I Am British

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHyb7ELmHbA] It was decided back in the 1980s that Britain would do without Coal it was brutal the Miners went on strike for about a year to save their jobs but to no avail it was well planned by the government the Police were harsh it's a blot on the history of Great Britain and once the mines were closed no real employment was placed in the mining areas just Dole high unemployment over thirty years have past and it's easy to see now the mistakes that were made and are still being made.

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Malcolm · 61-69, M

I also remember the disruption caused to ordinary people by those strikes. The police were doing their job, trying to break up violent episodes in the picket lines. The strike was also illegal because no ballot had been made. The simple matter is that the coal was becoming increasingly uneconomic to mine, and there was declining demand. Why should and government subsidise (at the expense of taxpayers) a declining industry? The unions were holding the country to ransom - isn't that just as much a blot on the history of Great Britain?

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senghenydd · M

@Onecharmingman: Not having a ballot yes that was a mistake the government intended closing the mines we know that to be true I worked near Cardiff Docks at the time and there was cheap Polish Coal coming into Cardiff I could clearly see the ships being unloaded I am annoyed the Home Secetary has decided not to look into the violence shown in the recent videos shown on television it's clearly a case of Police oversteping their authority those Police officers should be brought to justice it's an outrage they won't be, and as I've previously stated the Rhondda has a great deal of unemployment and sadly a large percentage of the young people who are unemployed are Drug Addicts I was talking to another member of this web site who lives in the USA and he stated before I did that there are large areas in the USA which were former Coal Mining Areas which now have high unemployment and a high percentage of these communities are Drug Takers. The end of Coal (Deep Mining) was brutal and quick too quick it was dole instead of Coal

SW-User

@senghenydd: Agree entirely. There was a lot of violence and mistakes on both sides but I think defeating the NUM was z key part of Thatcher's long term goals. There are many times still affected, there even some mining villages near where I grew up in Stoke on Trent that havs disappeared completely. A fraction if the money that was used to support the financial industry would have helped and we're seeing it all again at Port Talbot.

senghenydd · M

@Onecharmingman: Yes I agree and Port Talbot is really another story we never imposed Tariffs Chinese Steel imports is finishing off our Steel Industry once it's gone it will never return the USA and Canada have imposed tariffs and and have protected their Steel Industry one of the problems of being a member of the EU I'm sorry to say

senghenydd · M

Hello Malcolm your not wrong in saying the strike was illegal there should of been notification given that the Miners were going on strike (I can't remember exactly how long that was at the time) there was disruption however I'm from a different part of the country and the neighbours/people where I live were prepared to put up with the inconvenience, we weren't a hundred percent behind them we simply hoped a solution could be found which would be satisfactory for both sides instead there was fighting/violence a recent video on television showing Police with truncheons completly losing it hitting Miners not once or twice but to seriously injure them I don't think for one minute Police Officers belong in the Police force who "Completly Lose It" they should be routed out so in my opinion for what it's worth those Police Officers (clearly identifiable from the videos) should be brought to justice it's thirty two years ago if they aren't brought to justice now they'll get away with it I want to live in a country where we have good Police officers I live in South Wales the Rhondda Valleys haven't got over the loss of the end of Coal no real investment has been put into the Rhondda there is high unemployment it's a case of Dole replacing Coal and now Drug taking areas.

Malcolm · 61-69, M

Just a question: how do unemployed people afford drugs?

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Malcolm · 61-69, M

@senghenydd: Thus creating local employment??? ;-)

senghenydd · M

@Malcolm: Cottage Industies which we don't want.

Malcolm · 61-69, M

@senghenydd: At least they're enterprising, and getting away from the dole culture. Just not sure that's the right product yet, though...

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Malcolm · 61-69, M

@senghenydd: Because you're not getting much support?

senghenydd · M

@Malcolm: I closed it down (stopped getting messages, thought it had run it's time have received plenty of hearts obviously like myself most people don't wish to get into a pitch battle throwing stones at each other I'll stick to cycling in future everyone likes cycling

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