40th Anniversary of the 1984-85 Miners' Strike

That this House commemorates the 40th anniversary of the 1984-85 miners’ strike that began in March 1984 in response to the Thatcher government's plans to destroy the British coal industry; notes that the National Union of Mineworkers decided to strike after the National Coal Board announced the closure of 20 collieries, although declassified Cabinet Papers reveal they secretly planned to close 75 collieries over a three year period; further notes that over 165,000 miners took part in the strike which lasted a whole year, whilst hundreds of thousands of their family members loyally supported them; condemns the violence deployed by the British state against mining communities as seen at Orgreave, in Hemsworth and elsewhere; believes the dispute represented an assault on the whole British labour movement, as well as the post-war “Attlee settlement” which has had lasting consequences for the entire working class with the subsequent decline in workers’ rights; recognises that the short-sighted decision to destroy the British coal industry devastated mining communities but also damaged the entire British economy with particularly grave implications for the North over the long-term; honours the bravery and dignity of the mining communities who resisted the destruction of the coal industry; commends the solidarity shown towards mining communities by the wider public; and demands justice for mining communities, including those who suffered miscarriages of justice at Orgreave and elsewhere, the restoration of mineworkers’ pensions and large-scale public investment in areas devastated by the destruction of the coal industry.