We can't allow OUR NHS, built on the working class medical society model to fall to corporate greed. So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin. He went on to serve as shadow foreign secretary from 1956-59 and deputy leader of the Labour party from 1959-60. He died on 6 July 1960. 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? Aneurin Bevan was a founding member of the Query Club in 1920 alongside his brother. 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. The NHS was funded by a slight increase in taxes, and government income tax was increased for the welfare state expenses. 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. This made him join the Independent Labour Party. To support our blog and writers we put affiliate links and advertising on our page. By 1932, Mosley's New Party had migrated from the left over to the far-right of British politics and was rebranded as the British Union of Fascists. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. 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. After a Labour landslide victory in 1945, Clement Attlee appointed Bevan Minister of Health, with a remit that also covered housing, given the severe post-war shortage. 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. Nye gave us the greatest Socalist model ever seen in 1948. 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. The facts, figures and quotes that shaped the history of the National Health Service . He grew up steeped in the traditions of Welsh miners radicalism; self-help organizations, trade unionism, religious dissent, and socialism. Aneurin Bevan was born on November 15, 1897, in Tredegar in Wales. Photo by Duncan from Leicestershire, UK Wikimedia Commons. Some historians have questioned how influential the college was on his political development. [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". There, he spent two years studying economics, politics and history. 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. His remains were cremated at Gwent Crematorium in Croesyceiliog in a private family ceremony. He was born in Tredegar, Wales, on 15th November 1897. Aneurin Bevan Facts: Aneurin Bevan was a Welsh Labour politician widely considered the architect of the National Health Service. Aged 14, he left school to start working in the mines, starting at 5:30am each day and returning home late in the evening. 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. This statement is often misconstrued: Bevan argued that unilateralism would result in Britain's loss of allies, and one interpretation of his metaphor is that nakedness would come from the lack of allies, not the lack of weapons. Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan (1897-1960) was the Labour MP for Ebbw Vale in south Wales from 1929-60. Image Credit: Peter Aylmer / Nye Bevan stones / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons. He was not a cold-blooded rationalist. In addition, he is known for his wider contribution to the founding of the British welfare state. The former aimed to provide a uniform standard of consultant led care and expertise throughout the country and to replace the patchwork of voluntary and municipal hospitals which existed at that point. In 1987, a bronze statue of Bevan was erected in the city centre of Cardiff, while the Aneurin Bevan Memorial Stones were erected at the beginning of the Sirhowy Valley Walk with three smaller stones (representing three towns of his constituency Ebbw Vale, Rhymney and Tredegar) surrounding a larger stone, which represents Bevan. 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. Omissions? 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. 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. He was the son of coal miner David Bevan and Phoebe (ne Prothero), a seamstress. His nomination received a severe blow on the same day it was announced, when two unions that traditionally sided with the left, the National Union of Mineworkers and the Amalgamated Engineering Union, pledged their support for his opponent. ], In 1951, with the retirement of Ernest Bevin, Bevan was a leading candidate for Foreign Secretary. [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. [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. By 19 he was active in trade unionism and was head of his local miners' lodge . His new job arrived in time for him to head the local miners against the colliery companies during the General Strike. 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. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. 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]. There was a particularly large increase in marginal tax rates for wealthy business owners. London.A man presents Mr Aneurin (Nye) Bevan, Minister of Health, to a large gathering of National Federation of Building Trades Operatives - natural sound. 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 was born on 15 November 1897 in Tredegar in Wales. The Aneurin Bevan, former Cross Inn, September 2018, This is a photo of the listed building number. In 1955, he stood as one of the candidates for party leader but was defeated by Hugh Gaitskell. They criticised the right-wing "Gaitskellites" high defence expenditure (especially for nuclear weapons), called for better relations with the Soviet Union, and opposed the party leader, Clement Attlee, on most issues. History Hit Launches on Comcasts Entertainment Platforms in the US. Aneurin Nye Bevan (1897-1960) is widely regarded as one of the most influential left-wing politicians in British history. FIGHT FOR OUR NHS free at the point of need for all. [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. 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. 