He was a strong critic of the arming policy the British government adopted during the rise of Hitler. [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". full audio of Bevan's speech at the 4 November 1956 Trafalgar Square rally against British action in Suez. No falsity must touch him once he is no longer available to defend his views. Photo by Lesbardd Wikimedia Commons. [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". To achieve mastery as a speaker, he had first to overcome a speech impediment. photo by Elliott & Fry Wikimedia Commons. 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. He first became an MP for Ebbw Vale in 1929. 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. 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. 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. Aneurin Bevan Facts: Aneurin Bevan was a Welsh Labour politician widely considered the architect of the National Health Service. "[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". [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. [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 appeared in court but was cleared when he produced confirmation that he suffered from nystagmus. [50], Bevan was subject to further disciplinary action in 1944, when he deliberately voted against Labour's stance on new defence regulations. Tomorrow he will be cremated in keeping with his known views. His father was a miner and the poor working class family in which Bevan grew up gave him first-hand experience of the problems of poverty and disease. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Bevan Festival. This is often quoted as "I stuffed their mouths with gold". Photo by Spudgun67 Wikimedia Commons. The latter sale and purchase of goodwill often placed new entrants to the GP profession under large amounts of debt. The NHS is a massive employer. [107] He instead stood again for the role of party treasurer and was duly elected, beating George Brown.[108]. 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. [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]. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. The Gaitskellites typically won most of the battles inside Parliament, but Bevanism was stronger among local Labour activists. 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. Aneurin Bevan, was born at 32 Charles Street, Tredegar, on 15th November 1897. Aneurin Bevan was born on November 15, 1897, in Tredegar, Monmouthshire in the South Wales Valleys. [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]. 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. Aneurin Nye Bevan (1897-1960) is widely regarded as one of the most influential left-wing politicians in British history. Aneurin Bevan with his eye on the Ball. [111], Bevan dismayed many of his supporters when he suddenly reversed his opposition to nuclear weapons. 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? 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. [75][76][77] 1946 saw the completion of 55,600 new homes; this rose to 139,600 in 1947 and 227,600 in 1948. He is also known for his wider contribution to the founding of the British welfare state. His influence waned after his departure, although a left-wing group (not under his control) within the party became known as "Bevanites". His autobiography, In Place of Fear, appeared in 1952. 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. After his resignation, Bevan served as Shadow Foreign Secretary from 1955 to 1959. 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. He compared Gamal Abdel Nasser with Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, from One Thousand and One Nights. ], In 1951, with the retirement of Ernest Bevin, Bevan was a leading candidate for Foreign Secretary. [51] He also voiced criticism of trade union leaders, which drew complaints from both the Miners' Federation and the Trades Union Congress. [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". His National Health Service policy met great disapproval from the British Medical Association. However, the. With his posture in parliament, he gained great support from his constituents. An infuriated Bevan stated that he would never be a member of a government that imposed charges on the National Health Service. [1][3], The couple had ten children altogethersix boys and four girlsalthough four died in infancy and one died at the age of eight. He joined the Labour Party and attended Central Labour College in London. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aneurin_Bevan&oldid=1149734012, Fairlie, Henry. He wanted the war to be not just a fight against fascism but a war for socialism. Aneurin Bevan was born in Tredegar in 1897 into a large mining family and left school at 13 to work in the mine. . The National Health Service was launched in 1948, and Bevan is quoted as saying, No society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of a lack of means. 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 criticised figures such as Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George for their attitude towards workers rights, and as a result of his strong stance enjoyed consistent support from his constituency, and was one of few Labour MPs to be unopposed in the 1931 General Election. In 1959, Bevan was elected deputy leader of the Labour Party, although he was already suffering from terminal cancer. [42], In August 1939 came the MolotovRibbentrop Pact, a non-aggression pact between the Nazi and Soviet governments that shocked democratic governments around the world. 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. Corrections? By 19 he was active in trade unionism and was head of his local miners' lodge . Plaque, Aneurin Bevan memorial stones, Tredegar. