Quote Originally Posted by Tuerto View Post
Scargill knew the truth, which has come to light. Miners were being told that there jobs were not under threat, even a letter was delivered to their houses saying so, from Macgregor. Lies, total lies. If Scargill had called a ballot then some miners would not have come out, making it easier for Thatcher to do exactly what she had set out to do. An easy ride of it so to speak. But as we know, Scargill was correct about the closures and by not calling a ballot the Government had a fight on their hands that probably wouldn't have happened due to Thatcher lying through her teeth.

There was no ballot in 1981 when Notts Miners put Thatcher on her toes concerning mass closures and there was no ballot in 1972 when nearly a million workers went on strike to support the Pentonville 5 dockers who had been jailed for resisting against anti union legislation, So, what difference would a ballot have made?
You are right, if Scargill had called a ballot then he would probably have lost. In the circumstances his tactical ineptness meant little public support for the strike and culminated in Thatcher abrogating the magnanimity of the victor and dealing with the aftermath in a ruthless way. The strikes of 1972 and 1981 did little or nothing to mitigate ant union legislation. The old adage “ politics is the art of the possible “ was not understood at all by Scargill or not wanted to be understood and therefore it is obvious to any disinterested party that his members interests were not uppermost in his mind.