The death of Roy Mason calls to mind the strange case of the United Kingdom's only ever purely political strike, with no basis in any industrial dispute.
It occurred, as one would have expected, in 1974. But it is quite forgotten outside the corner of these Islands where it occurred.
It suits people not to remember that there ever really was a strike quite like that. Or that it was entirely successful. Or that it was organised by the Ulster Unionists.
Or that it led within two years to the appointment of Mason, the most pro-Unionist Secretary of State in Northern Ireland's history. Or that the most pro-Unionist Secretary of State in Northern Ireland's history was Labour.
Or that that, in turn, led to the abstentions of both Irish Nationalist MPs when two Ulster Unionists voted with the Callaghan Government, leading to the defeat of that Government and the ushering in of Margaret Thatcher, who signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement.
It suits people not to remember that there ever really was a strike quite like that. Or that it was entirely successful. Or that it was organised by the Ulster Unionists.
Or that it led within two years to the appointment of Mason, the most pro-Unionist Secretary of State in Northern Ireland's history. Or that the most pro-Unionist Secretary of State in Northern Ireland's history was Labour.
Or that that, in turn, led to the abstentions of both Irish Nationalist MPs when two Ulster Unionists voted with the Callaghan Government, leading to the defeat of that Government and the ushering in of Margaret Thatcher, who signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement.
It is so nice to be able to visit a site where anyone will have heard of him or any of this.
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