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. One of ten children (though four died in infancy and one at eight years old), Bevans father was a coal miner and Baptist, while his mother a seamstress and follower of Methodism. He began attending fortnightly meetings of the local Plebs' League where he studied, among other things, Marxism. As minister of health in Clement Attlees Labour government of 1945, he was responsible for developing housing programs and for establishing the National Health Service. [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. 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. [133] The following year, Bevan was voted number one in the 100 Welsh Heroes poll, a response to find the public's favourite Welsh people of all time. [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. It was around this time that he first "reject[ed] his chapel upbringing" and became an atheist. This club was aimed at helping members in monetary terms in their times of need. 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. On 5 July 1948, the government took over responsibility for all medical services and there was free diagnosis and treatment for all. 12. He died on 6 July 1960. In his political career, Bevan served as a minister of health in Clement Attlees Labor government of 1945, he was responsible for developing housing programs and for establishing the National Health Service. History Hit Launches on Comcasts Entertainment Platforms in the US. He was Chief of Staff in Spain, he won the Battle of the Ebro, and he is a sergeant. He was no calculating machine. At the age of 13, in his last months of schooling, he worked as a butcher's boy at a local store. [32][33] Bevan and another expelled MP, George Strauss, appealed against the decision. Aneurin Bevan Aneurin Bevan, Minister of Health, on the first day of the National Health Service, 5 July 1948 at Park Hospital, Davyhulme, near Manchester. 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. [4] Aneurin Bevan attended Sirhowy Elementary School, where he achieved little. In addition, he is known for his wider contribution to the founding of the British welfare state. 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. Academically poor, young Bevan repeated a year of studies. 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]. In 1934,Aneurin BevanmarriedSocialist MP, Jennie Lee. [40] Bevan now called unsuccessfully for a Popular Front against fascism under the leadership of the Labour Party, including even anti-fascist Tories. C. 1924. The memorial stones of Aneurin Bevan in Tredegar, 2011. Aneurin Bevan. [16][17] In 1926 he found work as a paid union official. Discover Walks contributors speak from all corners of the world - from Prague to Bangkok, Barcelona to Nairobi. Bevan was a great personal charm but was sometimes so rude to opponents that Churchill once called him a merchant of discourtesy. The son of a miner, Bevan became a colliers helper at age 13 but had to leave the mines in a few years because of eye disease. He was not a cold-blooded rationalist. 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. Aneurin is second from right on the back row and his brother Billy is second right on front row. [12] In Parliament, he became noticed as a harsh critic of those he felt opposed the working man and woman. 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. Photo by Kaihsu Tai on 2005-07-07 Wikimedia Commons. You can also find out more about the Bevan Society, our activities and programme of lectures. "[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. Photo by No Swan So Fine Wikimedia Commons. Bevan was a supporter of the Liberal Party as a child, but later converted to socialism and joined the Independent Labour Party. [54], He believed that the Second World War would give Britain the opportunity to create "a new society". 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]. 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. Indeed, he was increasingly critical of his own party, and from 1940 to 1945 was the editor of the independent Socialist Tribune. Bevan opposed the heavy censorship imposed on radio and newspapers and wartime Defence Regulation 18B, which gave the Home Secretary the powers to intern citizens. Aneurin had a stammer as a child which he would later overcome and be recognised as a great public speaker. [87] The Labour MP David Marquand has stated that the savings were introduced by Gaitskell simply to "impose his will" upon Bevan who he saw as a political rival. If we are going to appeal to force, if force is to be the arbiter to which we appeal, it would at least make common sense to try to make sure beforehand that we have got it, even if you accept that abysmal logic, that decadent point of view.We are in fact in the position today of having appealed to force in the case of a small nation, where if it is appealed to against us it will result in the destruction of Great Britain, not only as a nation, but as an island containing living men and women. During the 1926 General Strike, Bevan emerged as one of the leaders of the South Wales miners. [63] Having been a member of the Cottage Hospital Management Committee around 1928 and serving as chairman in 192930, Bevan had received an insight into the management of health services by local authorities, which proved to be a bedrock of his work in founding the National Health Service.[48]. We enter this campaign at this general election, not merely to get rid of the Tory majority. [134][135] Numerous institutions bear Bevan's name, including the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, and Ysbyty Aneurin Bevan, a hospital located within his old Ebbw Vale constituency. Bevan was as critical of Nasserist Egypt's seizure of the Suez Canal on 26 July 1956 as he was of the subsequent Anglo-French military response. [88][89] Two other ministers, John Freeman and Harold Wilson, resigned at the same time. [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 parents had ten children togetherfour died in infancy and one died at the age of eight. Bevan foresaw that it would always be the subject of public debate, warning that "This service must always be changing, growing and improving; it must always appear to be inadequate." Aneurin Bevan was a reversed and famous Wales Labour politician who championed social justice, the right of workers, and democratic socialism. [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". 