Thought I'd start a new thread as this is going to be a major talking point this year...have not made up my mind yet...(unlike bucksfizz)....but thinking of voting for an exit as Europe is not doing Britain any good at all it seems....

It is always somebody else's fault.

"nor did MT and until she lost the plot in the last couple of years, she did great service to this country in all sorts of ways ....... and yes, i would agree that some of the "collateral damage" was awful though arguably inevitable given the uncompromising militancy of scargill and others of that ilk''

Alf your undoubted delusions over the years continue...do see someone about them old bean.

MT turned this country around and saved it from the slippery slope it was heading down. Successive weak Labour governments had succumbed to extreme union pressure. MT was more than ready for the fight with Scargill. She built up coal stocks as soon as elected. She knew Scargill would attempt to bring down the democratically elected government. It was only going to end one way.

She also got fatally burned by refusing to listen and let go when told that her pet project would cause civil unrest and bring about her downfall.

Hmmm. I wonder if Maggie Dismay's pet project will be her downfall.

H/S, delusional at the time and now.

The reduction in the size of the NCB was inevitable. Painful yes but everyone in the industry knew that the small underground collieries in the UK couldn't compete with the cheap open-cast coal from Australia and South Africa. A lot of good, hard working men lost their jobs but that has been the way since the industrial revolution. Not nice when you are affected but it happens and must if the country is to progress. I worked in two pits, Ledston Luck near Kippax, Yorkshire and Cronton near Whiston, Lancs. Fortunately, I was young enough to change direction. Many men weren't.

Hays,

Was Maggie a soothsayer or an agent provocateur?

-=-=

IT,

Jesus, I agree.

Part of the problem was worked out coal seams and general geology, making difficulties for "mechanized " working. (Hence cost of production plus wastage.)

Many saw the problems earlier in 30s but more so in 50s on.

Some of the arguments were not closing of unprofitable pits, but the manner it was done.

If it had started earlier and been more gradual with "retraining" of the "workforce" and gradual creating of "lighter industry" some of the conflicts could have been avoided.

Working relationships in some pits between management and workforce were good.

Some relationships were B. awful with faults on both sides.

Interesting period of how not to run a country.

An old and ageing industry Fred. Good men all round I found. I don't blame Scargill for what he tried but he was pissing against the wind. As you say, thin seams, ofter fractured, and old infrastructure. Both pits I worked in had mechanised faces but manually operated face props and all the support packing was done by hand. Cronton had a steam driven winder, while Ledston still had pit ponies to pull steel sets and timber. Can't compete against bulk open pit mining like that.

Hils , what part of OUT do the remainers and the EU not understand ?



Bet they could open the withdrawal agreement faster than you could say bobs your uncle if we said we wanted to stay in the single market , etc , etc.

Stuff them , keep running the clock down Mrs May they need that 39 billion more than we need their idea of a deal.

To be fair, the Ruhr Vally in Germany experienced identical problems but they managed to successfully navigate from the production industry of the 60's to the service sector of today, whilst maintaining a pretty constant level of gainful employment.

If you stay in the EU, you'll be able to ask them the secrets of their success. The Germans mostly speak English.

:o)

It , Scargill was a clown just looking for a fight. If he had gone about things properly there would have been a lot less suffering.

A lot in S Wales to this day blame him as much as Maggie for the way things panned out. He refused a ballot because he knew he wouldn't win and relied on the loyalty of areas like S Wales to go along with him regardless.

He refused a ballot because he knew he wouldn't win and relied on the loyalty of areas like S Wales to go along with him

Where else have I heard that phrase recently?

What an opportunity missed by JC. If he had accepted TM’s first invite to talks he could have walked into the front door of No 10 when she was at her lowest ebb, turned to look at the gathered cameras as though he had just won a GE and then strolled casually in to confront a wounded TM in her lair. Instead he is in some office somewhere in Westminster with TM on the front foot.

Twat

PS
Tony Blair would not have let an opportunity like that slip by.

Hils.

You beat me to it.

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I think it time for T May to resign!

Extend article 50.

Called another election with referendum views reflected in the manifestos.

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Why she has the confidence of the majority of the Commons

We had one Hils and when they carry out the wishes of the people feel free to have another one if that's what people want.

Fred , wake up and smell the coffee.

M , I really hope she didn't waste a biscuit on him.

Dil,

12085 - I'm not sure why you addressed that post to me?

If he was a biscuit what would he be? O yes a garibaldi and so appropriately known as a squashed fly biscuit

Who are sheltering behind her, thinking she was their nanny, and like all good tories hoping that she will shoulder the blame for their misdeeds.

They will pretend that they have been misled by a devious woman and as said earlier it wasn't their fault.