Churchill the worker's champion
Actually he was until the rail strike of 1912. Various speeches including the one when he crossed the floor in 1905 show a different Churchill from that of the general mythology. He compared the number of railway directors in the House with the few railway union M.Ps. Initially he was berated by Chief Constables and the coal owners in South Wales for not supporting them i.e restricting the role of the police to preserving public order which isn't the same as supporting the employer. The troops were sent to Tonypandy because the Chief Constable of Glamorgan was on the side of the coal owners and couldn't be trusted.Churchill made a speech denouncing the Osborne judgement as giving the impression that the courts were on the side of the ruling order.
However in 1912 there was a rail strike threatended and soldiers were sent to guard railway lines and he became bellicose. It is from this that the Tonypandy myth emerged. However no threat of syndicalism or a triple alliance and no revolution and he may well have changed his tune.
In 1940 he invited Ernest Bevin into the government and Bevin was one of the few labour leaders Churchills respected in the Attlee government.
Lets say there was no build of of miltancy before the first world war, no Bolshevik siezure of power and Kernesky survived. The liberals split over the coalition and after loosing his seat in Dundee, Churchill joins the Labour Party.
Actually he was until the rail strike of 1912. Various speeches including the one when he crossed the floor in 1905 show a different Churchill from that of the general mythology. He compared the number of railway directors in the House with the few railway union M.Ps. Initially he was berated by Chief Constables and the coal owners in South Wales for not supporting them i.e restricting the role of the police to preserving public order which isn't the same as supporting the employer. The troops were sent to Tonypandy because the Chief Constable of Glamorgan was on the side of the coal owners and couldn't be trusted.Churchill made a speech denouncing the Osborne judgement as giving the impression that the courts were on the side of the ruling order.
However in 1912 there was a rail strike threatended and soldiers were sent to guard railway lines and he became bellicose. It is from this that the Tonypandy myth emerged. However no threat of syndicalism or a triple alliance and no revolution and he may well have changed his tune.
In 1940 he invited Ernest Bevin into the government and Bevin was one of the few labour leaders Churchills respected in the Attlee government.
Lets say there was no build of of miltancy before the first world war, no Bolshevik siezure of power and Kernesky survived. The liberals split over the coalition and after loosing his seat in Dundee, Churchill joins the Labour Party.