Alfred Robens, Baron Robens of Woldingham
Encyclopedia
Alfred Robens, Baron Robens of Woldingham CBE
PC (18 December 1910 – 27 June 1999) was an English
trade union
ist, Labour
politician
and industrialist. His political ambitions, including an aspiration to become Prime Minister
, were frustrated by bad timing; but his energies were diverted into industry
: he spent a decade as chair of the National Coal Board
, and later headed a major inquiry which resulted in the Robens Report on health, safety and welfare at work. A firm believer in social engineering
, his outlook was paternalistic
, though in later life he moved away from his early socialism
towards the Conservative Party
. His reputation remains tarnished by his failure to have foreseen and prevented the Aberfan disaster, followed by actions widely regarded as insensitive during this disaster's aftermath.
, Manchester
, the son of George Robens, a cotton
salesman and Edith Robens née Anderton. He left school at 15 to work as an errand boy but his career truly began when he joined the Manchester and Salford Co-operative Society as a clerk, becoming a director when he was 22, one of the first Worker/Directors in the Country. He was an official in the Union of Distributive and Allied Workers from 1935 to 1945 and, being certified medically unfit for military service in World War II
, he served as a Manchester City Council
lor from 1941 to 1945. He married Eva Powell on 9 September 1936 and the couple adopted
a son, Alfred (born 1935).
, Robens was elected Member of Parliament
(MP) for the mining
constituency of Wansbeck
, Northumberland
. Robens started on a sustained rise through the parliamentary ranks, serving in junior posts at the Ministry of Transport
(1945–1947) and at the Ministry of Fuel and Power under Hugh Gaitskell
. Robens moved to the new constituency of Blyth, later Blyth Valley
, in 1950 following boundary changes. In 1951, Robens was briefly Minister of Labour and National Service but the Conservative Party
won the general election
later that year.
In opposition, Robens continued to rise in the party, being appointed shadow Foreign Secretary by Clement Attlee
, and starting to be considered as a future candidate for party leader. Robens himself "yearned to become Prime Minister". However, Robens failed to impress during the Suez crisis
of 1956 and party leader Gaitskell felt him too left wing. He was replaced as shadow foreign secretary by Aneurin Bevan
and felt that his political ambitions had been frustrated. Thus, in 1960, when Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
offered him the chairmanship of the National Coal Board
(NCB) he accepted enthusiastically. Gaitskell died two years later and Tweedale has expressed the view that, had he persisted in politics, Robens would likely have become Prime Minister rather than Harold Wilson
.
as Baron Robens of Woldingham, of Woldingham in the County of Surrey
, on 28 June. Amongst those critical of this sudden elevation were his successor as MP for Blyth, Eddie Milne
. Robens' leadership of the NCB was high-handed. He expected unflinching loyalty from colleagues and subordinates alike, and was confrontational with politicians. He enjoyed the trappings of power including a Daimler
with registration "NCB 1", an executive aeroplane and an apartment in Eaton Square
, London
. His behaviour earned him the nickname "Old King Coal", a pun
on Old King Cole
. However, he threw himself into the job with vigour and enthusiasm, visiting pits, arguing with miners at the coalface and developing a deep knowledge of the industry.
As Chairman of the NCB, Robens oversaw substantial cuts in the mining industry, many of them reflecting market forces
and government policies originated before he assumed the post. Although he lobbied to protect the industry, his reputation as a socialist necessarily suffered—when he took over as NCB chair there were 698 pits employing 583,000 miners, but by the time he left the post ten years later there were only 292 pits employing 283,000 miners. For a while, Robens had a constructive working relationship with miners' leader Will Paynter
but he had a combative relationship with the Wilson Labour government. Industrial relations deteriorated and by the end of Robens' tenure in 1971, the stage was set for the discontent, confrontations and strikes
of the 1970s.
Robens expressed concern at the poor health and safety record of the coal industry and championed campaigns to reduce accidents and to counter chronic occupational disease
s, such as pneumoconiosis
. Although the number of fatal and serious accidents fell by over 60% during his tenure, there was also a fall in the workforce of over 50%, from 583,000 to 283,000.
