11th July 2015 marked the 131st Durham Miners’ Gala, reportedly one of the biggest in recent years, with over 150,000 on the streets of Durham. Socialist Appeal supporters were out in force, as trade unionists and workers from across the country descended on the city to hear speakers such as Jeremy Corbyn, Owen Jones, and Len McCluskey.
11th July 2015 marked the 131st Durham Miners’ Gala, reportedly one of the biggest in recent years, with over 150,000 on the streets of Durham.
Comrades from across the North descended upon the city. Socialist Appeal supporters were out in force, with a stall in the marketplace, a marquee on the race course, and individual comrades selling papers along the route of the procession.
This year was notable politically in respect to the Labour leadership election. All of the platform speakers – including Davey Hopper, Owen Jones, Matt Wrack and Len McCluskey – called for a vote for Jeremy Jeremy, who spoke as a special guest, as he wasn’t on the programme. Corbyn’s speech – attacking the Tories, austerity, and the anti-trade union laws – went down very well with the crowd. Interestingly, the other leadership candidates had all asked to be allowed to stand on the balcony at the County Hotel, but had been turned down.
This was my first every experience of the Miners’ Gala, and it was really galvanising to see such a large gathering of like-minded people. It was quite overwhelming, really, to be surrounded by so many people who, broadly speaking, share the same world view.
This was also a celebration of local traditions and customs. This is a place where socialism is accepted as a norm; where families come to celebrate communities and communal values; a place where Thatcher’s divisive and sinister policies are still felt deeply by these communities.
For me, this was a source of real inspiration, because it showed that the traditions of the left aren’t alien to the traditions of the working class in England, despite what the Establishment – through the media and education system, in particular – would have us believe.
Another significant moment for me was seeing a group of German miners walk past. After noticing the German on their banner, I turned to a comrade to remark on this, but before I could, one of the miners pointed over to our paper, and then pointed at an IMT badge he wore on his jacket. It really emphasised the international nature of our ideas and also made real for me the fact that we are a movement not confined by geographic borders.
The most striking aspect of the Gala for me, though, was seeing magnificent miners’ banners emblazoned with Marx, Lenin, Connolly, and the like paraded in broad daylight through the centre of Durham. It was truly glorious to see working people hold banners that bear the heroes of this movement, and it was an encouraging reminder that people everywhere are open to – and looking for – radical ideas.
As Marxists, we’re often told our ideas will never gain popular support; that we’re a radical fringe element in society; something to be dismissed. But this clearly isn’t the case. The faces of the ideological fathers of this movement were – and continue to be – proudly held aloft in the centre of Durham by workers every year on the second Saturday of July. These ideas have historically found popularity among the citizens of this island, and internationally. And now more than ever, it is these revolutionary ideas that are needed in the fight back against the Tories, austerity, and capitalism.
