In article ,
Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
Back in the mid 1980's when the coal miner's strike brought the UK
economy to its knees (the pound was $1.05), Margaret Thatcher came up
with it as a way of preventing the miners from ever having a politicial
voice again.

And incidentally the rest of the working class population in the UK. As
well as plenty of the middle classes too. The UK is strange in that many
seem to want others to be low paid, rather than all well paid.

The whole idea was to make coal and the miners so "dirty" to the common
man that the mines would be closed and they would be the last generation
of miners destined to finish out their (longer) lives on the dole.

And, of course, North Sea gas was just coming on stream. Now, it is well
past peak prododuction. So our now converted power stations rely on
imported gas. At whatever those who sell it wish to charge.

Who'd have thought a politician would go for short term gain? ;-(

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*Do paediatricians play miniature golf on Wednesdays?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.