Billy Bragg: Margaret Thatcher Made Me A Socialist

Watch the full interview with Billy Bragg on Democracy Now! at owl.li/jRdOq. British rocker and activist Billy Bragg began his music career in the late 1970s in London when he formed the punk rock band Riff Raff. His 1984 album, "Brewing Up with Billy Bragg," included the song, "It Says Here," a critique of politics and tabloid newspapers that still rings true today in the wake of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal. In 1998 and 2000, he participated in two well-known albums - Mermaid Avenue, Volumes 1 and 2 - that gave voice to another folk troubadour who sang about the poor and working class: Woody Guthrie. Bragg composed music for lyrics written by Guthrie and performed many of the songs alongside the album's other main contributor, Wilco. But to speak of Bragg simply as a singer-songwriter misses his passion for speaking out against injustice and fighting for many causes. In the 1980s, he called for support for the 1984 strike by the National Union of Mineworkers, one of the most significant chapters in Britain's trade union history. It was ultimately defeated under the watch of then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and Bragg went on to organize for the defeat of Thatcher and her Conservative government. He joins us for an extended interview and performance. He reflects on his long history of activism and sings several songs.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report, I'm Amy Goodman. As we return to my conversation with the legendary British singer-songwriter Billy Bragg. I asked him about the 1984 miners' strike in Britain.
BILLY BRAGG: I'm in a very-I'm one of those people who was born in a very fortunate time, when I-you know, my parents' generation and grandparents' generation fought very hard for a welfare state in my country, in which the rights of the individual were underpinned by the collective provision of free healthcare, free education, decent affordable housing, proper pensions. And that was-you know, that's what we refer to in my country as the post-war consensus. Parties came and went-Labour, Conservative, Liberal. Nobody ever changed that, until Margaret Thatcher came along. And she decided that it will be better to have-to pay less taxes. So she began to take apart the welfare state and that provision. And the government owned the coal mines. And although there was plenty of coal under our country, she then began to close them down. So they went on strike. And really, the strike became a defense of that welfare state, of those ideals of collective responsibility and collective provision.
And as a singer-songwriter who had grown up listening to Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie and The Clash, it seemed to me that my place was to be, you know, there on the picket line playing songs. And it was interesting, because it was a bit of an education for me, because I didn't-like I said, I didn't go to college, so I didn't know a huge amount about socialism. So it was a very steep learning curve. They wanted to know why this pop singer from London had come up to the coal fields, sitting up late at night on sofas with people, drinking cups of tea, smoking cigarettes, talking about politics. And so, yeah, I can tell you that my-the great inspiration in my politics was Margaret Thatcher. Were it not for her, I probably wouldn't be a socialist.
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[@katehaywood3764]

I'll save my respect for the people who she trampled. The Hillsborough victims families who never got justice, the miners, steel workers and dockers whose jobs she took, families she devastated and communities she destroyed. And for the young and old who are suffering from fuel poverty today because she sold off our utilities for her momentary greed!

[@cadnewham]

There's no such thing as society, except when you have a funeral that needs paying for

[@H4ZzR]

She began to close them down without providing any alternative employment. When her predecessors closed them, they lessened the impact on the communities by providing other jobs.

[@KryptonitetoallBS]

Thatcher hated working people and I have got very bitter memories of what she did. She turned all the nation against miners, ship builders and blue collar workers in general. She led millions of people out of work. I recognise there were difficult decisions to make and changes needed BUT any PM who cares about her people ensures that where jobs are lost training programmes are introduced and assistance is given to local business's who have been decimated by entire villages/towns suddenly being made redundant. But as these towns were out of sight and sound of London, she didn't give a dam !

[@gavinmarks9430]

"Thatcher where you're going you wont have to worry about coal, because where you're going it'll be bloody roasting". (Ricky Tomlinson)

[@phantomsuccour]

Thank goodness Britain has never seen the type of socialism pre-Thatcher. Terrible terrible time it was.

[@geofflethornes4109]

Woohoo! Billy Bragg! Good to see a proper people's hero rather than some bloody princess pushed on us by the media.

[@aguyinagreenhat6614]

I always find it funny how Billy talks about the plight of the working class and how evil the rich are when he sits in his nice £1.5million home driving fancy cars and drinking expensive red wine. A hypocritical champagne socialist to the core and I find it offensive.

[@Iazzaboyce]

I saw Bob Dylan in 1981 and before he did Maggie's Farm he said to the audience: "I hear you're having problems with a Maggie of your own"

[@redword2007]

All people, even celebrities, should use their position in society to speak out for peace and social justice.

[@erictull5215]

Welcome to the reality of Thatcher's Britain.

[@TheRock1.0]

The British public needs to understand that it was the colonial wealth that was paying for all the free stuff. Thatcher did the right thing by making them work for thier facilities.

[@charlottexroyalty7819]

interesting thatcher turned me into a capitalist

[@richardturpin4108]

Scargill single hands destroyed the miners he was playing with fire and he got is fingers burnt.

[@DennisBloodnokPhotographyVideo]

If we had just carried on with what Billy Bragg referred to as "the status quo"? Quoting Scottish Trades Union leader, Jimmy Reid, "What if it cost a subsidy of £1,000,000 per tonne to mine the coal". The coal would be too valuable to burn. Eventually a prime minister would have had too do what Mrs Thatcher did. It was no different when Dennis Healy went to the IMF for a loan in 1975 and had to accept big cuts in public spending. Any industry or economy has too pay its way in the world.

[@huna1950]

Hi Tim reasonable point i suppose- but an overlooked facet was that the unions having been politizied for decades made themselves a seperate entitiy outwith the economics of the mining sector it's self...to the point where factoring in union costs to the mines made them less profitable!!someone has to pay for a now retired union boss collecting 25k per year on a pension!the amount and word that now elludes many of the people they we're trying to represent!

[@DennisBloodnokPhotographyVideo]

It was sad that people lost their jobs. But the UK Coal Mining Industry had been making a loss for decades. The tax payers had been subsidising the mines for billions of pounds. The majority of the population were very angry with striking workers & their Marxist Union leaders holding the country to ransom during the 1960s and 1970s. This made the 1984 Coal Mine closures inevitable. If Mrs Thatcher had not done this, one of the prime ministers which followed her would have had to close the mines.

[@DennisBloodnokPhotographyVideo]

Mrs Thatcher's legacy should be seen in the context of what was happening before the 1979 Election. 29% Inflation,mass strikes,rubbish piled high in the streets,the dead un-buried & the lights going out regularly due to electricity & mine workers going on strike. Poor quality industries, proped up by government subsidies,making products that no-one wanted to buy (EG Austin Allegro).Mrs Thatcher did many things which were wrong (EG Poll Tax).But to continue the status quo was not a viable option.

[@jcbairmaster73]

If the UK is to survive we need sustained growth in manufacturing,jobs for the young,more taxpayers into the system than takers out of it,less immigration and a commitment to getting our unemployed into jobs worth having,getting out of the EU and the repeal of the so called Human right's fiasco Blair inveigled us into,start running this country for those who live here and pay for it,and be true to the legacy of those who fought and died for it.Back to basics.

[@huna1950]

Shame i suppose the biggest surprise was that he only appreared FOUR times at tribunals after being dismissed!!!!!i wonder if he ever got that FIFTH employer???? i guess like alot of unasnswered questions round here in recent days,we'll never know the truth to that!! take care and be well