[67][65] Some 2,688 voluntary and municipal hospitals in England and Wales were nationalised and came under Bevan's supervisory control as Health Minister. Use the tabs aboveto learn about Nye Bevans life, work and ideas, as well as the history of the NHS. He was born to David Bevan a coal miner and Phoebe nee Prothero a seamstress as one of their ten children. He went on to serve as shadow foreign secretary from 1956-59 and deputy leader of the Labour party from 1959-60. Aneurin Bevan Facts: Aneurin Bevan was a Welsh Labour politician widely considered the architect of the National Health Service. Perhaps the greatest and certainly one of the most controversial of Labour Party politicians, Bevan was born in Tredegar, a miner's son in a dissenting family. Bevan called for the nationalisation of the coal industry and advocated the opening of a Second Front in Western Europe to help the Soviet Union in its fight with Germany. 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 wage of 5 a week was paid by the members of the local Miners' Lodge. 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. 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. For local insights and insiders travel tips that you wont find anywhere else, search any keywords in the top right-hand toolbar on this page. [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". Aneurin had a stammer as a child which he would later overcome and be recognised as a great public speaker. [13], Bevan was one of the founding members of the "Query Club" with his brother Billy and Walter Conway. 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. The collective principle asserts that no society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means. [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. These numbers were reached by lowering the quality standards originally put forward by Bevan, with council houses featuring gardens being largely dropped in favour of tower blocks and flats. 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 'Nye' Bevan (1897-1960) is widely regarded as one of the most influential left-wing politicians in British history. [22][23] He had solid support from his constituency, being one of the few Labour MPs to be unopposed in the 1931 General Election, and this support grew through the 1930s and the period of the Great Depression. "[49], Dunbar had been recommended for a commission, but rejected it himself to remain with his unit. 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. 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. Some historians have questioned how influential the college was on his political development. 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. Bevan was born in Tredeger, Monmouthshire, a working-class mining town where some 90% of the workforce relied upon the local mines for employment. [69][70] The removal of the criteria of "working class" from local authority housing provision was seen as a first step, widening access to the council housing that was becoming an ever larger part of the UK housing stock and which made up a majority of new homes built after the war. Bevan believed that the key to the war was the involvement of Russia and considered Churchill was too focused on the intervention of the United States. He grew up steeped in the traditions of Welsh miners radicalism; self-help organizations, trade unionism, religious dissent, and socialism. The facts, figures and quotes that shaped the history of the National Health Service . Welsh Greats - Aneurin Bevan - YouTube On the 'appointed day', 5 July 1948, Bevan's National Health Service Act 1946 came into force. full audio of Bevan's speech at the 4 November 1956 Trafalgar Square rally against British action in Suez. He agreed to serve as shadow foreign secretary under Gaitskell. [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. [68], Conservative opposition of the National Health Service scheme feared that the sudden access to free health care would be overrun. He became a well-known local orator, and was regarded with suspicion by his employers, the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company. Aneurin Bevan was the son of coal miner David Bevan and Phoebe, a seamstress. [84][85] During his tenure, he helped to secure a deal for railwaymen which provided them with a significant pay increase. The Gaitskellites typically won most of the battles inside Parliament, but Bevanism was stronger among local Labour activists. Aneurin Bevan was a British Labour Party politician who took up the portfolio of Health and Housing during Clement Attlee's government from 1945 to 1951. [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. [5] 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 19 years of age. FIGHT FOR OUR NHS free at the point of need for all. He died on July 6, 1960, leaving a significant legacy, namely the National Health Service. He was the architect of the National Health Service and leader of the left-wing (Bevanite) group of the Labour Party. Aneurin Bevan with his eye on the Ball. [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". His autobiography, In Place of Fear, appeared in 1952. Academically poor, young Bevan repeated a year of studies. They condemned millions of first-class people to semi-starvation. Bevan gained more than twice the votes of Liberal candidate William Griffiths, receiving 20,000 votes to Griffiths' 8,000. 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]. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. Aneurin's name is pronounced 'uh-ny-rin'. [120], After a lengthy period in hospital, on 14 February 1960 Bevan returned home and announced he would not be returning to politics in the near future, so as to be able to recuperate and plan an extended holiday. Bevan was the sort of principled politician we seem to lack these days. 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. The same year, Labour were defeated in the General Election. Bevan, however, became an atheist. 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. We may all come from different walks of life but we have one common passion - learning through travel. Use the tabs above to learn about Nye Bevan's life, work and ideas, as well as the history of the NHS. [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]. [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 not academically sharp Aneurin Bevan with his eye on the Ball. 