10 facts about aneurin bevan

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. In the speeches section, we will be building an archive of Bevans greatest oratory including archive recordings. In 1934,Aneurin BevanmarriedSocialist MP, Jennie Lee. [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. Bevan was not good academically and was at a time repeated for a year in school. NHS: Tredegar building to tell story of Aneurin Bevan's inspiration [98], Out of office, Bevan soon exacerbated the split within the Labour Party between the right and the left which weakened the party in the 1950s. Photo by Geoff Charles Wikimedia Commons. The pair went to work at Whitworth Colliery, but fell foul of management when Bevan refused to use cheaper second-hand timber as he deemed it unsafe. [15] Apart from a six-week period as a labourer for Tredegar Council, he did not find work until 1924 and his employer, the Bedwellty Colliery, closed down ten months later. From 1950, onwards it's been attacked, the reason he resigned from government, but has managed to last 75yrs. Aneurin had a stammer as a child which he would later overcome and be recognised as a great public speaker. Some historians have questioned how influential the college was on his political development. They would collect money weekly for any member who needed it. I. "Oratory in Political Life,", This page was last edited on 14 April 2023, at 03:25. Bevan was not good academically and was at a time repeated for a year in school. 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. The manager of the colliery found an excuse to get him dismissed. 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. Aneurin " Nye " Bevan PC (15 November 1897 - 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour politician. 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. But the lowest paid a tax rate of 1%, up from 0.2% in 1938, the middle income brackets paid 14% to 26%, up from 10% to 18% in 1938, the higher earners paid 42%, up from 29%, and the top earners 77%, up from 58% in 1938. multi-national defence organisation in Asia and the Pacific, subsequent Anglo-French military response, Political history of the United Kingdom (1945present), "Aneurin Bevan, stormy petrel of the Labour left", "Dying father inspired Nye Bevan's NHS dream", "Britain's near-brush with Fascism: The politician who rooted for Hitler", "Play tells the inspiring story of political couple Aneurin Bevan and Jennie Lee", "How Jennie Lee helped Aneurin Bevan shape political change", "70 years of the NHS: How Aneurin Bevan created our beloved health service", "Let Us Face the Future: A Declaration of Labour Policy for the Consideration of the Nation", "NHS 70: Aneurin Bevan Day celebrations in Tredegar", "Housing owned by the people for the people Nye would have approved", "Bevan's speech to the Manchester Labour rally", "Major John Freeman: Soldier who became an MP, diplomat and broadcaster best known for his series of interviews, Face to Face", "In Place of Fear A Free Health Service 1952", "Mr. Bevan and Others Awarded 2,500 Each", "Did you know NHS founder Aneurin Bevan lived in Bucks? His wage of 5 a week was paid by the members of the local Miners' Lodge. In 1925, Bevans father died of pneumoconiosis, a lung condition caused by long term inhalation of coal dust, but no compensation was paid. Aneurin's mother was also from Tredegar, but had English roots: her grandfather was from Hereford. [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". [10], 1919 saw the foundation of the Tredegar Labour Party and Bevan was selected as one of four Labour delegates to contest the West Ward in the Tredegar Urban District election. But it means abandonment of the class struggle and the subservience of the British workers to their own employers. Use the tabs aboveto learn about Nye Bevans life, work and ideas, as well as the history of the NHS. An infuriated Bevan stated that he would never be a member of a government that imposed charges on the National Health Service. He wasn't cut out to be a leader, he was cut out to be a prophet". [45] Clement Attlee expressed his support that Bevan should have been the leader of the Labour Party during his lifetime but was held back by his demeanour, stating "he wants to be two things simultaneously, rebel and official leader, and you can't be both". [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". [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". He was no calculating machine. Bevan attended the local school, where he was deeply shy because of a severe stammer that he developed as a child. Get out! [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. Image Credit: http://www.cradleofnhs.org.uk/nye.htm / Wikimedia Commons. My history hero: Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan (1897-1960) Aneurin Bevan Biography, Life, Interesting Facts Aneurin Bevan Worksheets & Facts | Life, Political Career, Legacy Aneurin's name is pronounced 'uh-ny-rin'. [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 have made us ashamed of the things of which formerly we were proud. 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. photo by Elliott & Fry Wikimedia Commons. The latter sale and purchase of goodwill often placed new entrants to the GP profession under large amounts of debt. Portrait of Aneurin Bevan. He was born to David Bevan a coal miner and Phoebe nee Prothero a seamstress as one of their ten children. The facts, figures and quotes that shaped the history of the National Health Service . Bevan accused the government of a "policy of bankruptcy and despair",[111] stating at the Trafalgar rally: We are stronger than Egypt but there are other countries stronger than us. Inspired by the Tredger Medical Aid Society of South Wales, Bevan initiated the National Health Service (NHS), which was managed with public funds and aimed to provide free medical . Get time period newsletters, special offers and weekly programme release emails. 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. It was Aneurin Bevan, the Minister of Health in the UK from 1945 to 1951, who started the NHS in 1948. - Aneurin Bevan, The Lancet, 1948. His father was a miner and the poor working class family in which Bevan grew up gave him first-hand experience of the problems. A member of the Tredegar branch of the South Wales Miners Federation, Bevan was the head of his local Miners Lodge at just 19 years of age. 