Thatcher had taken note of the way the miners had brought down her predecessor and was determined the same thing would not happen to her premiership. After coming to power in , she had her ministers and civil servants draw up secret plans that would keep coal moving around the country were the miners to attempt another strike.
By the early s, domestic coal production was becoming ever more unprofitable. The industry relied heavily on government subsidies. The seven longest-serving British Prime Ministers. Scargill had risen through the ranks of the National Union of Mineworkers in the s. Scargill refused to entertain the idea of any pit closures save for those that posed safety risks. Scargill used this as an excuse to call for a nationwide strike.
The fact that he had not called for a national ballot first would soon come back to haunt him. With no national ballot, not everyone was on board with the idea of a UK-wide strike. While the miners of Kent, Scotland, the North East, Yorkshire and South Wales downed tools and took to the picket lines, their counterparts in the Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, South Derbyshire and North Wales coalfields carried on working.
In the s, the police had treated the miners with kid gloves. This time around the gloves would be off. The aim was to shut down both coal production and its transportation to all but vital services such as hospitals and nursing homes.
This had worked spectacularly well in the s, but this time around McGregor and Thatcher were ready for the miners. Thatcher had secretly stockpiled supplies of both coal and coke in strategic sites around the country; her government had also entered into agreements with non-unionised haulage firms to break the pickets and carry the coal from storage facilities and coking plants to power stations and factories.
And Thatcher had another powerful weapon on her side — the police. Police from outside affected counties were bussed in to prevent picketing and strike action, and to ensure no disruption to supply lines. This led to violent clashes between the police and pickets, most notoriously at the Battle of Orgreave, where 5, miners faced a similar force of police officers.
The police launched mounted truncheon charges against the miners, leading to 51 pickets and 72 police being injured. Read more about: History of America Cold War.
As the months went by, life for the miners and their families got progressively harder. A change in the law meant that the dependents of miners were not entitled to benefits, as they had been during the strikes of the s. At first, this was not a problem as local union branches had deep pockets and could pay miners at least some of money they were no longer receiving from the NCB. The strike was officially called to a halt on March the 3rd The pit closures the miners had fought so hard to prevent began in earnest.
In there were deep coal mines in the UK by — the year the industry was finally privatized — there were just 15 left. In October, it was announced that miners convicted during the strike would be pardoned by the Scottish government following an independent review. Grahame Morris, Labour MP for the former County Durham mining community of Easington, said: "Pushing Thatcher as some sort of eco-warrior for closing coal mines is a rewriting of history.
Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith, who represents the former coal mining area of Bassetlaw, said the PM's remark had "clearly been made in jest" and was "said in the context of the move away from fossil fuels".
He added he found it "remarkable" that "the same people" criticising the PM were also "expecting everybody to cut out fossil fuels immediately and drive electric cars", adding: "They can't have it both ways. Labour is opposed to the opening of new coal mines, saying they are not compatible with the UK wanting to be a world leader in reducing carbon emissions. But Labour's Alex Davies-Jones, who represents a former coalmining seat in south Wales, said closures had wrought long-lasting economic damage on such areas and Mr Johnson's remarks were "appalling".
The MP, whose father and grandfather were miners, added: "He's clearly forgotten the devastation that these job losses caused for communities like mine". G7 to agree tough measures on burning coal. World at risk of hitting temperature limit soon. Climate change: Where we are in seven charts. Image source, PA Media. The Tory Government shutting down dozens of pits in the early s, costing thousands of people their jobs. She opposed the strike, believing trade unions to be harmful organisations, and wanted to reduce their power.
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