Scargill knocked out by station collision
Former miners’ leader Arthur Scargill is recovering in hospital after he collided with a rail passenger’s suitcase at Sheffield station.
The 66-year-old suffered a broken arm and reportedly knocked himself out as he fell, after a woman next to him swung her wheeled suitcase into his path as he boarded a train to Cardiff.
Mr Scargill was on his way to speak at meetings and rallies marking the 20th anniversary of the 1984-85 pit strike.
Last night he was spending his second night in the Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital after an operation to mend his elbow bone.
Liz Screen, Welsh general secretary of the Socialist Labour party, which Mr Scargill leads, said: “He was putting a foot on to the train when he was knocked off balance by the suitcase.”
She added that the accident was “disastrous” for a planned tour of South Wales and explained that Mr Scargill had been due to address a meeting in Narberth, Pembrokeshire, followed by Swansea and a rally tonight at Maesteg, one of the flashpoints of the 1980s miners’ dispute.
Mr Scargill sent an apology for his absence. He is expected to return home today.
A spokeswoman for Midland Mainline said the accident was being investigated and confirmed that first aid had been given at the scene and staff had called an ambulance.
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said: “Mr Scargill had a minor operation at the Northern General last night to fix the broken bone in his left elbow. Everything went very well and he is comfortable.”
Mr Scargill, former head of the National Union of Miners (NUM), still lives in Worsbrough, near his native Barnsley. He rose to prominence during a series of disputes in the 1970s and as the leader of the 1984 miners’ strike, which was eventually broken by the Thatcher government.
The union man stepped down as president of the NUM in 2002, but continues to act as the honorary president and a paid consultant. He set up the Socialist Labour party in the 1990s after becoming disillusioned with the direction Tony Blair was taking the Labour Party.
