Union goes to court over Arthur Scargill’s rent-free flat

The National Union of Mineworkers yesterday asked the High Court to decide whether it is obliged to meet the cost of former leader Arthur Scargill staying in his London flat.

Mr Scargill, 74, who was the NUM’s president for 20 years until July 2002, has occupied the Barbican apartment, rented from the Corporation of London, since June 1982.

The union paid the rent and associated expenses until 2011, except for a period between 1985 and 1991 when Mr Scargill met them out of his own pocket.

NUM counsel Nicholas Davidson, QC, said the case was not about whether anyone thought that any particular obligation ought to exist, but whether it did exist.

If it did, Mr Scargill was entitled to have the benefit of it.

He told Mr Justice Underhill that the action concerned whether the union was obliged to meet the costs of the use of the flat for the rest of Mr Scargill’s life and the lifetime of his widow, should he leave one.

Other issues were whether his fuel allowance for his house in Barnsley, Yorkshire, had a limit, other than simply the total amount of his consumption in the year, and whether the union was obliged to pay – for his lifetime – the cost of his security system there and the preparation of his annual tax return.

Mr Davidson said the litigation, which will look at documents dating back 30 years, was concerned with identifying what terms were agreed between NUM and Mr Scargill.

The hearing, which is expected to hear evidence from Mr Scargill, is due to last a week.