[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 agreed to serve as shadow foreign secretary under Gaitskell. Aneurin Bevan was born on November 15, 1897, in Tredegar, Monmouthshire in the South Wales Valleys. Bevan left school at 13 and began working in a local colliery. [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". Photo by University of Liverpool Faculty of Health & Life Sciences from Liverpool, United Kingdom Wikimedia Commons. From 1950, onwards it's been attacked, the reason he resigned from government, but has managed to last 75yrs. 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. Why Did Shakespeare Paint Richard III as a Villain? A poll in 2013 conducted on behalf of British Future found that the NHS was more popular then than at its creation, and was more popular than the monarchy, BBC and British Armed Forces. We enter this campaign at this general election, not merely to get rid of the Tory majority. 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. In parliament, he became a fierce critic of those who did not represent the interest of the working force including members of his party. Bevan died from stomach cancer in 1960 at the age of 62. [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. In 1957, Bevan, Richard Crossman and the Labour Party's General Secretary Morgan Phillips sued The Spectator magazine for libel, after one of its writers described them as drinking heavily during an Italian Socialist Party conference. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. Aneurin had a stammer as a child which he would later overcome and be recognised as a great public speaker. Photo by Jeremy Segrott from Cardiff, Wales, UK Wikimedia Commons. Photo by Geoff Charles Wikimedia Commons. He was the son of coal miner David Bevan and Phoebe (ne Prothero), a seamstress. 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. Bevan Festival - Home - Facebook 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 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. [4] Aneurin Bevan attended Sirhowy Elementary School, where he achieved little. He knelt reverently in respect to a friend or friend's faith, but he never pretended to be anything other than what he was, a humanist. KS2 All About Aneurin Bevan PowerPoint (Teacher-Made) [60] He earned a rebuke from Attlee, but Bevan contended that his Welsh mining constituency did not send him to Parliament to "dress up", and he declined to wear formal attire at further Buckingham Palace functions. Bevan first worked as a miner during his teens where he became involved in local miner's union politics. To support our blog and writers we put affiliate links and advertising on our page. Bevan gained more than twice the votes of Liberal candidate William Griffiths, receiving 20,000 votes to Griffiths' 8,000. [57][58] These reforms were achieved in the face of great financial difficulty following the war. 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. Photo by Spudgun67 Wikimedia Commons. [22] Although described in The Times as "an outstanding back-bench critic" and "one of (Labour's) most brilliant members in debate", his appointment was regarded as a relative surprise, given his previous disciplinary issues. [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. 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. 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. [60] Bevan tested this newfound solidarity early on by arriving to a royal banquet at St James's Palace wearing a navy lounge suit. 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. His father was a coal miner and his mother worked as a seamstress. 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. BBC Wales - History - Themes - Aneurin Bevan Read more. His "vermin" speech still resonated: imagination shuddered at a repetition of that on the international stage. He strongly criticised the National Government's rearmament plans in the face of the rise of Nazi Germany, saying to the Labour conference in autumn 1937: If the immediate international situation is used as an excuse to get us to drop our opposition to the rearmament programme of the Government, the next phase must be that we must desist from any industrial or political action that may disturb national unity in the face of Fascist aggression. Portrait of Aneurin Bevan. FIGHT FOR OUR NHS free at the point of need for all. Bevan died in his sleep at 4.10pm on 6 July 1960, at the age of 62, at his home, Asheridge Farm, Chesham, Buckinghamshire. Get out! Along that road is endless retreat, and at the end of it a voluntary totalitarian State with ourselves erecting the barbed wire around. 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. Bevan was elected unopposed as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in 1959, succeeding Griffiths. [1] The town was situated in the South Wales Valleys and was on the northern edge of the South Wales coalfield. 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. [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. Who was Aneurin Bevan, when did he create the NHS and where - The Sun His National Health Service policy met great disapproval from the British Medical Association. 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. [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. 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. 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. With his activism and exuberance, his employer Tredegar Iron Company saw him as a troublesome person but he amazingly became a popular local speaker. 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." 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. I. Photo by Lesbardd Wikimedia Commons. Aneurin Bevan | Biography & Facts | Britannica 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). Bevan's past association with Mosley would be used against him in subsequent years by his political rivals. Aneurin Bevan. 