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. Before entering Parliament, Bevan was involved in miner's union politics and was a leading figure in the 1926 general strike. 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. [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 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. 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. To achieve mastery as a speaker, he had first to overcome a speech impediment. Bevan was actually against British membership of the Common Market. Photo by Jeremy Segrott from Cardiff, Wales, UK - Wikimedia Commons 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. [2] He was a member of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion and wrote his own poems, one of which won an inter-chapel eisteddfod. Aneurin Bevan was born on 15 th November 1897 in Tredegar, Monmouthshire (now in Blaenau Gwent). Happy travels! Student Activities. 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 1926, he became a key leader of the South Wales miners during a General Strike, being largely responsible for the distribution of strike pay in Tredegar and for forming the Council of Action, an organisation that helped to raise money and provide food for the workers. In 1934 he married another Labour MP, Jennie Lee. [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. His dad was a miner and the poor working class family in which Bevan grew up gave him first-hand experience of the problems of . He published the bookIn Place of Fear in 1952, which became the most read socialist book at the time. After an overwhelming victory for the Labour Party in the 1945 General Election,Aneurin Bevanwas appointed Minister for Health also responsible for housing by Prime Minister Clement Attlee. 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. Bevan's key speeches in the legislative arena are to be found in: For the local health board headquartered in Caerleon, Wales, see, Minister of Labour and National Service (1951). Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. [100] In April 1954, Bevan resigned from the Parliamentary Labour Party, having been rebuked by Attlee after accusing the Labour leader of surrendering to American pressure over a proposed multi-national defence organisation in Asia and the Pacific. [12] In Parliament, he became noticed as a harsh critic of those he felt opposed the working man and woman. [22], Soon after Bevan entered Parliament, he was briefly attracted to Smethwick Labour MP Oswald Mosley's arguments,[24] becoming one of the 17 signatories of the Mosley Memorandum in the context of the MacDonald government's repeated economic crises,[25] including the doubling of unemployment levels. [Nye] was never a hypocrite. He won the seat easily and made it to parliament. [45][by whom? 11. Photo by University of Liverpool Faculty of Health & Life Sciences from Liverpool, United Kingdom Wikimedia Commons. Aneurin Bevan Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline [82] It was later claimed that his words had cost Labour more than two million votes. 3. [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. Tomorrow he will be cremated in keeping with his known views. We can't allow OUR NHS, built on the working class medical society model to fall to corporate greed. However, by the end of his tenure, he had declared Bevan as "the best minister we have had". [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. 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. Described as "more left-wing than Nye", Lee became a considerable influence on Bevan's political career. Bevan attended the local school, where he was deeply shy because of a severe stammer that he developed as a child. Pronunciation of Aneurin Bevan: Learn how to pronounce the word Aneurin Bevan.Definition and meaning can be found here: https://www.google.com/search?q=defin. [115] Crossman later acknowledged that they had perjured themselves to do so.[116]. Aneurin Bevan As a result of this success, he was picked as the Labour Party candidate for Ebbw Vale, then easily held the seat in the 1929 General Election, receiving more than twice the number of votes as the Liberal candidate. Bevan Festival. He was a strong critic of the arming policy the British government adopted during the rise of Hitler. [12] Churchill would later label Bevan "a squalid nuisance". [57][58] These reforms were achieved in the face of great financial difficulty following the war. This club was aimed at helping members in monetary terms in their times of need. [75][79] Macmillan was also able to concentrate full-time on the housing crisis, instead of being obliged, like Bevan, to combine his housing portfolio with that for Health (which for Bevan took the higher priority: he once stated tongue-in-cheek that he devoted "five minutes a week to housing"). [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". Like many other students of Bevans class, his formal education ended when he was 14 years of age when he began to work in the mines. He was the sixth of ten children born to Phoebe and David Bevan, of whom only eight survived infancy and only six to adulthood. [45] Bevan also feared that allowing Churchill to continue unopposed and unchallenged in Parliament during the war would leave him almost unbeatable for the Labour Party in future elections. He wanted the war to be not just a fight against fascism but a war for 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". It was Aneurin Bevan, the Minister of Health in the UK from 1945 to 1951, who started the NHS in 1948. [12] Bevan resigned from his position two weeks later, stating both the proposed changes and the increase in military expenditure that necessitated the need for such proposals. BBC 2014 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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. He became a trades union activist and won a scholarship to study in London. [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. He is also known for his wider contribution to the founding of the British welfare state. Aneurin "Nye" Bevan was a Welsh politician born on November 15, 1897. Bevan passed on July 6, 1960, at age 62 in his Asheridge Farm home in Chesham, Buckinghamshire a year after being diagnosed with stomach cancer. Bevan, Aneurin (1897-1960). He was not a cold-blooded rationalist. "Oratory in Political Life,", This page was last edited on 14 April 2023, at 03:25. He was the son of coal miner David Bevan and Phoebe (ne Prothero), a seamstress. photo by Elliott & Fry Wikimedia Commons. 