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. In 1934,Aneurin BevanmarriedSocialist MP, Jennie Lee. Aneurin Bevanwas selected as the Labour Partys parliamentary candidate for Ebbw Vale for the 1929 General Election. Aneurin had a stammer as a child which he would later overcome and be recognised as a great public speaker. ", "The NHS: even more cherished than the monarchy and the army", "Aneurin Bevan / 100 Welsh Heroes / 100 Arwyr Cymru", "Hospital named after Aneurin Bevan opens in Ebbw Vale", contributions in Parliament by Aneurin Bevan, Aneurin Bevan and the foundation of the NHS: Socialist Health Association website. [28], He married fellow Socialist MP Jennie Lee in 1934, after they met in London. In Parliament, he became a vocal critic of numerous other politicians from all parties, particularly Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George. 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". [106] Bevan's remark that "I know the right kind of political Leader for the Labour Party is a kind of desiccated calculating machine" was assumed to refer to Gaitskell, although Bevan denied it (commenting upon Gaitskell's record as Chancellor of the Exchequer as having "proved" this). While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. From 1940 to 1945 he was editor of the independent Socialist Tribune. Aneurin's mother was also from Tredegar, but had English roots: her grandfather was from Hereford. Icon of 1960s Britain: Who Was Mary Quant? Corrections? [1] The town was situated in the South Wales Valleys and was on the northern edge of the South Wales coalfield. [93] In 1952 Bevan published In Place of Fear,[94] "the most widely read socialist book" of the period, according to a highly critical right-wing Labour MP Anthony Crosland. [45][by whom? In Parliament, Bevan argued that this was the logical outcome of the government's foreign policy. In 2004, more than 44 years after his death, he was voted first in a list of 100 Welsh Heroes, having been credited for his contribution to the founding of the welfare state in the UK. For the next few years Bevan was the centre of controversy within the Labour Party and involuntarily gave his name to the partys radical wing. [68], Conservative opposition of the National Health Service scheme feared that the sudden access to free health care would be overrun. 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. [127], Bevan's most significant legacy is the National Health Service. Aneurin Bevan, byname Nye Bevan, (born November 15, 1897, Tredegar, Monmouthshire [now in Blaenau Gwent], Walesdied July 6, 1960, Chesham, Buckinghamshire), controversial figure in post-World War II British politics and one of the finest orators of the time. Former Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan ended his Prime Ministers Questions two days after Bevans death with a tribute to him, describing him as a great personality and a great national figure. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. But it means abandonment of the class struggle and the subservience of the British workers to their own employers. 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. "[81] The comment inspired the creation of the Vermin Club by angry Conservatives, who attacked Bevan for years for the metaphor. Photo by Spudgun67 Wikimedia Commons. 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 was named Minister of Labour in 1951, but resigned after two months in office, when the Attlee government proposed the introduction of prescription charges for dental and vision care and decided to transfer funds from the National Insurance Fund to pay for rearmament. Photo by University of Liverpool Faculty of Health & Life Sciences from Liverpool, United Kingdom Wikimedia Commons. [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). The same year, Labour were defeated in the General Election. Born into a working class family in Monmouthshire, Wales, Bevan worked in a coal mine as a teenager, and it was through a miners union that he first became interested in politics. He was elected head of his Miners' Lodge when aged 19, where he frequently railed against management. Use the tabs above to learn about Nye Bevan's life, work and ideas, as well as the history of the NHS. There was an outpouring of national mourning that followed his death, while the Daily Herald reported that some MPs were seen to be crying in Parliament. This was after he had won a seat on the Monmouthshire County Council in 1928. 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. [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. The manager of the colliery found an excuse to get him dismissed. On the 'appointed day', 5 July 1948, Bevan's National Health Service Act 1946 came into force. 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. Read more. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. In 1934 he married another Labour MP, Jennie Lee. A statue of Aneurin Bevan in Cardiff. His influence waned after his departure, although a left-wing group (not under his control) within the party became known as "Bevanites". 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. Bevan, however, became an atheist. [107] He instead stood again for the role of party treasurer and was duly elected, beating George Brown.