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. His autobiography, In Place of Fear, appeared in 1952, Aneurin Bevan. He published the bookIn Place of Fear in 1952, which became the most read socialist book at the time. [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. In his biography of Bevan, John Campbell wrote, "Bevan's impetuous temperament, undiplomatic tone and reputation as an extreme left-winger combined to make the Foreign Office seem the last place a prudent Prime Minister would think of putting him at any time. 2. [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. [123][124] An open-air service was held in his constituency of Ebbw Vale and was presided over by Donald Soper. His father was a miner and the poor working class family in which Bevan grew up gave him first-hand experience of the problems. Aneurin's name is pronounced 'uh-ny-rin'. It was during this period that he became convinced by the ideas of socialism. Use the tabs above to learn about Nye Bevan's life, work and ideas, as well as the history of the NHS. A powerful speaker, debater and champion of the working class, Bevan was voted number one in the 100 Welsh Heroes poll, a response to find the publics favourite Welsh people of all time. [103] Although unsuccessful in his bid, he did celebrate 25 years as the MP for Ebbw Vale. The Gaitskellites typically won most of the battles inside Parliament, but Bevanism was stronger among local Labour activists. [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]. Aneurin Bevan Worksheets & Facts | Life, Political Career, Legacy At a dinner in late 1955 or early 1956 to celebrate the publication of the Guillebaud Report into NHS costs Bevan remarked to Julian Tudor Hart "ultimately I had to stuff their mouths with gold" about his handling of the consultants. His agitations for a united socialist front of all parties of the left (including the Communist Party of Great Britain) led to his brief expulsion from the Labour Party from March to November 1939 (along with Stafford Cripps, C. P. Trevelyan and three others). [36] He was a strong critic of Chamberlain, arguing that his old rival Winston Churchill should become prime minister. Omissions? Photo by Duncan from Leicestershire, UK Wikimedia Commons. 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. They collected monies among themselves was what they did to support a member who needed it each week. [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. Get out! He was a strong critic of the arming policy the British government adopted during the rise of Hitler. [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". He was the architect of the National Health Service and leader of the left-wing (Bevanite) group of the Labour Party. As exposure to the atmosphere reduces all mummies to instant dissolution, so war passes supreme judgment upon social systems that have outlived their vitality. [131], 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 representing Bevan. [32][33] Bevan and another expelled MP, George Strauss, appealed against the decision. [12], During the Second World War he was one of the main leaders of the left in the Commons, opposing the wartime Coalition government. He lost the seat in 1931, but regained it in 1932 before deciding against seeking re-election in 1934. His wage of 5 a week was paid by the members of the local Miners' Lodge. Some historians have questioned how influential the college was on his political development. He wasn't cut out to be a leader, he was cut out to be a prophet". My history hero: Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan (1897-1960) He was not, apparently, one of the most diligent students, and found it difficult to follow an organised routine, including arising early for breakfast. [113] According to the journalist Paul Routledge, Donald Bruce, a former MP and Parliamentary Private Secretary and adviser to Bevan, had told him that Bevan's shift on the disarmament issue was the result of discussions with the Soviet government, where they advised him to push for British retention of nuclear weapons so they could possibly be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the United States.[114]. Bevan shared a liberal ideology and was additionally a supporter of the Liberal party that had a change of ideology to socialism after reading Robert Blatchfords in the Clarion. [129], A bronze statue was commissioned by South Glamorgan County Council and erected in 1987 in the city centre of Cardiff. In 1957 he argued that sovereignty would be taken away from parliament if Britain was to join, much the same argument as Brexiteers make today. Aneurin Bevan and the setting up of the NHS The National Health Service. Updates? Aneurin Bevan was born on November 15, 1897, in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, to David Bevan and Phoebe nee Prothero. In addition, he is known for his wider contribution to the founding of the British welfare state. As minister of health in Attlee's postwar government from 1945-51, he spearheaded the creation of the National Health Service in 1948. It was Aneurin Bevan, the Minister of Health in the UK from 1945 to 1951, who started the NHS in 1948. [54], He believed that the Second World War would give Britain the opportunity to create "a new society". "[81] The comment inspired the creation of the Vermin Club by angry Conservatives, who attacked Bevan for years for the metaphor. We are going to Tredegar-ise you. 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. Use the tabs aboveto learn about Nye Bevans life, work and ideas, as well as the history of the NHS. 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. The statue of Aneurin Bevan (1897-1960) by the late Robert Thomas on Queen Street Cardiff. In 1934, he married fellow MP Jennie Lee, who was described as more left-wing than Nye. Hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and subscriber rewards. The latter sale and purchase of goodwill often placed new entrants to the GP profession under large amounts of debt. It was around this time that he first "reject[ed] his chapel upbringing" and became an atheist. 