Why did Margaret Thatcher close the mines?
BORIS Johnson was blasted last night for claiming Margaret Thatcher’s hated pit closures gave the UK a “big early start” in the race for net zero emissions.
The Prime Minister said the coal mine shutdowns that led to strikes mayhem in the 1980s had boosted the climate battle now faced by the UK.
Why did Margaret Thatcher close the mines?
The miners' strike of 1984–1985 was a major industrial action which saw the British coal industry shut down.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher led opposition to the strike - as she wanted to reduce the power of trade unions.
She believed that the trade unions were harmful to both ordinary trade unionists and the public.
Thatcher refused to meet the union's demands and compared the miners' dispute to the Falklands War.
In a speech in 1984 she said: "We had to fight the enemy without the Falklands.
“We always have to be aware of the enemy within, which is much more difficult to fight and more dangerous to liberty."
Thatcher's opponents believed this speech was showing her contempt for the working class and this causes criticism of her to this day.
After a year out on strike in March 1985, the NUM leadership conceded without a deal.
The strike cost the economy at least £1.5billion.
At the end of the strike Thatcher said that "if anyone has won" it was "the miners who stayed at work" and all those "that have kept Britain going".
Why did the miners go on strike?
The miner went on strike in 1984 in an attempt to prevent colliery closures.
In the first half of the 20th century the UK had more than 1,000 collieries - but by 1984 there were just 173.
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.
Coal stocks would last only six weeks, after which Britain would shut down and people would demand concessions.
In 1984 it was announced that 20 collieries would close with a loss of 20,000 jobs.
This meant any communities in Northern England, Scotland and Wales would lose their primary source of employment.
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And the trade union’s believed the government had a long-term strategy to close more than 70 pits.
By March 5 1984 miners went on strike across Yorkshire, Durham, Scotland and Wales.
