ABSTRACT
The miners and their Union did all they could to meet the Government’s demand for coal. Yorkshire reached its maximum output in the middle of December 1945 and after that date declined. The Yorkshire miners were exhorted to “Help the Nation” and maintain coal output. The Labour Government immediately called upon the miners to help resolve the post-war economic crisis. Will Lawther warned that nationalisation would warrant a reciprocal response from mineworkers: actively co-operating with both Government and management in the production of coal. After 1945 coal production became an index of political loyalty. Support for the pay policy was originally presented as in the miners’ interests; it would help the Labour Government and it would help combat inflation, thus maintaining the value of the miners’ wage packet. During the 1940s and 1950s the miners formed the core of the right-wing official support for the policies of the Labour Party leadership, first under Attlee and subsequently under Gaitskell.
