Ernest Bevin
Ernest Bevin
Ernest Bevinwas a British statesman, trade union leader, and Labour politician. He co-founded and served as general secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1940, and as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government. He succeeded in maximizing the British labour supply, for both the armed services and domestic industrial production, with a minimum of strikes and disruption. His most important role came as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour Government, 1945–51. He gained...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionPublic Servant
Date of Birth9 March 1881
Ernest Bevin quotes about
If the workers see themselves faced with defeat through starvation, they will prefer to go down fighting rather than fainting — and whether or not we leaders agree.
There never has been a war yet which, if the facts had been put calmly before the ordinary folk, could not have been prevented ... The common man, I think, is the great protection against war.
Civilisation cannot survive if it rests on a propertyless proletariat.
What astounds me about the history of the British Navy is how cheaply we have policed the world for 300 years.