But it is not enough —
‘There is still talk, though, of a return to court by the likes of British Rail and Steel. Rumblings at the Board, too. The Cabinet.’
The Jew nods. The Jew asks for a fresh pot of tea. The Jew picks up the phone –
The railways will stop tomorrow and certain newspapers not appear —
The Jew shouts down the phone again:
‘No, no, no. Use their own domino strategy against them. Take the individual area ballots that went against a strike and use them to beat the National Union. These actions — these actions from within — these will be the very key. The key to victory –
‘How many more times must we go over this?
‘Further action from British Rail, from British Steel, from the Board itself, will only be detrimental to the overall strategy. The nation perceives this dispute to be about the assault and intimidation of ordinary men who simply want to go to work but who are being prevented and frightened by the vicious hooligan thugs of an extra-parliamentary hard left –
‘Assault and intimidation are a matter of criminal law not industrial legislation. The individual actions by members against their own Union underline this perception –
‘OK? OK?’
The Jew throws the phone against the wall. The Jew closes his eyes –
The broken telephone lies on the damp carpet in a pool of cold tea.
Neil Fontaine puts the Jew’s suitcase and briefcase by the door. He says, ‘Sir?’
The Jew opens his eyes. He looks at Neil Fontaine. The Jew smiles. He says, ‘Neil, there are two separate paths for them to choose now; they will either choose the way of the ballot or, better yet, they won’t. Either way, the courts can really roll now –
‘Really, really roll now, Neil.’
*
The Union was alone in an upstairs room in Congress House. There was still no support. Just a few sandwiches. The Union was on its own. Isolated –
‘I remember we gave that bastard an oil lamp back in 1980,’ said the President. ‘He had tears in his eyes. Tears in his eyes because of support our lads had given his lads. Our lads who would rather salvage used steel in old workings than touch any scab steel. Now they sit by sea in Scarborough and their conference applauds the striking miners. Gives us a bloody standing ovation. Promises of moral, financial and physical support. Then they go back to their plants and their offices and handle scab coal and scab coke. There’d have been no need for Orgreave if they did for us what we did for them. Bastards. Bloody bastards. Thank Christ for the railwaymen —’
There was a knock on the door. The President stopped speaking. Terry stood up. He opened the door –
It was just Stan with more sandwiches.
*
Roll up. Roll up. The carnival is back on the road. Roll up. Roll up. The Border Country. Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Roll up. Roll up. For this week only –
The fear. The misery.
The Mercedes tours the coalfields with a convoy of pressmen and television vans. The Jew takes them to Bolsover. To Creswell. To Warsop. The Jew shows them the places where gangs of men with wooden sticks wrapped in barbed wire rampage and maraud at night –
Intimidating. Threatening.
Roll up. Roll up. The Jew introduces them to Bolsover Bill. Bill has had his waste pipes blocked. Bill’s house was flooded as a result. This happened to Bill because Bill chooses to work. The Jew tells them that there have been fifty-six attacks upon homes. Ninety-five vehicles damaged –
The intimidation and the fear.
Roll up. Roll up. The Jew introduces them to Creswell Chris. Chris was attacked outside the Top Club. Chris had his leg broken. This happened to Chris because Chris chooses to work. The Jew tells them that there have been sixty-two cases of physical assaults upon men and their families –
The threats and the misery.
Roll up. Roll up. The Jew introduces them to Warsop Wendy. Wendy’s cat was covered with paint. Wendy’s cat is blind now. This happened to Wendy’s cat because Wendy’s husband chooses to work. The Jew tells them there have been countless cases of attacks upon the pets of working miners and their families –
Of fear and misery. Intimidation and threats.
Roll up. Roll up. The Jew leads the carnival on through the Scab Alleys –
Suddenly Neil Fontaine brakes hard. He swerves to the side –
Cavaliers struggle with the broken wheel of a wagon. Purple-frocked men bark orders in the rain and the mud. Crosses around their necks. Rings on their fingers —
Neil Fontaine blinks. He starts the car. He glances in the rearview –
The Jew is staring at the back of Neil’s head. The Jew is watching Neil.
Roll up. Roll up. Finally the Jew brings the carnival to the village of Shirebrook. The ringmaster leads them with their cameras and their pens up the garden path to the home of Stuart Tarns –
The late Stuart Tams.
Mrs Tams shows the gentlemen of the press and the Independent Television News their boarded-up windows, each covered with one single painted word –
Scab.
‘They were getting at the kids,’ says Mrs Tarns. ‘That’s what hurt him the most. He tried to tell them of the hardship he was facing. They would not listen to him. They spat at him. They turned their backs on him. They had been his mates. His colleagues. He bottled everything up. He kept putting off discussing financial matters. He would just go upstairs. He sat in his bedroom alone for long periods. Then the telephone calls started. Nine times they called. They were against our daughters. That was it then. Stuart was put in a position where he had to decide whether to continue to put the children through this ordeal. Stuart chose not to. Stuart chose —’
The Jew puts his arms around Mrs Tarns. The Jew glances at the garage –
The press take their photographs. The press shoot their story.
‘The men who made the telephone calls threatening violence against a twelve-year-old and ten-year-old girl are cowards. Murderers,’ says the Jew. ‘They are not fit to stand side by side, shoulder to shoulder, with miners such as Stuart Tarns. They are a disgrace to the great tradition of mining and mining folk.’
Mrs Tams nods.
The ringmaster leads everybody back down the garden path to stand out on the street. To stand before the skinny hedge and the boarded-up windows covered with that single painted word –
Scab.
The Jew introduces Fred Wallace from Pye Hill –
‘Fred is the spokesman for the Nottinghamshire Working Miners’ Committee. He is here to help any miner, regardless of his area. Here to help any miner who wants to work but is denied that right by his own Union. Any miner who is intimidated and threatened. Any miner’s wife who is intimidated and threatened. Any miner’s children who are intimidated and threatened. Fred is here to tell you that you are not alone. That what happened here to the Tarns family will never again happen –
‘Never!’ shouts the Jew. ‘You are not alone.’
Fred Wallace nods.
‘Fred would also like to add that the Nottinghamshire Working Miners’ Committee will compensate any miner for any act of criminal damage or vandalism to his person, property or vehicle which occurs as a result of his determination to exercise his right to work, if that miner does not himself have insurance,’ says the Jew.