Image Credit: http://www.cradleofnhs.org.uk/nye.htm / Wikimedia Commons. Top 15 Things to do Around the Eiffel Tower, 10 Things to Do in Paris on Christmas Day (2022), 10 Things to Do in Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. 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. In January 1951, Bevan became Minister for Labour but resigned in protest just three months later after Hugh Gaitskell, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, proposed an introduction of prescription charges for dental care and spectacles in order to save a potential 25 million to meet the financial demands of the Korean War. [82] It was later claimed that his words had cost Labour more than two million votes. [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". 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 had been inspired by the Tredegar Medical Aid Society in his hometown, where residents would pay a subscription that would fund access for all of the town's inhabitants to have free access to medical services such as nursing or dental care. From 1950, onwards it's been attacked, the reason he resigned from government, but has managed to last 75yrs. Bevan, however, became an atheist. [29][30] They were early supporters of the socialists in the Spanish Civil War, and Bevan visited the country in 1938. 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. In Parliament, Bevan argued that this was the logical outcome of the government's foreign policy. 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. [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". 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". [132] In 2002, Bevan was voted as the 45th greatest Briton of all time by the BBC public opinion poll, 100 Greatest Britons. In parliament, he became a fierce critic of those who did not represent the interest of the working force including members of his party. His National Health Service policy met great disapproval from the British Medical Association. Labour Party deputy leader Herbert Morrison complained that Bevan's attack had backfired, for his words "did much more to make the Tories work and vote than Conservative Central Office could have done". [68], Conservative opposition of the National Health Service scheme feared that the sudden access to free health care would be overrun. The Gaitskellites typically won most of the battles inside Parliament, but Bevanism was stronger among local Labour activists. Aneurin Bevan was born on 15 th November 1897 in Tredegar, Monmouthshire (now in Blaenau Gwent). His father was a coal miner and his mother worked as a seamstress. There was a particularly large increase in marginal tax rates for wealthy business owners. photo by Elliott & Fry Wikimedia Commons. 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. Bevan appeared in court but was cleared when he produced confirmation that he suffered from nystagmus. He lost the seat in 1931, but regained it in 1932 before deciding against seeking re-election in 1934. Aneurin Bevan, was born at 32 Charles Street, Tredegar, on 15th November 1897. Inspired by the Tredegar Medical Aid Society in his hometown in South Wales, Bevan led the campaign for a National Health Service to provide medical care free at point-of-need across the UK, regardless of wealth. Read more. 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 was first elected as MP for Ebbw Vale in 1929, and used his Parliamentary platform to make a number of influential criticisms of Winston Churchill and his Conservative government during the Second World War. I. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Some historians have questioned how influential the college was on his political development. [62] This system proved so popular that 20,000 people supported the organisation during the 1930s. 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". Aneurin Bevan was one of the most important ministers of the post-war Labour government and the chief architect of the National Health Service. [130] The Nye Bevan Estate in Clapton Park, Hackney, London, was named after Bevan, and was opened in October 1962 by his friend and biographer Michael Foot. He was cremated at Gwent Crematorium, Croesyceiliog. 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. But it means abandonment of the class struggle and the subservience of the British workers to their own employers. Described as "more left-wing than Nye", Lee became a considerable influence on Bevan's political career. [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. As exposure to the atmosphere reduces all mummies to instant dissolution, so war passes supreme judgment upon social systems that have outlived their vitality. David Bevan was born in Tredegar but his family had originally hailed from Carmarthenshire, and he followed his own father into the mines, starting work at 5:30am each day and returning home late in the evening. [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. In 1934, he married fellow MP Jennie Lee, who was described as more left-wing than Nye. BBC 2014 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. On the day, Bevan attended a ceremony at the Park Hospital, Trafford (now Trafford General), at which he symbolically received the keys to the hospital. He became minister of labour in January 1951 but resigned from the government the following April in protest against the rearmament program, which necessitated sharp cutbacks in social expenditures. Icon of 1960s Britain: Who Was Mary Quant? Bevan was actually against British membership of the Common Market. [12], During the Second World War he was one of the main leaders of the left in the Commons, opposing the wartime Coalition government. 