On Friday, 31 July 1925, the British government made a significant concession, agreeing to provide a £23 million subsidy to the struggling coal industry to maintain miners' wages. Dubbed "Red Friday" by The Daily Herald, this event was a temporary victory for the Miners Federation of Great Britain, contrasting sharply with their earlier defeat on "Black Friday" in 1921, which saw substantial wage cuts. The crisis erupted when coal owners demanded further wage reductions and longer hours, exacerbated by Britain's return to the gold standard, which made exports difficult.
Facing a widespread strike, including railway workers who pledged not to handle coal, Prime Minister Baldwin's government concluded it "was not ready" for a national confrontation. Although it averted an immediate shutdown, this nine-month subsidy merely postponed the inevitable, directly setting the stage for the much larger 1926 General Strike that unfolded nine months later.