. On the morning of 21 October a massive spoil heap
from the nearby Merthyr Vale Colliery collapsed onto the village of Aberfan, burying 20 houses and the Pantglas Junior School in a 10-metre deep landslide of water-saturated slurry, killing 116 school children and 28 adults.
Despite the enormity of the disaster, Robens chose to go ahead with his installation as Chancellor
of the University of Surrey
before coming to Aberfan, and he did not arrive until the evening of the following day, a blunder that was compounded by the actions of NCB staff, who falsely informed the Minister of Power that Robens was at Aberfan. At first, Robens claimed that the disaster had been caused by "natural unknown springs" beneath the tip, but evidence emerged that the existence of these springs was common knowledge.
In the wake of the disaster Robens doggedly refused to allow the NCB to fund the removal of the remaining tips from Aberfan, despite the fact that the Davies Report into the accident concluded that the NCB's liability was "incontestible and uncontested". The work was eventually funded by a £150,000 (£1.8 million at 2003 prices) "raid" by the government on the disaster relief fund that had been raised by public appeal.
The report of the Davies Tribunal which inquired into the disaster was highly critical of the NCB and Robens. He controversially appeared in the final days of the inquiry and conceded that the NCB was at fault, an admission which would have rendered much of the inquiry unnecessary had it been made at the outset. After the report was published in August 1967 he wrote to the then Minister of Power offering his resignation, but the Minister and PM Harold Wilson
rejected it, although several cabinet members argued strongly that Robens should have been removed.
There have been allegations that the resignation offer was "bogus" and Robens had been assured that it would not be accepted. There is no evidence that prosecution for corporate manslaughter was considered at the time. Robens was exonerated by the official history of the NCB but he remains condemned in other quarters.
to chair a committee on workplace health and safety. This led to the 1972 Robens Report which controversially championed the idea of self-regulation by employers. The Report itself led to the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the creation of the Health and Safety Commission
and the Health and Safety Executive
.
, Robens found the new administration's distaste for nationalisation at odds with his own rather paternalistic
views on social engineering
. He fell into conflict with Prime Minister Edward Heath
and Minister of State for Industry Sir John Eden
. Robens left the NCB in 1971 but always insisted that his tenure was a success.
Robens had become a director of the Bank of England
in 1966 and a member of the board of directors
of Times Newspapers in 1967. He was Chairman of Vickers
from 1971 to 1979, opposing the Labour plans for nationalisation that led to the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977
. He was Chairman of Johnson Matthey
from 1971 to 1983, and a director of Trust House Forte and several other companies. His lifestyle was increasingly at odds with his socialist beginnings and by 1979, he had become aligned with the Conservative Party.
He left public life in 1982, retiring with his wife to Laleham
Abbey, once the home of Richard Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan
. Robens suffered the first of two debilitating stroke
s in 1992.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
PC (18 December 1910 – 27 June 1999) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
ist, Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and industrialist. His political ambitions, including an aspiration to become Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, were frustrated by bad timing; but his energies were diverted into industry
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
: he spent a decade as chair of the National Coal Board
National Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
, and later headed a major inquiry which resulted in the Robens Report on health, safety and welfare at work. A firm believer in social engineering
Social engineering (political science)
Social engineering is a discipline in political science that refers to efforts to influence popular attitudes and social behaviors on a large scale, whether by governments or private groups. In the political arena, the counterpart of social engineering is political engineering.For various reasons,...
, his outlook was paternalistic
Paternalism
Paternalism refers to attitudes or states of affairs that exemplify a traditional relationship between father and child. Two conditions of paternalism are usually identified: interference with liberty and a beneficent intention towards those whose liberty is interfered with...
, though in later life he moved away from his early socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
towards the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
. His reputation remains tarnished by his failure to have foreseen and prevented the Aberfan disaster, followed by actions widely regarded as insensitive during this disaster's aftermath.
Early life
Robens was born in Chorlton-cum-HardyChorlton-cum-Hardy
Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of the city of Manchester, England. It is known locally as Chorlton. It is situated about four miles southwest of Manchester city centre. Pronunciation varies: and are both common....
