General Chat

I'm in recovery thanks - a few counselling sessions and I should be back to normal

terryj - the debate in the Scottish Parliament on the Thatcher era will definitely be quite an interesting one I think ;-)

JohnLovesHorlicks as you suggested, geography played an important part in what areas suffered most, areas for a better phrase, that were not considered to be relevant to the political map, those were the areas that were forgotten about and were left devastated and blighted.

As I commented earlier in the thread, my family lived through the Thatcher era in an area that was not on the political map. That was the region covering, Lochore, Lochgelly, Cowdenbeath, Cardenden, Kelty, Ballingry, Hill of Beath, Auchterderran, Bowhill, Lumphinans, an area covering nearly 20% of the county of Fife.

I personally witnessed, not only the devastation that occurred, but also the hardship the people in these communities suffered :-|

I wonder what AnnCardiff means by - she should be back to "normal" :-D :-D :-D

Ann it could be a slow and arduous process

23 pits were closed under Mrs T,

200 under previous PMs

according to the closure history.

30 years is a long time to still not have a job in some areas,,,,

you rotten lot :-D :-D :-D

the miners thought they had a right to a job for life
well nothing is forever
and if the mines were not making money
then its right to shut them
the miners tried to hold this country to ransom and lost

hard luck but true

Gins, The person mainly responsible for most of the devastation? in Sheffield city centre was the home grown labour councillor who was soon to be a labour MP David Blunkett and his cronies

They devastated Sheffield City with their business rates being the highest in the country which drove companies like C&A to shut up shop and take their business elsewhere and the smaller shops who simply went bust.

Much of South Yorkshire has suffered as a result of labour councils and the high rates they charge to business, By over taxing the Business/employers you drive business and Jobs away and in to other areas where they have competitive rates

Sheffield was in decline well before Thatcher

Roy

John, Care to name the village in south Yorkshire where you did your research

"the miners tried to hold this country to ransom and lost"

How spot on JoyBoroAngel.

A woman being interview in Yorkshire said that there were no jobs for the young ones, but she was talking about today, not immediately after the closures. My children work abroad and down South. I'm not happy with that situation, of course I would like them to have got a job on the doorstep, in Yorkshire. How long can these people keep moaning. ......I wonder if Scargill has planned his funeral yet???? -jl

Let us get one thing right, the "MINERS" did not try to hold this country to ransom, it was the extreme left wing trotskyites leaders of tne National Union of Miners led by Arthur Scargill and and his supporters who tried to do that. A strike he called without a mandate from the rank and file of its members.

A large majority of miners wanted to work, not strike, and the treatment that those miners who dared to try and defy the strike call was nothing less than criminal, so please do not associate all miners with that man Scargill's policies.

OFITG absolutely correct.
Many miners wanted a ballot and the subsequent "bussing in" of thugs was downright criminal as you say.
There are still huge rifts in mining communities today between those that striked and those that did not.

So why do the rank and file members of the union and their families persist in blaming Margaret Thatcher? Why aren't they blaming Arthur Scargill?

Exactly Lyndi !!!

It depends which ones you talk to Lyndi.
And of course, all the ones interviewed by the media will be the ones that despise Margaret Thatcher because it is considered "topical and newsworthy".

I don't no if anyone saw or heard about the disgusting Party that took place in Goldthorpe yesterday but the local rag Barnsley Chronicle covered it and it was on Yorkshire TV But here is a post in response from an ex miner so not my words but which i thought gave some perspective to the debate


Margaret Thatcher was the best prime minister this country has ever had or ever will have. She got rid of most of the crap out of British business. Most of you celebrating are too young to remember what life was like before she took over. I`m not.

I was a miner under Scargill. Woolley Colliery was LOSING £1,000,000 every week (or every day I can`t remember which), and the unions wanted to keep it open ... idiots. Most pits in Yorkshire were losing so much money they were a cancer bleeding this country dry. She had an axe and wasn`t afraid to use it.

You can`t run businesses at a loss, not even to keep people`s jobs open. They are false jobs and needed to be got rid of. I bet all of you lot who hated Maggie are a lot better off now than you were back then. That is all down to Margaret Thatcher and what she did for and to this country. She got rid of the crap. And before you ask, I vote Labour.

As for any areas that have never recovered, create you own jobs. I`ve been self-employed all my life since leaving the pit. Get out and make your own future. Stop whinging and whining and waiting for other people to provide it for you.

And never celebrate when someone is dead, that is sick and childish and disrespectful to the whole of society. Her family have just lost their mother. Think how you would feel when you lose yours and someone else is celebrating because YOUR mum is dead. Have some common decency and ignore your so called "friends".

(he goes on to say)

you cannot run pits that are losing millions of pounds. That is stupid. As for self-employment, in 1990 I was a self employed software engineer working on the Commodore Amiga. A few years later they went bankrupt, so with a trowel and a pair of secateurs I set up my own gardening business, building it up and eventually looking after 84 gardens. Then, after 13 years I had a stroke and could no longer work. So I set up an online toy trading business which I am running now with a £50,000 turnover. You just never give in, which is a very Thatcherite view I know, but true. I must be a closet Tory with a red cape. I must change my profile picture. You are still living in the past and don`t realize how good life is now compared to the 60s and 70s.

My son still lives in Athersley. I can look beyond the hurt she caused and see the "bigger picture", at all the modernisation she started, which you are part of yourselves. I am sure we would not all be sat in front of computer screens, as we are at the moment, if it wasn`t for all the business strategies she adhered to. She was a shop-keeper`s daughter, as am I, if something doesn`t sell you don`t stock it !!!!!!! If only all people could see that and celebrate the life thay have now, which would not exist if it wasn`t for her. Half of Barnsley would still be working down the pits, their parents dying from "miner`s lung" and everyone with a picture of Arthur Scargill above their fireplaces and a tin bath in front of the fire. Those days are long gone and thank God they are !!!!



Roy

Thanks for that Roy - a very very valid comment indeed

I would like to shake the hand of that man. He has said what I think in a way I never could because he speaks with his heart from experience.
I hope people listen. :-D

On a lighter note,"*Sparklingsandie" Was your Milkmans name "Ernie"?

It is so true that no one ever seems (least of all miners) to blame dear Mr Scargill.

As from 2002 he was no longer President of NUM and insisted that NUM should pay the outgoings ofd his flat in London during his lifetime or that of his widow. He lost his case in 2012 However this was costing NUM £34,000 p.a. He also demanded contimuing payment of his fuel etc in his Barsley home and that of the preparation costs of his annual tax return!! He lost on that one also.

The Kinnocks as a family have all done well - MEPs, both husband and wife, not sure if son is one also or works within the EU and son is married to Prime Minister of Denmark!! The last bit is just further info!!

So much for fighting the working man's corner.

I am so glad Maggie's funeral passed without any major incident.

Chris, tha words "Champagne Socialists" come to mind.