糖心TV

Written by Liz Wood, Archivist.

The clock passed midnight. In 11 Downing Street, in the early hours of Monday, 3 May 1926, leaders of the British labour movement met in a last-ditch attempt to find a compromise - a formula that would postpone the General Strike scheduled to start in less than 24 hours. As members of the Trades Union Congress General Council and Miners鈥� Federation Executive Committee sat wearily in the long committee room, a message came through from the Prime Minister. 鈥淭his is the dramatic moment. In the dim light one sees through the haze of tobacco smoke the circle of white, thrust-forward faces, tensely focussed on the speaker鈥檚 lips, until out comes the verbal bombshell that negotiations are broken off鈥� [1]

Elsewhere in London the printers of the Daily Mail had downed tools, refusing to publish an editorial which condemned the General Strike as a 鈥渞evolutionary movement鈥� and called for 鈥渁ll law-abiding men and women鈥� to resist the attack鈥� on government and 鈥渢he rights and liberties of the people鈥�. This unofficial shop dispute marked the end of negotiations. The Cabinet portrayed it as 鈥済ross interference with the freedom of the Press鈥� [2], marking the start of the national strike, and both sides prepared for the industrial conflict.

The battle for the press 鈥� and public opinion 鈥� was one of the key conflicts of the General Strike. Printers were among the 鈥楩irst-line鈥� workers called out by the Trades Union Congress, as the TUC attempted to gain 鈥渃ontrol over propaganda鈥� by closing down 鈥渢he general press of the country鈥�. Publications supportive of the labour movement were to be treated in the same way as hostile newspapers, leaving the TUC, in theory, as the sole source of information 鈥渙ver the presentation of the Council's case鈥� [3]. In practice, this policy was flawed.

Although local and national newspapers were initially limited by the printers鈥� walkout, many were able to use strikebreaking labour to produce short emergency bulletins. When volunteers were unable to use the large rotary printing presses, sheets were run off using smaller multigraph machines or stencilled using the cyclostyle process.

The government, too, acted to seize control of the narrative. By the morning of the 4^th of May, Ministers had commandeered the offices of the Morning Post, and were preparing to launch their own anti-strike newspaper to 鈥渃arry full and timely news throughout all parts of the country鈥�. The British Gazette was managed by Conservative politician J.C.C. Davidson, who spent much of the newspaper鈥檚 brief run trying to restrain his editor, the fervently anti-socialist Winston Churchill. A flavour of the house-style can be found through the initial edition鈥檚 statement of objects - 鈥淣early all the newspapers have been silenced by violent concerted action. 鈥� In a few days, if this were allowed to continue, rumours would poison the air, raise panics and disorders, inflame fears and passions together, and carry us all to depths which no sane man of any party or class would care even to contemplate.鈥� [4] The British Gazette was quoted by other news bulletins, denounced in the Houses of Parliament and caused alarm to the King, through its advocacy of armed force, but its distribution was limited beyond London. Striking transport workers restricted the usual rail or road routes, leaving delivery in the hands of volunteer aircraft pilots and car drivers. Writing 35 years later, Lancashire striker Bob Davies remembered the lack of national news 鈥� 鈥淭here was no press. 鈥� I understand that in London and one or two of the larger centres the case was different and there was some distribution but in St Helens, and I presume in other similar towns, the odd copies brought in were regarded more as curios than anything else鈥�. [5]

As the second day of the General Strike drew to a close, compositors in the Daily Herald building set the last line of text for a new strike newspaper. Before the presses could be put in motion, police had surrounded the building and plain clothes officers pushed their way in with a warrant from the Home Secretary. Officially tasked with seizing copies of the previous day鈥檚 Herald, the real reason for the raid soon became clear 鈥� the target was the Trade Union Congress鈥檚 own strike paper The British Worker. 鈥淭he inspector requested that a dozen copies of the paper should be run off for submission to the City Commissioner. If the Commissioner approved, we could go ahead. If not 鈥� he was sorry, but鈥︹�� [6]. Labour Party leaders quickly met to lobby the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, and agreement to publish was granted. As the police cordon withdrew, the gathering crowd burst spontaneously into a rendition of the Red Flag.

This public singalong was probably the most revolutionary thing about The British Worker. Conceived as an emergency response to The British Gazette, the TUC鈥檚 bulletin repeatedly emphasised the constitutional nature of the strike and the need for calm discipline in the face of provocation. The only news to be published was strike news, with regional updates drawn from the telegrams sent to head office by local trades councils and strike committees. Whilst the General Strike was a strike for the miners, their voices were largely absent from the Trades Union Congress record. Statements from miners鈥� leaders A.J. Cook and Herbert Smith were infrequent and usually limited to brief messages of support for the TUC, calls for calm or requests for financial support. As the initial police raid showed, anything other than a moderate voice could be quickly shut down.

Like The British Gazette, The British Worker was largely distributed by courier. Regional editions increased the geographical coverage, but the Trades Union Congress newspaper鈥檚 core audience was found within the labour movement. This wasn鈥檛 a publication to sell the strike to a hostile audience, it instructed the strikers how to act.

Whilst the rival British bulletins struggled to get national coverage, BBC radio broadcasts came into their own. By the end of 1926 an estimated one in five households held a British Broadcasting Company licence [7]. Despite Churchill鈥檚 keenness for the BBC to come under direct government control, the Company retained nominal independence during the General Strike. In practice, however, the emergency broadcasts were heavily skewed against the strike, with appeals for volunteers, transport updates and official statements from the Prime Minister and Home Secretary leading the news. No equivalent trade union voices were heard and the Archbishop of Canterbury鈥檚 appeal to broadcast on 鈥榓 spirit of fellowship鈥� and industrial peace was refused. At the end of May 1926 the reflected on the BBC鈥檚 role during the dispute. Amongst a series of appreciative letters from 鈥渨ell-known figures giving their views鈥�, Ellen Wilkinson鈥檚 statement stands out as the only example of published criticism 鈥� 鈥淚 travelled by car over two thousand miles during the strike and addressed very many meetings. Everywhere the complaints were bitter that a national service subscribed to by every class should have given only one side during the dispute鈥�. [8]

At street level, local news could be communicated through chalked messages, sandwich board signs, posters, or brief printed bulletins. Whilst some emergency news bulletins were published by established newspapers, others were produced by enterprising individuals, summarising wireless headlines, local gossip and scraps from other sources in a one page news sheet that could be sold for pennies. Against Trades Union Congress advice, independent pro-strike publications were produced by local trades councils and strike committees. This was not without risk - distribute something 鈥榮editious鈥� and, under the Emergency Powers Act, arrest and imprisonment could quickly follow.

Once the strike was over, the Trades Union Congress reassessed its 鈥減olicy of shutting down the newspapers of the country鈥� as 鈥渋t is unquestionable that 鈥� the closing down of the press intensified feeling against the General Council鈥� [9]. In the chaos that followed the strike鈥檚 calling off, many employers sought to exclude unions from their workforce and perceived 鈥榯roublemakers鈥� were victimised. Lists of victimised printing workers in the TUC archives give hints of individual lives affected 鈥� 鈥渆mployment refused鈥�, 鈥渢he firm find fresh excuses each time鈥�, 鈥渨ithin the course of the next week or two all these men will have been removed to other towns鈥� [10]. For many of those actively involved, the effects of the General Strike lasted far longer than the nine days in May.