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. Aneurin Bevan Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline After the landslide Labour victory in the 1945 general election, Bevan was appointed minister of health, responsible for establishing the National Health Service. Bevan was elected unopposed as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in 1959, succeeding Griffiths. His appointment came during the post-war housing shortage and the need for a radical change in the National Health Service. So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin. [47] His fierce opposition made him unpopular with some portions of the public at the time, his wife later described how the couple would frequently receive parcels filled with excrement at their home.[48]. He began attending fortnightly meetings of the local Plebs' League where he studied, among other things, Marxism. There was a particularly large increase in marginal tax rates for wealthy business owners. With the support of the Miners' Federation, the case was judged as one of victimisation and the company was forced to re-employ him. History Hit Launches on Comcasts Entertainment Platforms in the US. Aneurin Bevan. Bevan Festival - Home - Facebook Bevan was a supporter of the Liberal Party as a child, but later converted to socialism and joined the Independent Labour Party. Bevan's maternal grandfather John was a blacksmith who had moved to Tredegar from Hay-on-Wye to work in the Bedwellty mines. Aneurin Bevan was born on November 15, 1897, in Tredegar, Monmouthshire in the South Wales Valleys. [102] In July of the same year, Bevan announced his intention to stand for election as the Treasurer of the Labour Party against Hugh Gaitskell. 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. Bevan and Cripps had previously been threatened with disciplinary action by the party for sharing a stage with a Communist speaker, and all party members were threatened with expulsion if they were associated with the Popular Front. While this was not an insignificant achievement: the 850,000 homes built in the four years immediately after the war ended was the biggest housing programme ever introduced,[78] Bevan's rate of house-building was seen as less of an achievement than that of his Conservative (indirect) successor, Harold Macmillan, who was able to complete some 300,000 new homes a year as Minister for Housing in the 1950s. Photo by Lesbardd Wikimedia Commons. Contact, Facts are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. He was the architect of the National Health Service and leader of the left-wing (Bevanite) group of the Labour Party. 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 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. "[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". His appointment came with great displeasure from political opponents and members of his party. His new job arrived in time for him to head the local miners against the colliery companies during the General Strike. [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 1959, he was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and held the post for a year until his death from stomach cancer at the age of 62. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. [70][71] The aim was to create new homes and communities with a place for all sections of society: We should try to introduce in our modern villages and towns what was always the lovely feature of English and Welsh villages, where the doctor, the grocer, the butcher and the farm labourer all lived in the same street. He was born in Tredegar, Wales, on 15th November 1897. The Birth of the NHS - July 5th 1948 | Nursing Times If we accept the contention that the common enemy is Hitler and not the British capitalist class, then certainly Churchill is right. 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. Aneurin Nye Bevan (1897-1960) is widely regarded as one of the most influential left-wing politicians in British history. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Prime Minister Attlee rejected Bevan in favour of Herbert Morrison because he distrusted Bevan's personality. [22] Although described in The Times as "an outstanding back-bench critic" and "one of (Labour's) most brilliant members in debate", his appointment was regarded as a relative surprise, given his previous disciplinary issues. 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 was a great personal charm but was sometimes so rude to opponents that Churchill once called him a merchant of discourtesy. His opposition to the Labour leadership's approach was partly based on his view that the leadership of the Labour Party was not demanding assurances from the Government on its foreign policy as a price for the party's support for re-armament as expressed in his speech to the Bournemouth Conference of that year: we should say to the country we are prepared to make whatever sacrifices are necessary, to give whatever arms are necessary to fight Fascist powers and in order to consolidate world peace[39]. [1][3], The couple had ten children altogethersix boys and four girlsalthough four died in infancy and one died at the age of eight. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. No falsity must touch him once he is no longer available to defend his views. In 1951, Bevan was moved to become minister of labour. Read more. 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. They collected monies among themselves was what they did to support a member who needed it each week. Aneurin Bevan, Minister of Health, on the first day of the National Health Service, 5 July 1948 at Park Hospital, Davyhulme, near Manchester. He is also known for his wider contribution to the founding of the British welfare state. ], In 1951, with the retirement of Ernest Bevin, Bevan was a leading candidate for Foreign Secretary. 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. After a Labour landslide victory in 1945, Clement Attlee appointed Bevan Minister of Health, with a remit that also covered housing, given the severe post-war shortage. In February 1925, his father died of pneumoconiosis, an illness caused by the inhalation of coal dust. [12], During the Second World War he was one of the main leaders of the left in the Commons, opposing the wartime Coalition government. He lost the seat in 1931, but regained it in 1932 before deciding against seeking re-election in 1934. 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. He first became an MP for Ebbw Vale in 1929. Bevan died in his sleep at 4.10pm on 6 July 1960, at the age of 62, at his home, Asheridge Farm, Chesham, Buckinghamshire. 