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, the son of George Robens, a cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
salesman and Edith Robens née Anderton. He left school at 15 to work as an errand boy but his career truly began when he joined the Manchester and Salford Co-operative Society as a clerk, becoming a director when he was 22, one of the first Worker/Directors in the Country. He was an official in the Union of Distributive and Allied Workers from 1935 to 1945 and, being certified medically unfit for military service in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he served as a Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council
Manchester City Council is the local government authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. It is composed of 96 councillors, three for each of the 32 electoral wards of Manchester. Currently the council is controlled by the Labour Party and is led by...
lor from 1941 to 1945. He married Eva Powell on 9 September 1936 and the couple adopted
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
a son, Alfred (born 1935).
Politics
Following the War, in the dramatic Labour victory of 1945United Kingdom general election, 1945
The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...
, Robens was elected Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for the mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
constituency of Wansbeck
Wansbeck (UK Parliament constituency)
Wansbeck is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
, Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
. Robens started on a sustained rise through the parliamentary ranks, serving in junior posts at the Ministry of Transport
Department for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
(1945–1947) and at the Ministry of Fuel and Power under Hugh Gaitskell
Hugh Gaitskell
Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell CBE was a British Labour politician, who held Cabinet office in Clement Attlee's governments, and was the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1955, until his death in 1963.-Early life:He was born in Kensington, London, the third and youngest...
. Robens moved to the new constituency of Blyth, later Blyth Valley
Blyth Valley (UK Parliament constituency)
Blyth Valley is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
, in 1950 following boundary changes. In 1951, Robens was briefly Minister of Labour and National Service but the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
won the general election
United Kingdom general election, 1951
The 1951 United Kingdom general election was held eighteen months after the 1950 general election, which the Labour Party had won with a slim majority of just five seats...
later that year.
In opposition, Robens continued to rise in the party, being appointed shadow Foreign Secretary by Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
, and starting to be considered as a future candidate for party leader. Robens himself "yearned to become Prime Minister". However, Robens failed to impress during the Suez crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
of 1956 and party leader Gaitskell felt him too left wing. He was replaced as shadow foreign secretary by Aneurin Bevan
Aneurin Bevan
Aneurin "Nye" Bevan was a British Labour Party politician who was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1959 until his death in 1960. The son of a coal miner, Bevan was a lifelong champion of social justice and the rights of working people...
and felt that his political ambitions had been frustrated. Thus, in 1960, when Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
offered him the chairmanship of the National Coal Board
National Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
(NCB) he accepted enthusiastically. Gaitskell died two years later and Tweedale has expressed the view that, had he persisted in politics, Robens would likely have become Prime Minister rather than Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
.
National Coal Board
Robens took up his appointment at the NCB in 1961 and was created a life peerLife peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
as Baron Robens of Woldingham, of Woldingham in the County of Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, on 28 June. Amongst those critical of this sudden elevation were his successor as MP for Blyth, Eddie Milne
Eddie Milne
Edward James "Eddie" Milne was a British Labour politician, who was elected as independent candidate after deselection by his party....
. Robens' leadership of the NCB was high-handed. He expected unflinching loyalty from colleagues and subordinates alike, and was confrontational with politicians. He enjoyed the trappings of power including a Daimler
Daimler Motor Company
The Daimler Motor Company Limited was an independent British motor vehicle manufacturer founded in London by H J Lawson in 1896, which set up its manufacturing base in Coventry. The right to the use of the name Daimler had been purchased simultaneously from Gottlieb Daimler and Daimler Motoren...
with registration "NCB 1", an executive aeroplane and an apartment in Eaton Square
Eaton Square
Eaton Square is a residential garden square in London's Belgravia district. It is one of the three garden squares built by the Grosvenor family when they developed the main part of Belgravia in the 19th century, and is named after Eaton Hall, the Grosvenor country house in Cheshire...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. His behaviour earned him the nickname "Old King Coal", a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
on Old King Cole
Old King Cole
"Old King Cole" is an English nursery rhyme. The historical identity of King Cole has been much debated and several candidates have been advanced as possibilities...
. However, he threw himself into the job with vigour and enthusiasm, visiting pits, arguing with miners at the coalface and developing a deep knowledge of the industry.