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. The manager of the colliery found an excuse to get him dismissed. On July 5 1948 the National Health Service took control of 480,000 hospital beds in England and Wales. His appointment came during the post-war housing shortage and the need for a radical change in the National Health Service. Rediscovering Richard III with Matt Lewis, Rome and the Amalfi Coast with Tristan Hughes, Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, How Rome Became the Sole Superpower in the Mediterranean, Charles Martel: A Heroic Leader of Medieval Europe. 9 Necessary Facts about the NHS - Fact City 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. [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". [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. 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. Aneurin Bevan | Founder of the National Health Service The Labour conference voted to drop its opposition to rearmament. 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? Bevan was critical of the leadership of the British Army, which he felt was class bound and inflexible. 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." Along that road is endless retreat, and at the end of it a voluntary totalitarian State with ourselves erecting the barbed wire around. - Aneurin Bevan, The Lancet, 1948. Image Credit: http://www.cradleofnhs.org.uk/nye.htm / Wikimedia Commons. The latter sale and purchase of goodwill often placed new entrants to the GP profession under large amounts of debt. 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 elected head of his Miners' Lodge when aged 19, where he frequently railed against management. 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. In 1955, he stood as one of the candidates for party leader but was defeated by Hugh Gaitskell. His contribution to the Welfare State has been immense. Photo by Howard Coster - Wikimedia Commons, Portrait of Aneurin Bevan. 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". [86] However, three months after his appointment, Hugh Gaitskell introduced a proposal of prescription charges for dental care and spectaclescreated to save a potential 25m to meet the financial demands imposed by the Korean War. 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? When the strike started on 3 May 1926, Bevan soon emerged as one of the leaders of the South Wales miners. Aneurin Bevan was a founding member of the Query Club in 1920 alongside his brother. [32][33] Bevan and another expelled MP, George Strauss, appealed against the decision. Soon, thereafter became an activist and initially, a supporter of syndicalism. What does Aneurin Bevan's legacy mean today? - Cardiff University "[55] At the beginning of the 1945 general election campaign, Bevan told his audience that his goal was to eliminate any opposition to the Labour programme: "We have been the dreamers, we have been the sufferers, now we are the builders. [121] In May 1960 Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India, while in England visited Bevan at his home in Asheridge Farm (where Bevan was a keen amateur farmer, keeping cattle and pigs).[122]. Hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and subscriber rewards. I believe that is essential for the full life of citizen to see the living tapestry of a mixed community. [29][30] They were early supporters of the socialists in the Spanish Civil War, and Bevan visited the country in 1938. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. His father was a coal miner and his mother worked as a seamstress. 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". He joined the Labour Party and attended Central Labour College in London. Later today he will be taken home to Wales. Bevan Festival - Home - Facebook In February 1925, his father died of pneumoconiosis, an illness caused by the inhalation of coal dust. [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". An infuriated Bevan stated that he would never be a member of a government that imposed charges on the National Health Service. Although the Italians were never sure the British delegation were sober, they always attributed to them an immense political acumen. Number 10, The Circle, was home to the Tredegar Medical Aid Society, which was used as a blueprint by Aneurin Bevan when he set up the National Health Service for the UK in 1948. His influence waned after his departure, although a left-wing group (not under his control) within the party became known as "Bevanites". [21] His targets included the Conservative Winston Churchill and the Liberal David Lloyd George, as well as Ramsay MacDonald and Margaret Bondfield from his own Labour party (he targeted the latter for her unwillingness to increase unemployment benefits). 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. 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. Indeed, he was increasingly critical of his own party, and from 1940 to 1945 was the editor of the independent Socialist Tribune. [123][124] An open-air service was held in his constituency of Ebbw Vale and was presided over by Donald Soper. He began attending fortnightly meetings of the local Plebs' League where he studied, among other things, Marxism. Bevanism was a movement on the left wing of the Labour Party in the late 1950s led by Aneurin Bevan which also included Richard Crossman, Michael Foot and Barbara Castle. A colourful public personality and a brilliant spontaneous debater, he had great personal charm but was sometimes so rude to opponents that Churchill once called him a merchant of discourtesy. After his defeat as party leader by Hugh Gaitskell (1955), he accepted his partys policies and became shadow foreign secretary.
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