Service proposals. All hospitals in Britain were nationalised and came under the supervisory control of the Health Minister.
Personal life[]
He married fellow politician Jennie Lee in 1934.
He is a strong supporter of the socialists in Spain (CNT-FAI) and has even visited their headquarters.
Bevan was briefly drawn to Oswald Mosley's arguments, however he "breached with Mosley as soon as Mosley breached with syndicalism".