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". Thus, the responsibility for instituting a new and comprehensive National Health Service, as well as tackling the country's severe post-war housing shortage, was given to Bevan, the youngest member of Attlee's Cabinet in his first ministerial position at the age of 47. He was born to David Bevan a coal miner and Phoebe nee Prothero a seamstress as one of their ten children. 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. Shortly afterwards he resigned from the government in protest at the introduction of prescription charges for dental care and spectacles. "[81] The comment inspired the creation of the Vermin Club by angry Conservatives, who attacked Bevan for years for the metaphor. "Oratory in Political Life,", This page was last edited on 14 April 2023, at 03:25. After the landslide Labour victory in the 1945 general election, Bevan was appointed minister of health, responsible for establishing the National Health Service. During World War Two, Bevan was one of the leaders of the left in the House of Commons. 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. [119] He checked into the Royal Free Hospital in London on 27 December 1959 to undergo surgery for an ulcer, but malignant stomach cancer was discovered instead in a major operation two days later. Bevan's reputation as a hard-line socialist typically preceded him: Sir William Douglas, who served as Bevan's deputy in the Ministry of Health, had initially stated that he would "never work with a man like that". 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. Despite resistance from opposition parties and the British Medical Association, the National Health Service Act 1946 was passed and launched in 1948, nationalising more than 2,500 hospitals within the United Kingdom. Bevan's maternal grandfather John was a blacksmith who had moved to Tredegar from Hay-on-Wye to work in the Bedwellty mines. In 1955, he stood as one of the candidates for party leader but was defeated by Hugh Gaitskell. [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. [Nye] was never a hypocrite. [80], At a party rally in 1948, during a speech, Bevan stated: "That is why no amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction, can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred for the Tory Party that inflicted those bitter experiences on me. [7], Bevan became a well-known local orator and was seen by his employers, the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company, as a troublemaker. They would collect money weekly for any member who needed it. 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. [112] Speaking at the 1957 Labour Party conference, he decried unilateral nuclear disarmament, saying "It would send a British Foreign Secretary naked into the conference-chamber". [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. There is a man in the British Army who flung 150,000 men across the Ebro in Spain, Michael Dunbar. He wasn't cut out to be a leader, he was cut out to be a prophet". This made him join the Independent Labour Party. History Hit brings you the stories that shaped the world through our award winning podcast network and an online history channel. He was readmitted in November, the same year after he agreed to desist from involving himself in campaigns that opposed the declared policy of the Party. Aneurin's name is pronounced 'uh-ny-rin'. Conway is in the middle of the picture. Bevan was elected unopposed as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in 1959, succeeding Griffiths. Icon of 1960s Britain: Who Was Mary Quant? 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. [99] For the next five years, he was the leader of the left wing of the Labour Party, who became known as Bevanites. Aneurin Bevan was a founding member of the Query Club in 1920 alongside his brother. The move was seen by some as a sideways or backwards step, although a potential rearmament program was expected to make the post of future importance. Bevan led the left wing of the Labour Party, known as the 'Bevanites', for the next five years. 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. After two years at Central Labour College, London, he entered politics and in 1929 was elected to the House of Commons as Labour member from Ebbw Vale. [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]. He was cremated at Gwent Crematorium, Croesyceiliog. [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". [12] Churchill would later label Bevan "a squalid nuisance". [105] After the 1955 general election, Attlee retired as Labour leader. His contribution to the Welfare State has been immense. Bevan also failed in a bid to become deputy leader, losing out to Jim Griffiths. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. He was the sixth of ten children born to Phoebe and David Bevan, of whom only eight survived infancy and only six to adulthood. [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". Photo by Jeremy Segrott from Cardiff, Wales, UK Wikimedia Commons. Aneurin Bevan was born on November 15, 1897, in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, to David Bevan and Phoebe nee Prothero. [57][58] These reforms were achieved in the face of great financial difficulty following the war. Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan (1897-1960) is widely regarded as one of the most influential left-wing politicians in British history. He was convinced that. Read more. "[97], In March 1952, a poorly prepared Bevan came off the worse in an evening Commons debate on health with Conservative backbencher Iain Macleod, whose performance led Churchill to appoint him as Minister of Health some six weeks after the debate.