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For those of you who are unfamiliar with British history, the 1980s was a very turbulent time. There were numerous strikes, riots, and protests against the government of Margaret Thatcher, and unlike most countries such as the US and the eastern bloc countries, where public opinion moved to the right, in Britain polls showed a strong move to the left. The Keynesian consensus of all major parties had broken down due to economic collapse. The oil crisis in 1973, and stagflation due to decreased demand, required capitalism to re-adjust itself, and the achievements of the post-war boom looked to be undone in a blink of eye under the new doctrine of the Chicago School and supply side economics.

Because I will be here forever talking about the decade and the events that happened, I'm going to presume those here at least have a partial understanding of the history, and proceed from there. If you are unfamiliar, you can easily find Wikipedia articles on the topics I am discussing.

The biggest reason why the Miners Strike of 1984-1985 failed was Arthur Scargill's arrogant refusal to call a national ballot. This allowed the government to push a version of events that he was an undemocratic leader and that the unions were out for themselves. Despite the heroic struggle of numerous communities to defend their livelihoods, the strike was divided from the start. Because there was no national ballot, miners who chose not to go on strike were to a certain degree legitimised. This led to waves of violence against non striking miners, such as the famous death of David Wilkie, which in turn led to declining popular support for the miners cause. This is a real shame, because had Scargill called the ballot, it is almost certain that he would have won, and would have avoided the division that the NUM had.

Meanwhile, there was a struggle in the Labour Party between the left and the right. Part of the right had broken off in 1981, there still was major division between the likes of Dennis Healy and Neil Kinnock, and radicals such as Tony Benn. Militant, a Trotskyist organisation within the party, had control of the party's youth organisation, the Labour Party Young Socialists, and control over Liverpool City Council, which illegally defied the government over rate capping and went into 'deficit spending' to stop jobs and services from being cut. Unfortunately, they grew timid at the last minute and did not call a general strike in the area, and tried to buy time by threatening job losses, harming their credibility.

In 1988, there was a leadership challenge to Neil Kinnock by the far left radical Tony Benn. However, because a large proportion of Militant had been expelled and the left was demoralised after the defeat of the miners, Kinnock won by a landslide.

Tony Benn was extremely radical in his beliefs. Not only did he want to re-nationalise all privatised services without compensation for their former owners, but wanted to establish direct workers control over the running of industry and services. The top 100 companies in Britain were to be nationalised, the House of Lords abolished, and Britain to move out of the American sphere of influence.

In the aftermath of the Poll Tax Riots, Labour was consistently ahead of the polls. People were sick to death of more than 10 years of Tory rule. However, Kinnock's rejection of the struggle, and his refusal to engage on the grassroots level, meant that momentum died down, the people let the press influence the during the run up to the 1992 election, and ultimately Labour was defeated for a third time in a row.

What is Scargill had called a national ballot in 1984, Liverpool City Council had gone ahead with the city wide general strike, Militant had opened up to independent membership outside Labour, and as a result, Tony Benn won the leadership contest with the support of the NUM in 1988 during a major swing to the left?

Imagine if Tony Benn had been on the front lines of the struggle against the poll tax, and stopped the Militant witch hunts, incorporating them into major positions of influence within the party? In 1992, Labour wins in a landslide. Benn's government implements sweeping reforms. A constituent assembly is called for the drafting of a new constitution, abolishing the house of lords, the established Church of England, and switching to proportional representation. Britain announces its intention to leave NATO, believing that the organisation no longer serves any purpose due to the Cold War being over, and disarms all of it's nuclear arsenal. Industries are re-nationalised immediately and taken into workers control, mines and many factories are re-opened, and Britain starts to transition to a socialist society. Naturally, the British establishment, including not only the financial elites and the press, but also the military, are appalled, as is the US.

Throughout the mid 1990's, Britain goes through a period of severe political and economic turmoil.
Mob violence is commonplace on the streets, as capitalists hire militias to attack workers on strike, and refuse to recognise the government. Eventually, the military tries to take power and remove Benn from office to restore stability.

Who do you think would win this battle? Do you think this scenario is plausible?
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