As Chairman of the NCB, Robens oversaw substantial cuts in the mining industry, many of them reflecting market forces
Market Forces
Market Forces is a science fiction novel by Richard Morgan, first published in 2004.Set in 2049 in the wake of a global economic downturn called the Domino Recessions, it follows up-and-coming executive Chris as he plunges into the profitable field of Conflict Investment...
and government policies originated before he assumed the post. Although he lobbied to protect the industry, his reputation as a socialist necessarily suffered—when he took over as NCB chair there were 698 pits employing 583,000 miners, but by the time he left the post ten years later there were only 292 pits employing 283,000 miners. For a while, Robens had a constructive working relationship with miners' leader Will Paynter
Will Paynter
William Thomas Paynter was a Welsh miners' leader involved in the hunger marches of the 1930s.Paynter was born in Cardiff, where he had a basic education before going to work at a colliery at the age of fourteen. By the age of eighteen, he was working on the coal-face, and soon joined the...
but he had a combative relationship with the Wilson Labour government. Industrial relations deteriorated and by the end of Robens' tenure in 1971, the stage was set for the discontent, confrontations and strikes
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
of the 1970s.
Robens expressed concern at the poor health and safety record of the coal industry and championed campaigns to reduce accidents and to counter chronic occupational disease
Occupational disease
An occupational disease is any chronic ailment that occurs as a result of work or occupational activity. It is an aspect of occupational safety and health. An occupational disease is typically identified when it is shown that it is more prevalent in a given body of workers than in the general...
s, such as pneumoconiosis
Pneumoconiosis
Pneumoconiosis is an occupational lung disease and a restrictive lung disease caused by the inhalation of dust, often in mines.-Types:Depending upon the type of dust, the disease is given different names:...
. Although the number of fatal and serious accidents fell by over 60% during his tenure, there was also a fall in the workforce of over 50%, from 583,000 to 283,000.
Aberfan Disaster
The largest single blow to his reputation came from his reaction to the catastrophic 1966 industrial accident at AberfanAberfan
The Aberfan disaster was a catastrophic collapse of a colliery spoil tip that occurred in the Welsh village of Aberfan on Friday 21 October 1966, killing 116 children and 28 adults.-Mining debris:...
. On the morning of 21 October a massive spoil heap
Tailings
Tailings, also called mine dumps, slimes, tails, leach residue, or slickens, are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction of an ore...
from the nearby Merthyr Vale Colliery collapsed onto the village of Aberfan, burying 20 houses and the Pantglas Junior School in a 10-metre deep landslide of water-saturated slurry, killing 116 school children and 28 adults.
Despite the enormity of the disaster, Robens chose to go ahead with his installation as Chancellor
Chancellor (education)
A chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....
of the University of Surrey
University of Surrey
The University of Surrey is a university located within the county town of Guildford, Surrey in the South East of England. It received its charter on 9 September 1966, and was previously situated near Battersea Park in south-west London. The institution was known as Battersea College of Technology...
before coming to Aberfan, and he did not arrive until the evening of the following day, a blunder that was compounded by the actions of NCB staff, who falsely informed the Minister of Power that Robens was at Aberfan. At first, Robens claimed that the disaster had been caused by "natural unknown springs" beneath the tip, but evidence emerged that the existence of these springs was common knowledge.
In the wake of the disaster Robens doggedly refused to allow the NCB to fund the removal of the remaining tips from Aberfan, despite the fact that the Davies Report into the accident concluded that the NCB's liability was "incontestible and uncontested". The work was eventually funded by a £150,000 (£1.8 million at 2003 prices) "raid" by the government on the disaster relief fund that had been raised by public appeal.
The report of the Davies Tribunal which inquired into the disaster was highly critical of the NCB and Robens. He controversially appeared in the final days of the inquiry and conceded that the NCB was at fault, an admission which would have rendered much of the inquiry unnecessary had it been made at the outset. After the report was published in August 1967 he wrote to the then Minister of Power offering his resignation, but the Minister and PM Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
rejected it, although several cabinet members argued strongly that Robens should have been removed.
There have been allegations that the resignation offer was "bogus" and Robens had been assured that it would not be accepted. There is no evidence that prosecution for corporate manslaughter was considered at the time. Robens was exonerated by the official history of the NCB but he remains condemned in other quarters.
