Derek ^ wrote:

On Sun, 14 Aug 2005 12:38:13 +0100, Matt
wrote:

Andy Hall wrote:

I suppose that it is sufficiently long after the wrecking of industry
in the 60s and 70s by inappropriate industrial action for people to
remember the eventual consequences.

We ended up with that cnut Thatcher,

Tell you what, there were more coal mines closed by Calligan in the 4
years before she got in than she closed in the 4 years after.

The facts prove that statement to be incorrect

Thatcher came to power on 4th May 1979

Pits open in 1975/76 241
Pits open in 1979/80 219
Loss of 22

Pits open in 1983/84 170
Loss of 49

Source
http://www.coal.gov.uk/media//36C84/...20Update.P DF


It's clear the mining industry was f*cked when the clean air act was
brought in. And *then* we discovered we had North Sea Gas.

Clean coal technologies were at a very advanced stage of development
in the 1980's with the UK being world leaders in fluidised bed
combustion. Thatcher in her infinite wisdom pulled the plug on both
the research programme and the test platform at Grimethorpe and what
was a good 20 year lead on the rest of the world was lost forever with
the USA pushing development now and as usual claiming it was "invented
there"

Remember Grimethorpe?

It was immortalised as Grimley in the film Brassed Off (1986)

A notable quote from that movie that really can't be perfected:
"So God was creating man. And his little assistant came up to him and
he said: "Hey, we've got all these bodies left, but we're right out of
brains, we're right out of hearts and we're right out of vocal
chords." And God said: "**** it! Sew 'em up anyway. Smack smiles on
the faces and make them talk out of their arses." And lo, God created
the Tory Party"


losing completely a whole sector
of our indigenous energy resources, making us dependent on imported
gas and leading to an impending energy crisis the likes of which we
have never known.

Give over. The industry had been on it's arse since before the turn of
the century, my father was a miner in the 1920s, but not for long.

On its arse? Despite the crippling effects of the nuclear levy that
Thatcher tried to keep quiet. coal was the mainstay of electricity
generation right up to the point at which Thatcher's muppets Cecil
Parkinson and John Wakeham decimated any last remains of an energy
policy and forced the dash for gas power generation in the early 90's.

In the coming year the UK will become a net importer of gas, do your
own research on where that gas will come from, the stability of those
nations and the costs to industry and the consumer - then you might
begin to realise the legacy that the evil vindictive ******* Thatcher
has bestowed on the UK.

I've got an old 1896 OS map of where I live. The area was peppered
with abandoned coal mines even then. By the time my mother moved out
of her council house in 1966 the only people in the street still
burning coal were the miners who got it free !

No one ever mentioned coal for use in homes but if Wayne and Waynetta
Slob had to shovel coal to keep warm the levels of obesity would be a
damn sight lower.

Nuclear Power at it's peak, coal fires prohibited, North Sea Gas
coming on, Railway industry in decline with coal utilisation finished,
Iron/Steel industry abandoned coal. Coal fired mills/factories with
steam engines had gone to small electric motors decades previous ...

Coal production was relatively stable at around 100 million tonnes
from the early 1970's through to 1984 despite a reduction in manpower
from 287,000 down to 191,000 (down from 700,000 miners and 200 MTonnes
in the 50's) - a quite remarkable increase in productivity yet the
evil **** Thatcher still thought it necessary to crap on the miners.

Source:

http://www.coal.gov.uk/media//36C84/...20Update.P DF

But despite all that the vast majority of those electric motors,
steels furnaces, railways etc were still indirectly fuelled by coal as
the nuclear contribution was far from achieving its peak.

Nuclear power actually peaked in terms of installed capacity in 1996
when Sizewell B was commissioned, and in terms of an energy supply
basis the peak was in 1998 with 10.2%

Source

http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/inform/...es05_1_1_1.xls


Coal, Let's face it nobody wanted it. I don't know of anybody with a
house heated by coal, it's dirty, polluting, inefficient and hard
work.

No one ever mentioned coal for direct use in homes

The IRA were evil *******s but its a great pity they didn't finish her
off properly in Brighton 1984 doing the country and civilisation the
world over a huge favour.


I didn't *like* her myself. She was just like the manageress at the
place where I worked.

But you should take a look at an atlas sometime and note the relative
land area of Great Britain and that of China and India put together.
That gives you some idea of our true significance in the world since
the British Empire has come to an end.

The true significance of the UK? - despite having that **** Thatcher
as PM and having the 22nd largest population, we still have the 6th
largest GDP. Science, research and development and our manufacturing
industry are totally ****ed though - Thatcher's enduring legacy yet
again.

50 - 55 years ago countries kept their technology proprietory. A
British telly wouldn't work in France, an American phone wouldn't work
in England. Even things like torch batteries and car bulbs were
different sizes here and in Europe. Now with common standards this is
a thing of the past, but by that same token it is possible to
manufacture in Asia for the world market and the Chinese and the
Indians will work for 1/30th of a European Salary. Do you see any
campaigning to keep the cheap manufactured goods out of the country?

Get that right, French TV's wouldn't work anywhere but France and
their colonies. British/Swedish/Finnish/German/Italian/Spanish TV's
would (with minor tweaks to the sound subcarrier offsets/and or the
tuners) work right across Europe except France. It was the French,
as usual that were out of line. The Americans still don't get the
basics right half a century later. They can put a man on the moon but
get them to have accurate skin tones on a CRT is bordering on
witchcraft. 50-55 years ago international and national standards
organisations were just getting off the ground torch batteries and car
bulbs were among the first things to be standardised.

When I started work as a graduate engineer in 1972 a 21" colour TV
would have cost me 6 months salary. I don't see any great clamour to
go back to those days either.

Maybe you never noticed but the price of a large screen (mid 20" size)
TV's in the UK have been relatively stable at roughly GBP 500 all
from 1970 to the mid 90''s. The price may have been 6 months salary
in 1972 but the benchmark is often quoted alongside the price of a
Mars Bar, the former being an example of mass production efficiency
and the price the market could bear, the latter being an accurate
measure of inflation. Only when ultra cheap imports were brought in
did the price decline to the point where a TV has by force become a
throwaway item - the consumer may initially think this is a good idea
but the environmental consequences are huge.

But its won't be long now Maggie before everyone is dancing on your
grave you evil twisted vindictive fcuking *******. You won't be
missed at all and your "legacy" will ensure you are hated for
generations to come. You could have saved a bit of money and jumped
in that hole with Ted Heath the other week though.

Reading that bit again gives me a warm feeling. ahh, Maggie, don't you
just hate her guts?

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