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 and the setting up of the NHS The National Health Service. In his 2014 biography, Nick Thomas-Symonds described "an outpouring of national mourning" that followed Bevan's death. [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? He grew up steeped in the traditions of Welsh miners radicalism; self-help organizations, trade unionism, religious dissent, and socialism. He first became an MP for Ebbw Vale in 1929. [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. [54], He believed that the Second World War would give Britain the opportunity to create "a new society". . [28], He married fellow Socialist MP Jennie Lee in 1934, after they met in London. We are going to Tredegar-ise you. London.A man presents Mr Aneurin (Nye) Bevan, Minister of Health, to a large gathering of National Federation of Building Trades Operatives - natural sound. Conway was a local miner who had been elected to the Bedwellty Board of Guardians and offered Bevan advice on overcoming his stammer, stating "if you can't say it, you don't know it". His parents had ten children togetherfour died in infancy and one died at the age of eight. Bevan was a great personal charm but was sometimes so rude to opponents that Churchill once called him a merchant of discourtesy. [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 wasn't cut out to be a leader, he was cut out to be a prophet". Born in a modest family, Bevan's exposure to poverty and deprivation gave him a first-hand experience of unfortunate condition of . The True Tale of Wales Legendary Hay Castle, 8 Formidable Fighters of the Hellenistic Period, Operation Unthinkable: Churchills Postwar Contingency Plan, The Pirates Code: Laws and Life Aboard Ship, How the Island of Rhodes Overcame a Superpower, Historical Trips - Book your next historical adventure, 10 Must-See Medieval Landmarks in England, Join Dan Snow for the Anniversary of the D-Day Landings, Lost Literature: Why Most English Texts Didnt Survive the Middle Ages, The Legacy of Hal 9000: How Science Fiction Depictions of AI Have Changed Over Time. Bevan also failed in a bid to become deputy leader, losing out to Jim Griffiths. 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. [13], Bevan was one of the founding members of the "Query Club" with his brother Billy and Walter Conway. Bevanism was opposed by the Gaitskellites, moderate social democrats within the party. The new Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, appointed Bevan as Minister of Health, with a remit that also covered housing. Soon, thereafter became an activist and initially, a supporter of syndicalism. [91], Later the same year, the Labour Party were defeated at the general election. 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. 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 . [12] In Parliament, he became noticed as a harsh critic of those he felt opposed the working man and woman. 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. Get out! Bevan died from stomach cancer in 1960 at the age of 62. On the 'appointed day', 5 July 1948, Bevan's National Health Service Act 1946 came into force. 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. The Aneurin Bevan, former Cross Inn, September 2018, This is a photo of the listed building number. We will send you the latest TV programmes, podcast episodes and articles, as well as exclusive offers from our shop and carefully selected partners. [125] Jennie Lee explained in a letter to Michael Foot that Bevan had specifically chosen to have a non-religious funeral and not a Christian service, because he was a firm humanist. From 1940 to 1945 he was editor of the independent Socialist Tribune. Bevan led the left wing of the Labour Party, known as the 'Bevanites', for the next five years. [123][124] An open-air service was held in his constituency of Ebbw Vale and was presided over by Donald Soper. He was born to David Bevan a coal miner and Phoebe nee Prothero a seamstress as one of their ten children. 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. This was after he had won a seat on the Monmouthshire County Council in 1928. The latter sale and purchase of goodwill often placed new entrants to the GP profession under large amounts of debt. 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. Bevan was the sort of principled politician we seem to lack these days. 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 went on to serve as shadow foreign secretary from 1956-59 and deputy leader of the Labour party from 1959-60. 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]. Bevan argues that the percentage of tax from personal incomes rose from 9% in 1938 to 15% in 1949. He is known for leading the creation of the National Health Service (NHS) to give medical care free at point-of-need to all Britons.
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