Robens Report
In 1969, he was selected by Barbara CastleBarbara Castle
Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn , PC, GCOT was a British Labour Party politician....
to chair a committee on workplace health and safety. This led to the 1972 Robens Report which controversially championed the idea of self-regulation by employers. The Report itself led to the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the creation of the Health and Safety Commission
Health and Safety Commission
The Health and Safety Commission , was a United Kingdom non-departmental public body. The HSC was created by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 . The Commission consisted of a chairman and between six and nine other people, appointed by the appropriate Secretary of State, latterly the...
and the Health and Safety Executive
Health and Safety Executive
The Health and Safety Executive is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It is the body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in England and Wales and Scotland...
.
Later life
Following the Conservative victory in the 1970 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1970
The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...
, Robens found the new administration's distaste for nationalisation at odds with his own rather paternalistic
Paternalism
Paternalism refers to attitudes or states of affairs that exemplify a traditional relationship between father and child. Two conditions of paternalism are usually identified: interference with liberty and a beneficent intention towards those whose liberty is interfered with...
views on social engineering
Social engineering (political science)
Social engineering is a discipline in political science that refers to efforts to influence popular attitudes and social behaviors on a large scale, whether by governments or private groups. In the political arena, the counterpart of social engineering is political engineering.For various reasons,...
. He fell into conflict with Prime Minister Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
and Minister of State for Industry Sir John Eden
John Eden, Baron Eden of Winton
John Benedict Eden, Baron Eden of Winton, Bt, PC is a British Conservative politician.-Background:Eden was educated at Eton College and St Paul's School, United States. He served as a Lieutenant with the Rifle Brigade, 2nd Gurkha Rifles and the Gilgit Scouts during the Second World War...
. Robens left the NCB in 1971 but always insisted that his tenure was a success.
Robens had become a director of the Bank of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
in 1966 and a member of the board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of Times Newspapers in 1967. He was Chairman of Vickers
Vickers
Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
from 1971 to 1979, opposing the Labour plans for nationalisation that led to the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977
Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977
The Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that nationalised large parts of the UK aerospace and shipbuilding industries and established two corporations, British Aerospace and British Shipbuilders ....
. He was Chairman of Johnson Matthey
Johnson Matthey
Johnson Matthey plc is multinational chemicals and precious metals company headquartered in London, United Kingdom.It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...
from 1971 to 1983, and a director of Trust House Forte and several other companies. His lifestyle was increasingly at odds with his socialist beginnings and by 1979, he had become aligned with the Conservative Party.
He left public life in 1982, retiring with his wife to Laleham
Laleham
Laleham is a village in the borough of Spelthorne, in the county of Surrey in South East England and adjoins Staines. It is within the historic boundaries of Middlesex. To its south is Laleham Park by the River Thames, across green belt farmland to its north and south east are Ashford and...
Abbey, once the home of Richard Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan
Richard Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan
Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan , popularly known as Lord Lucan, as Lord Bingham before 1964, and sometimes colloquially called "Lucky" Lucan, was a British peer, who disappeared in the early hours of 8 November 1974, following the murder of Sandra Rivett, his children's nanny, the previous...
. Robens suffered the first of two debilitating stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
s in 1992.
Other public appointments
- Chairman of the Foundation on Automation and Employment (1962);
- Chairman of the Engineering Industries Council (1976–80);
- Member of the royal commissionRoyal CommissionIn Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
on trade unions and employers' associations (1965–8); - Member of the National Economic Development CouncilNational Economic Development CouncilThe National Economic Development Council was a corporatist economic planning forum set up in the 1962 in the United Kingdom to bring together management, trades unions and government in an attempt to address Britain's relative economic decline. It was supported by the National Economic...
(1976–80); - Council of Manchester Business SchoolManchester Business SchoolManchester Business School is the largest department of the University of Manchester in Manchester, England. According to Bloomberg Business Week's ranking of the world's best business schools the MBS MBA is ranked third in the world...
:- Member;
- Chairman (1970–1979);
- Chairman of the court of governors of the London School of EconomicsLondon School of EconomicsThe London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
(1965); - Chairman of the board of governors of Guy's HospitalGuy's HospitalGuy's Hospital is a large NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in south east London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It is a large teaching hospital and is home to the King's College London School of Medicine...
(1965–74).