Roger Windsor

Roger Windsor was chief executive of the NUM (National Union of Mineworkers) between 1983 and 1989, including during the 1984 Miner's Strike. He later moved to France.

Windsor was accused of damaging the image of the union by visiting Libya during the strike and meeting Colonel Gaddafi, at the time an enemy of the United Kingdom. Windsor was supposed to be seeking support from Libyan unions for a ban on oil exports to Britain, but he turned the event into a direct appeal for funds from Gaddafi. The "Sunday Times"' report on his visit was credited by some with substantially undermining public and parliamentary support for the miners.

In 1990 Windsor was involved in a media circus surrounding Arthur Scargill's alleged misuse of union funds and receipt of funds from Libya, allegations which were substantially based on Windsor's evidence. The story was initially reported on the front page of the "Daily Mirror" and in the Central TV programme "The Cook Report", with Windsor paid £80,000 for his support in the investigation. Then "Mirror" editor Roy Greenslade later wrote an article apologising to Scargill, saying he was now sure the allegations had been untrue. Windsor himself was later found by the French courts to have signed documents he claimed were forged by Scargill, and ordered to repay funds to the NUM. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4070967,00.html]

Some of his actions during and after the strike led to accusations that he was an agent of MI5. The allegations were raised in Parliament, but could not be challenged outside it due to parliamentary privilege. After the allegation was repeated in a 21 May 2000 newspaper article in the "Sunday Express" by Rupert Allason, Windsor in 2003 won a libel action against the "Express" and its then editor, Rosie Boycott. The head of the MI5 branch responsible for 'monitoring' unions and strike activity at the time of the strike, Dame Stella Rimington, gave what Greenslade said was an "ambiguous" denial [http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,951322,00.html] in 2001, saying that Windsor was "never an agent in any sense of the word that you can possibly imagine". [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/media/story/0,12123,942551,00.html]

External links

* [http://www.carter-ruck.com/articles/200302-numchief.html Victory for Former NUM Chief Over Miners' Strike "Spy" Libel]
* Roy Greenslade, "The Guardian", May 27, 2002, [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/media/story/0,12123,942541,00.html "Sorry, Arthur"]

References

Seumas Milne, "The Enemies Within" (1994)