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The article about [[Lutefisk]] claims: "Lutefisk (prounounced loo-te-fisk) is a well-known food of Norway and Sweden (prounounced loo-ta-fisk)which consists of white fish (normally Cod) soaked in lye as a preservative, then dried until it hardens. It is edible after multiple rinsings of water to remove the otherwise poisonous lye, and has a jelly-like consistency after washing."
<div style="float:right; width:236px; margin-left:1em">
[[Image:ac.bevin.jpg|Bevin]]<br><small><center>''Ernest Bevin''</center></small></div>
This is actually wrong. The fish is dried first, [[Stockfish]], and then soaked in lye or another base (like birch ash). After this it is rinsed in water. And another thing; it tastes delicious :)
'''Ernest Bevin''' ([[9 March]] [[1881]] - [[14 April]] [[1951]]), [[United Kingdom|British]] labour leader and politician, was born in a small village in [[Somerset]], [[England]]. His father, who he never knew, was an agricultural labourer and his mother was a housemaid who died when he was eight. He had no formal education, and at the age of eleven he went to work as a labourer, then as a truck driver in [[Bristol, England|Bristol]]. In [[1910]] he became secretary of the Bristol branch of the Dockers' Union, and in [[1914]] he became a national organiser for the union.
In [[1919]] Bevin was one of the founding leaders of the [[Transport and General Workers Union]] (TGWU), which soon became Britain's largest trade union. He was elected the union's national secretary, making him one of the country's leading labour leaders. Politically, he was a moderate [[socialism|socialist]], strongly opposed to [[communism]] and direct action. He took part in the [[general strike]] of [[1926]], but without enthusiasm.
On the other hand he had no great faith in parliamentary politics, although he was a member of the [[British Labour Party|Labour Party]] from the time of its formation. He had poor relations with the first Labour Prime Minister, [[Ramsay MacDonald]], and was not surprised when MacDonald defected and joined the [[British Conservative Party|Conservatives]] during the economic crisis of [[1931]]. He was a pragmatic trade unionist who believed in getting material benefits for his members through direct negotiations, with strike action to be used as a last resort.
During the 1930s, with the Labour Party split and weakened, Bevin co-operated with the Conservative government on practical issues. But during this period he became increasingly involved in foreign policy. He was a firm opponent of [[fascism]] and of British [[appeasement]] of the fascist powers. In [[1935]] he made a blistering attack on the [[pacifism|pacifists]] in the Labour Party, leading to the resignation of Labour leader [[George Lansbury]] and his replacement by [[Clement Attlee]].
In [[1940]] [[Winston Churchill]] formed an all-party coalition government to defend the country in the crisis of [[World War II]]. Bevin was elected unopposed to the [[United Kingdom House of Commons|House of Commons]] for a [[London]] constituency and was appointed Minister for Labour and National Service. In this post he became the virtual dictator of Britain's wartime domestic economy. The Emergency Powers (Defence) Act gave him complete control over the labour force and the allocation of manpower.
Bevin held this post until [[1945]] when Labour left the Coalition government. After the 1945 general election, Attlee had it in mind to appoint Bevin as Chancellor and [[Hugh Dalton]] as Foreign Secretary, but was persuaded by [[George VI of the United Kingdom|King George VI]] to swap them. Bevin became Foreign Secretary at a time when Britain was almost bankrupt as a result of the war and could no longer afford to maintain its overseas [[British Empire|Empire]]. Bevin was unsentimental about the Empire and approved an immediate British withdrawal from [[India]] and other territories.
He was also a determined [[anti-Communism|anti-Communist]], and was a strong supporter of the [[United States]] in the early years of the [[Cold War]]. Two of the key institutions of the post-war world, the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organisation]] (NATO) and the [[Marshall Plan]] for aid to post-war Europe, were in part the result of Bevin's labours during these years. Bevin defined his foreign policy as being "that I can go to [[London Victoria Station|Victoria station]] and buy a ticket to anywhere I damn please".
Bevin's principal failure was in the [[British Mandate of Palestine|British Mandated Territory of Palestine]], where he opposed the plans of the [[Zionism|Zionist]] movement to create a [[Jew|Jewish]] state. He was infuriated by Zionist acts of [[terrorism]] against British troops, but Britain's economic weakness, and its dependence on the financial support of the [[United States]], compelled him to yield to American pressure and allow the [[United Nations]] to determine Palestine's future, resulting in the creation of [[Israel]].
Bevin in office showed the same pragmatism combined with stubbornness that had characterised his years as a trade union leader. Like Churchill he was an old fashioned English (as opposed to British) patriot, which was why the two leaders worked well together. But he was also an internationalist, a supporter of the American alliance and European unity. He saw clearly that Britain's days of imperial greatness were over, something he did not regret since, he said, the working class had never benefitted from the Empire. His health failing, Bevin moved to become [[Lord Privy Seal]] in March [[1951]] but died, worn out from his labours, the following month.
{| border="2" align="center"
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|width="30%" align="center"|Preceded by:<br>'''[[Anthony Eden]]'''
|width="40%" align="center"|'''[[Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs|Foreign Secretary]]'''<br>1945-1951
|width="30%" align="center"|Followed by:<br>'''[[Herbert Stanley Morrison]]'''
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