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]. full audio of Bevan's speech at the 4 November 1956 Trafalgar Square rally against British action in Suez. [57][58] These reforms were achieved in the face of great financial difficulty following the war. FIGHT FOR OUR NHS free at the point of need for all. Aneurin had a stammer as a child which he would later overcome and be recognised as a great public speaker. He compared Gamal Abdel Nasser with Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, from One Thousand and One Nights. Aneurin Bevan | Founder of the National Health Service He became a well-known local orator, and was regarded with suspicion by his employers, the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company. Aneurin Bevan. We can't allow OUR NHS, built on the working class medical society model to fall to corporate greed. After his resignation, Bevan served as Shadow Foreign Secretary from 1955 to 1959. Discover Walks contributors speak from all corners of the world - from Prague to Bangkok, Barcelona to Nairobi. [132] In 2002, Bevan was voted as the 45th greatest Briton of all time by the BBC public opinion poll, 100 Greatest Britons. Photo by Jeremy Segrott from Cardiff, Wales, UK - Wikimedia Commons Photo by University of Liverpool Faculty of Health & Life Sciences from Liverpool, United Kingdom Wikimedia Commons. 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. Aneurin Bevan, was born at 32 Charles Street, Tredegar, on 15th November 1897. Indeed, he was increasingly critical of his own party, and from 1940 to 1945 was the editor of the independent Socialist Tribune. [102], In March 1955, when Britain was preparing for Operation Grapple, the testing of its first hydrogen bomb, Bevan led a revolt of 57 Labour MPs and abstained on a key vote. From 1940 to 1945 he was editor of the independent Socialist Tribune. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aneurin_Bevan&oldid=1149734012, Fairlie, Henry. The Gaitskellites typically won most of the battles inside Parliament, but Bevanism was stronger among local Labour activists. How To Say Aneurin Bevan - YouTube 'Father of the NHS': Who Was Aneurin Bevan? | History Hit Aneurin Bevan | Biography & Facts | Britannica Bevan was also limited due to his desire for new homes to be bigger and of better quality than the ones they were being built to replace, based on the recommendations of a 1943 report by the Dudley Committee, and a shortage of skilled workers to undertake the work. BBC Wales - History - Themes - Aneurin Bevan [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). [12] Churchill would later label Bevan "a squalid nuisance". 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. But seven decades after it was founded, a 2013 opinion poll conducted on behalf of British Future found that the NHS was more popular than at its creation, and more popular than the monarchy, the BBC, and the British Armed Forces. In 1957, Bevan, Richard Crossman and the Labour Party's General Secretary Morgan Phillips sued The Spectator magazine for libel, after one of its writers described them as drinking heavily during an Italian Socialist Party conference. In Parliament, he became a vocal critic of numerous other politicians from all parties, particularly Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George. You can also find out more about the Bevan Society, our activities and programme of lectures. Why Did Shakespeare Paint Richard III as a Villain? [105] After the 1955 general election, Attlee retired as Labour leader. 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]. [62] This system proved so popular that 20,000 people supported the organisation during the 1930s. He went on to serve as shadow foreign secretary from 1956-59 and deputy leader of the Labour party from 1959-60. With his posture in parliament, he gained great support from his constituents. Corrections? Photo by Spudgun67 Wikimedia Commons. The new Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, appointed Bevan as Minister of Health, with a remit that also covered housing. He had also seen disputes with some of Attlee's closest allies, Ernest Bevin and Herbert Morrison, who were appointed Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House respectively. 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. Welsh Greats - Aneurin Bevan - YouTube BBC 2014 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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. Bevan is widely regarded as one of the most influential left-wing politicians in British history. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says, "Bevan alone kept the flag of left-wing socialism aloft throughoutwhich gave him a matchless authority amongst the constituency parties and in party conference". Shortly afterwards he resigned from the government in protest at the introduction of prescription charges for dental care and spectacles. "[62] Government income was increased for the welfare state expenditure by a large increase in marginal tax rates for wealthy business owners in particular, as part of what the Labour government largely saw as the redistribution of the wealth created by the working-class from the owners of large-scale industry to the workers. Aged 14, he left school to start working in the mines, starting at 5:30am each day and returning home late in the evening. In his 2014 biography, Nick Thomas-Symonds described "an outpouring of national mourning" that followed Bevan's death. 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. He was not, apparently, one of the most diligent students, and found it difficult to follow an organised routine, including arising early for breakfast. He was the sixth of ten children born to Phoebe and David Bevan, of whom only eight survived infancy and only six to adulthood. [29][30] They were early supporters of the socialists in the Spanish Civil War, and Bevan visited the country in 1938. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. 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's name is pronounced 'uh-ny-rin'. In 1934, he married fellow MP Jennie Lee, who was described as more left-wing than Nye. He believed that a civilized society should be able to provide medical care for all of its citizens for free so that anyone in need of medical care, no matter what they earn, can have access to it. His autobiography, In Place of Fear, appeared in 1952, Aneurin Bevan.
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