Hugh Scanlon
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Hugh Parr Scanlon, Baron Scanlon (26 October 1913 – 27 January 2004) was a British trade union leader.
Scanlon was born in
convener for the plant. He joined the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1937 following the events of the Spanish Civil War
and made use of its networks and organising skills to rise through the union, becoming a district official in 1947.
Although Scanlon formally abandoned communism in 1954, he continued as a "
Jack Jones were known by the press as "The Terrible Twins" for their opposition to both Labour Party and Conservative Party attempts to restrict the power of the unions – Labour prime minister Harold Wilson once famously telling him to "get your tanks off my lawn."[1]
In 1969 Home Secretary James Callaghan requested action that would hinder Scanlon's career, which was raised in cabinet, and further discussed with Secretary of State for Employment Barbara Castle. A plan for detrimental leaks to the media was placed in the Foreign Office propaganda Information Research Department, and its head prepared a briefing paper. However information about how this was effected has not been released under the thirty-year rule under a section of the Public Records Act permitting national security exemptions.[2]
When
EEC.[3]
Scanlon's political beliefs led to his being effectively blacklisted by the British security service from 1966 to 1977, it emerged years later. In 1977, he was prevented from becoming chairman of
British Gas
Board, but was later appointed after his files were examined.
He was elevated to the
Life Peer on 19 February 1979, taking the title Baron Scanlon, of Davyhulme in the County of Greater Manchester.[4]
References
- ^ Maguire, Kevin (28 January 2004). "Obituary: Hugh Scanlon". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
- ^ Cobain, Ian (24 July 2018). "Wilson government used secret unit to smear union leaders". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
- ^ David Butler and Uwe Kitzinger, The 1975 Referendum (London: Macmillan, 1976), p. 13, p. 201, p. 256.
- ^ "No. 47777". The London Gazette. 22 February 1979. p. 2415.
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