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. His new job arrived in time for him to head the local miners against the colliery companies during the General Strike. 70 years of the NHS: How Aneurin Bevan created our beloved health We will send you the latest TV programmes, podcast episodes and articles, as well as exclusive offers from our shop and carefully selected partners. He won the seat easily and made it to parliament. Aneurin Bevan Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline Here you can learn about the life and work of Aneurin (Nye) Bevan (1897-1960), founder of Britain's National Health Service and one of the Labour movement's greatest orators and thinkers. "[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. Bevanism - Wikipedia [2] He was a member of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion and wrote his own poems, one of which won an inter-chapel eisteddfod. What does Aneurin Bevan's legacy mean today? - Cardiff University [50], Bevan was subject to further disciplinary action in 1944, when he deliberately voted against Labour's stance on new defence regulations. 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. BBC - History - Aneurin Bevan 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 . This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. [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 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. 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 was born to David Bevan a coal miner and Phoebe nee Prothero a seamstress as one of their ten children. He became a trades union activist and won a scholarship to study in London. 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]. [84][85] During his tenure, he helped to secure a deal for railwaymen which provided them with a significant pay increase. In 1928, Bevan won a seat on Monmouthshire County Council in the Tredegar Central Division. 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. . [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. He was no calculating machine. Bevan ended up in a fist fight with a group of miners who refused to strike over his rejection. Aneurin Bevan. Additionally, he was a brilliant spontaneous debater and a colorful public personality. So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin. He would be studying economics, history, and politics for the next two years while in that school. On his return to South Wales he struggled to find work, remaining unemployed for nearly three years before gaining employment as a union official, which led to him becoming a leading figure in the 1926 general strike. 11. Bevan was actually against British membership of the Common Market. From 1940 to 1945 he was editor of the independent Socialist Tribune. When Bevan was made a minister in 1945, he envisaged the social housing sector as a housing service similar to the National Health Service, ensuring that everyone had access to decent and affordable homes, with people still having the option to live in owner occupation or the private sector if they so chose (with grants made available to owner-occupiers and private landlords to bring dwellings up to decent standards). Bevan led the left wing of the Labour Party, known as the 'Bevanites', for the next five years. [18], In 1928, Bevan won a seat on Monmouthshire County Council in the Tredegar Central Division. 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. Bevan was not good academically and was at a time repeated for a year in school. [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". 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". 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. Aneurin Bevan | Founder of the National Health Service After Bevan left the Health ministry in 1951 he could never regain his level of success and feuded with fellow Labour leaders, using his strong political base as a weapon. He is also known for his wider contribution to the founding of the British welfare state. Lesser-known, perhaps, is Bevans own personal background. [45][by whom? The new Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, appointed Bevan as Minister of Health, with a remit that also covered housing. Humanist Heritage: Aneurin Bevan (1897-1960) His appointment came with great displeasure from political opponents and members of his party. [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]. There, he spent two years studying economics, politics and history. [16][17] In 1926 he found work as a paid union official. 12. In 1934,Aneurin BevanmarriedSocialist MP, Jennie Lee. An infuriated Bevan stated that he would never be a member of a government that imposed charges on the National Health Service. They condemned millions of first-class people to semi-starvation. However, by the end of his tenure, he had declared Bevan as "the best minister we have had". [6] He worked at the butcher's for several months before leaving school, instead working in the local Ty-Trist Colliery. If we accept the contention that the common enemy is Hitler and not the British capitalist class, then certainly Churchill is right. With his posture in parliament, he gained great support from his constituents. He began attending fortnightly meetings of the local Plebs' League where he studied, among other things, Marxism. He was born in Tredegar, Wales, on 15th November 1897. He was born to David Bevan a coal miner and Phoebe nee Prothero a seamstress as one of their ten children. Read more. Bevan argues that the percentage of tax from personal incomes rose from 9% in 1938 to 15% in 1949. Aneurin Bevan was born on 15 November 1897 in Tredegar in Wales. 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. 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. He was elected head of his Miners' Lodge when aged 19, where he frequently railed against management.
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