Time to right some more wrongs Mr. Blair.

I have been reading a report by P. Routledge in The Mirror newspaper about retiring MP. Eric Clarke's final speech in Parliament which was devoted to men sacked by British Coal during the 1984/5 strike. Mr. Routledge wrote "About 300 men sacked by Maggie's butcher, Iain MacGregor, still have a grievance. Most were sacked unjustly, especially in the Scottish coalfield, and lost their pension rights. What , Eric asked the Prime Minister, is he going to do about the sacked lads? "Can we start by buying them back into the miners' pension fund?" Tony Blair fobbed him off with a holding answer, but this is an issue New Labour should address more vigorously when it wins a second term. The whole point of being in power is to do the right things, not simply to carry on Tory policies." My web site was never intended to be political as it is mainly for children to learn a little about coal mining. But I have to agree with Eric Clarke's view. It's time to right some more wrongs Mr. Blair.

This picture was taken at Dunfermline in Fife, in 1985. It is on file at The Scottish Mining Museum, and is used on this site with their kind permission.

The Scottish Mining Museum web site.

These pictures were all taken at the 1987 Notts Miner's Gala and are displayed here courtesy of Mr. James Hogg an ex-NUM official at Monktonhall. James Hogg was a sacked miner in 1985 who was re-employed by a contractor and worked at Stirlingfleet for 5 months. He is now a Post Office Union Official in Dalkeith. His father was chief guide at the Scottish Mining Museum before his death, he has also been an NUM Official, as has his brother Michael. Brother Alec is a NUR official.

These pictures were taken during the Notts NUM tour in Scotland in 1985. Displayed courtesy of Mr. James Hogg.