[108]. During World War Two, Bevan was one of the leaders of the left in the House of Commons. His work in the mines paid off as he gained sponsorship from the South Wales Miners Federation to study at Central Labour College in 1919. He became a trades union activist and won a scholarship to study in London. Members of the BMA had dubbed him the "Tito of Tonypandy". His parents had ten children togetherfour died in infancy and one died at the age of eight. He was born to David Bevan a coal miner and Phoebe nee Prothero a seamstress as one of their ten children. He joined the Labour Party and attended Central Labour College in London. Before entering Parliament, Bevan was involved in miner's union politics and was a leading figure in the 1926 general strike. [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 began attending fortnightly meetings of the local Plebs' League where he studied, among other things, Marxism. You cannot collaborate, you cannot accept the logic of collaboration on a first class issue like rearmament, and at the same time evade the implications of collaboration all along the line when the occasion demands it.[38]. 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. [103] Although unsuccessful in his bid, he did celebrate 25 years as the MP for Ebbw Vale. Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan (1897-1960) is widely regarded as one of the most influential left-wing politicians in British history. During the 1926 General Strike, Bevan emerged as one of the leaders of the South Wales miners. [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. 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. [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. Lesser-known, perhaps, is Bevans own personal background. Bevan's maternal grandfather John was a blacksmith who had moved to Tredegar from Hay-on-Wye to work in the Bedwellty mines. Bevan's past association with Mosley would be used against him in subsequent years by his political rivals. He wasn't cut out to be a leader, he was cut out to be a prophet". Hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and subscriber rewards. 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. Photo by Jeremy Segrott from Cardiff, Wales, UK - Wikimedia Commons He was Chief of Staff in Spain, he won the Battle of the Ebro, and he is a sergeant. Raised in Monmouthshire by a Welsh working-class family, he was the son of a coal miner and left school at 14. [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. Bevan followed his advice, often practising his speeches to his friends to perfect his speech and wording, and remarked that Conway's words were the "best advice I ever had". [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". [57][58] These reforms were achieved in the face of great financial difficulty following the war. [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. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aneurin-Bevan, British Broadcasting Corporation - Biography of Aneurin Bevan, Spartacus Educational - Biography of Aneurin Bevan. [132] In 2002, Bevan was voted as the 45th greatest Briton of all time by the BBC public opinion poll, 100 Greatest Britons. Aneurin Bevan was born on 15 th November 1897 in Tredegar, Monmouthshire (now in Blaenau Gwent). Described as "more left-wing than Nye", Lee became a considerable influence on Bevan's political career. [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"). 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. [12] In Parliament, he became noticed as a harsh critic of those he felt opposed the working man and woman. [59] Bevan had clashed frequently with Attlee during his time as an MP, believing that the Labour leader failed to apply enough pressure on the Tory government during the war. Prime Minister Attlee rejected Bevan in favour of Herbert Morrison because he distrusted Bevan's personality. [60] Bevan tested this newfound solidarity early on by arriving to a royal banquet at St James's Palace wearing a navy lounge suit. [1] The town was situated in the South Wales Valleys and was on the northern edge of the South Wales coalfield. Inspired by the Tredger Medical Aid Society of South Wales, Bevan initiated the National Health Service (NHS), which was managed with public funds and aimed to provide free medical . On July 5 1948 the National Health Service took control of 480,000 hospital beds in England and Wales. After his studies in 1921, he returned home without work as the Tredegar Iron & Coal Company refused to re-engage him. Bevan left school at 13 and began working in a local colliery. He was the architect of the National Health Service and leader of the left-wing (Bevanite) group of the Labour Party. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Soon, thereafter became an activist and initially, a supporter of syndicalism. [64] The scheme was achieved having overcome political opposition from both the Conservative Party and from within his own party. 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. Why Did Shakespeare Paint Richard III as a Villain? "[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". In 2002, Bevan was voted the 45th greatest Briton of all time by a BBC public opinion poll. He would be studying economics, history, and politics for the next two years while in that school. We want the complete political extinction of the Tory Party, and twenty-five years of Labour Government. The new Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, appointed Bevan as Minister of Health, with a remit that also covered housing. [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. With the support of the Miners' Federation, the case was judged as one of victimisation and the company was forced to re-employ him. He was adept at construction and added several modern features when the family moved to 7 Charles Street, installing the first gas stove in the street, an inside toilet and running hot water. On 5 July 1948, the government took over responsibility for all medical services and there was free diagnosis and treatment for all. They would collect money weekly for any member who needed it. 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". [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.