Born the daughter of a grocer, she began her career as a research chemist who helped discover soft serve ice cream (the next time you go to McDonald . This book tells the story in words and pictures of the coal industry in Maesteg and the rest of the Llynfi valley. Margaret Thatcher visiting Wistow colliery, Yorkshire, in 1980. This time around the gloves would be off. That anti -Thatcher impetus must now be directed to the de­ fence of any part of our health service under threat. When Thatcher came to power, British labor relations were in chaos; the country was crippled by more . Boris Johnson has been condemned for making a “crass and offensive” joke about Margaret Thatcher closing the coal mines. This one came across my Facebook newsfeed: "Global warming 'provides a marvelous excuse for worldwide, supra-national socialism.'" The hundreds of comments the quote received covered a . Found inside – Page 1073Congress. House. Committee on Mines and Mining. office — the superintendent wants to see you . " I says , I says , “ All right . What's the trouble ? Thatcher's opponents believed this speech was showing her contempt for the working class and this causes criticism of her to this day. Arthur Scargill, the miners' leader, knew what the Tories were up to. With Sarah Lancashire, Arthur Scargill, Margaret Thatcher, Tim Bell. The miners were not united. The 1984-1985 coal mine worker strike was a major industrial activity that closed the UK coal industry. During the Miners Strike, the full weight of the establishment worked to undermine their cause. Cabinet . It played into the hands of the fanatical Thatcher and her determination to close UK coal mining. 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. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, Fascinating unearthed footage shows Queen speaking FRENCH as she mingles with Margaret Thatcher and Princess Diana, the coal mine shutdowns that led to strikes mayhem in the 1980s had boosted the climate battle, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). The Queen vs No 10: Behind Closed Doors. A heart-wrenchingly moving first novel set in Glasgow during the Thatcher years, Shuggie Bain tells the story of a boy's doomed attempt to save his proud, alcoholic mother from her addiction. Where once there had been a steady source of employment for generations of men, there was now nothing. The NUM’s strategy for thwarting McGregor’s plan was simple. From an economic and ecological point of view, the answer is yes. Taking a worldwide perspective, including Britain, where the process began with Mrs Thatcher, Europe and the former USSR, China, Latin America and the US, THE COMMANDING HEIGHTS shows how a revolution in ideas is transforming the world ... Thatcher and her destruction of the NHS ls ending. There was anger as the PM said that ex-PM Margaret Thatcher gave the UK a "big early start" in its battle against climate change when she closed coal mines in the 1980s. The death of Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher brings back into the spotlight her fight against the unions. She accelerated the evolution of the British economy from statism to liberalism and became, by personality as much as achievement, the most renowned British leader since Winston Churchill. In February 1981, the government announced plans to close 23 pits across the country but the threat of a national strike was enough to force a back down. Miners' leader Arthur Scargill said that the campaign against job. And Thatcher had another powerful weapon on her side – the police. And Scargill's like her. Most importantly, Johnson left out of his remarks the fact that, even if domestic extraction did need reducing, Thatcher didn't have to shut down the mines so abruptly. Margaret Thatcher's Tory government came to power with the express intent . That's all she wanted' Ken Radford, a former miner who was at the Battle of Orgreave, talks to Ann Czernik about how Margaret Thatcher's funeral will. Pride tells the inspiring true story of how two very different communities - each struggling to overcome its own bitter internal arguments and long-established fault lines, as well as facing the power of a hostile government and press found ... The first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is still regarded as one of the most divisive figures in British political history. She believed that trade unions were harmful to both regular trade unionists and the general public. What she did was to stop making it compulsory to support the industry. Thatcher's Britaintells the story of Thatcherism for a generation with no personal memories of the 80s, as well as for those who want to revisit the polemics of their youth. The miners represented the most powerful opposition force, and the determination they demonstrated throughout their year long strike from 1984-5 certainly tested the government's mettle, especially when dockworkers went on strike in the summer of 1984 threatening to open a . 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. The 'blame Thatcher every time it rains' rhetoric also ignores the reality that between 1997 and 2010, the party most former miners loyally support, Labour, had an unbroken period of government (on-going if we include the Welsh Government), and did little to seriously improve these communities or the lives of ex-miners and their families. The strike was officially called to a halt on March the 3rd 1985. ]]> This was implemented by Margaret Thatcher between 1979 and 1990. Scargill used right-to-buy laws to . That Putin could turn off our lights shows the insanity of Thatcher. Wilson closed more coal mines than Thatcher. The Prime Minister made the off-the-cuff remarks as he was pressed on whether he would set a deadline for ending fossil fuel extraction. All Rights Reserved. Thatcher refused to meet the union's demands and compared the miners' dispute to the Falklands War. Found insideLittle Platoons calls for a revival of One Nation to recognise the needs of people in such towns. In 1984 there were 174 deep coal mines in the UK by 1994 – the year the industry was finally privatized – there were just 15 left. Their soli­ darity l~ a struggle that is vital for the whole working class drew into sympathetic ,action many other sections of workers. Unemployment rocketed to 50%. Margaret Thatcher, British Conservative Party politician and prime minister (1979-90), Europe's first woman prime minister. The police launched mounted truncheon charges against the miners, leading to 51 pickets and 72 police being injured. “The damage done to Welsh coal mining areas 30 years ago was incalculable and here we are 30 years later the Tories are still celebrating what they did.”, Ms Sturgeon tweeted: “Lives and communities in Scotland were utterly devastated by Thatcher’s destruction of the coal industry (which had zero to do with any concern she had for the planet).”, Sir Keir said: “Boris Johnson’s shameful praising of Margaret Thatcher’s closure of the coal mines, brushing off the devastating impact on those communities with a laugh, shows just how out of touch he is with working people.”. By March 5 1984 miners went on strike across Yorkshire, Durham, Scotland and Wales. BATTLE lines were drawn up. Was it a good thing that the miners lost? Boris Johnson has refused to apologise for remarks making light of Margaret Thatcher 's closure of coal mines, as his spokesman said that the prime minister "recognises the huge impact and pain" it. This led to power cuts, the introduction of a three-day working week and the downfall of the Conservative government of Edward Heath. The UK miner's strike, Margaret Thatcher and LGSM. The miners' strike of 1984-1985 was a major industrial action to shut down the British coal industry in an attempt to prevent colliery closures. The fact that he had not called for a national ballot first would soon come back to haunt him. That faction on the Left that has been busy over the past 48 hours denouncing Margaret Thatcher has been so blinded by prejudice that facts have been . She opposed the strike, believing trade unions to be harmful organisations, and wanted to reduce their power. Twenty years ago, Britain went to war - with itself. © Mr Drakeford told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’m afraid that those remarks are both crass and offensive. Margaret Thatcher gave "a big early start" to green energy by closing coalmines, Boris Johnson has joked, in comments denounced as "unbelievably crass." On a visit to Scotland on Thursday . She did so because she believed them to be economically inefficient and wished to import more coal and gas. But it was done on a regional basis. However, the Tories feared that the timing wasn't right to take on the miners. The miners and their families had endured months of hardship. By 1994, not a trace of the pit existed above ground. By the early 1980s, domestic coal production was becoming ever more unprofitable. At the end of the dispute I tried to get the government to offer the miners the right to work a pit the Coal Board claimed was uneconomic for themselves, as I was suspicious about some of the pits the Coal Board wished to close. The issues were clear. Margaret Thatcher, speaking to journalists of her overwhelming relief at the news that the miners' strike had ended, March 3, 1985. Thatcher denounced union leaders as "the enemy within", and was determined to crush them when they took the miners out on strike in 1984 to prevent the closing of money-losing pits. Strange how they never seem to be able to reconcile those two tidbits. Strike: When Britain Went to War: Directed by Janice Sutherland. Wilson closed more coal mines than Thatcher. In the first half of the 20th century the UK had more than 1,000 collieries - but by 1984 there were just 173. Miners went on strike in the wake of plans to close pits across the UK. After coming to power in 1979, 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. "Thanks to Margaret Thatcher, who closed so many coal mines across the country, we had a big early start and we're now moving rapidly away from coal altogether." Mrs Thatcher's decision to shut down dozens of pits with little support for their communities prompted the bitterly divisive miners' strike of 1984-85. He went on: "Look at what we've done already. Thatcher's announcement that she planned to close 20 of them led to the year-long miners' strike which saw violent clashes with the police. It had all been for nothing. In death as in life, Mrs. Thatcher, whose union-busting battle to close unprofitable coal mines in 1984 and 1985 was one of the hallmarks of her 11 years in power, has proved a deeply polarizing . “Look at what we’ve done already. Found insideStarting with the first 30 days surrounding each incident, and then looking at efforts up to this very day to solve each case, this book covers in photos and text history’s most perplexing vanishings. I AM MALALA is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents ... News Corp is a network of leading companies in the worlds of diversified media, news, education, and information services. Together with miners' leader Arthur Scargill, she managed to destroy the power of the trade unions for almost a generation. Coal stocks were deemed too low, and so Thatcher, in a humiliating defeat, was forced to postpone the pit closure programme. The history of the Thatcher Government's plans to close pits. They believed Thatcher when she promised there was no secret hit list to close mines. The strike began as the government announced that they intended to close 20 coalmines. Yet I'm still hearing comments from some people along the lines of "we should re-open the coal mines", as if somehow British coal which is vastly . 'Since then, it's gone right down to 1%, or sometimes less,' Mr Johnson said. Found insideHANDBAGGED imagines what really happened in the private meetings between two of the world’s most powerful women: the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, and Queen Elizabeth II. Born just six months apart, each leader has the capacity to change ... Found inside – Page 28Most of the power used generally throughout the plant and at the mines ... helicoil conveyor to the end of the building where it dro ,, s through a chute ... Margaret Thatcher. © 2021 Associated Newspapers Limited. Ellen works closely with a journalist from The Times newspaper to tell what she knows, but with pressure from government the story never makes it to print. The book draws on previously unseen sources from interviews with the major figures, private archives and documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act to set the record straight. Including how the miners' struggled and the hardship they faced. The shuttering of coal mining in the UK is done in a completely unnecessary, cruel, and spiteful way. Whether or not Thatcher was right to close pits on economic grounds is a highly contentious point but her use of economic rationale was brilliant. Fully Automated Luxury Communism promises a radically new left future for everyone. //-->