Government ‘must draw out lessons from Thatcher-era coal pit closures'
Ministers should 'draw out' lessons from Thatcher-era coal mine closures in the move away from oil and gas, a Conservative shadow minister has suggested.
David Simmonds, whose great-grandfather worked in a pit at Cwmcarn, South Wales, said the administration led by Margaret Thatcher sought to build infrastructure to 'open up' former coalfield communities.
Parliament as 'an open goal for the Government to repair the damage done by Thatcherism'.
Yesterday, my constituency was yet again the victim of industry leaving; the workers at the Grangemouth refinery were served their redundancy notices
Brian Leishman, MP for Alloa and Grangemouth
Labour MP Brian Leishman had earlier warned MPs that the closure of Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland could have 'strikingly similar social consequences' to the decline in UK mining.
Mr Simmonds urged the Government to learn 'some of the lessons that we need to draw out of that for what is often termed the 'just transition' – the intended end of oil and gas as a significant player in our energy industries for the future'.
He later added: 'We know we are about to embark on a process whereby the progress that's been made by the UK as a leading nation for decarbonising our economy since the early 1990s, when we began that really major shift away from coal which in the 1950s produced most of our energy and today is contributing to none as the last coal-fire power station in the UK has just recently closed.'
Mr Simmonds said the European Economic Community (EEC) food stockpiles accumulated under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to maintain farm prices – known as the 'butter mountains' – were 'not an example of an effective economic intervention' to ease the impact of pit closures.
Mr Leishman, the MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, had earlier said: 'Yesterday, my constituency was yet again the victim of industry leaving; the workers at the Grangemouth refinery were served their redundancy notices.
'On site, over 400 highly skilled workers will lose their jobs, and when we factor in the wider supply chain, it will be nearly 3,000 job losses, and like the coal industry, a vital energy creator will be lost forever.
'A different decade, a different government, but nevertheless strikingly similar social consequences will be the result.'
After years of failed promises from the Conservative government to level up, the very idea of levelling up seems to have disappeared from Labour's plans as well
David Chadwick, Liberal Democrats
Mr Chadwick, who is the MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, warned that 'after years of failed promises from the Conservative government to level up, the very idea of levelling up seems to have disappeared from Labour's plans as well'.
He called for a railway in the Swansea Valley in South Wales and said: 'This Parliament is an open goal for the Government to repair the damage done by Thatcherism.
'The party opposite squandered many of its previous 13 years in power, carrying on with a London-centric, banker-friendly form of growth that means younger generations have to leave for the cities like my mum did 30 years ago, and they must not repeat the same mistake today, because across the former South Wales coalfields, the economic reality is dire.
'Wages are lower than the national average, job growth is sluggish, and unemployment remains high.'
In his winding up speech, local government minister Jim McMahon referred to his own Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton seat in Greater Manchester and said: 'We're all very proud of Greater Manchester and we all see the red dots in the skyline of Manc-hattan as we call it very proudly and the booming city centre that is Manchester, but the truth is, unless you have those social opportunities where people have the confidence and skills to be able to compete in that new market that is emerging, it can feel a million miles away, and that's really, really important and we do see that.'
Mr McMahon said Labour had retained the Long-Term Plan for Towns, packages of up to £20 million of support and added: 'If we don't put the building blocks in place to rebuild industry and pride, then I think we miss a trick.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
9 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Kemi: SNP are stoking the politics of envy… Scots deserve better
Kemi Badenoch has insisted Scots 'deserve better' than the SNP as she launched a blistering attack on its failings in government – and claimed Nigel Farage is a threat to the Union. The Conservative leader said Scotland is in decline under a Nationalist government focused on stoking division, with education, justice and the NHS going backwards while millions of pounds of taxpayers' cash is wasted on 'independence propaganda' and the ferries fiasco. She said the SNP needs to be defeated in next year's Holyrood elections because 'the Scottish people deserve better', and are 'paying for more and getting less'. She also claimed that Nigel Farage is a threat to the Union because he does not care about more SNP rule. In her first address to the Scottish Conservative conference as leader, she said: 'We have seen Scotland decline under the rule of Left-wing parties that stoke division and the politics of envy.' She said education standards have fallen to record lows on the SNP's watch, while police numbers have plunged and the NHS recovery is ' lagging behind England' – with 100 times as many patients in Scotland's hospitals waiting more than 104 weeks for treatment than south of the Border. She said the SNP was still 'obsessed' with breaking up Britain and has been 'wasting millions on independence propaganda'. And she accused the Nationalists of wasting money on 'failed ferry projects', hate crime laws which threaten free speech and 'putting male rapists in women's prisons'. She said: 'This year we saw the SNP suffer yet another loss in the Supreme Court, because instead of sorting out Scotland they were trying to redefine what a woman is. 'This is not a party focused on what people in Scotland need, so we need to bring about their electoral defeat. Because the Scottish people deserve better.' She insisted that 'the answer to these problems does not involve any more devolution'. Hitting back at Reform, which finished ahead of the Tories in third place in last week's Hamilton by-election, she said: 'The Union is just not that important to them. In April this year, Nigel Farage said he would be fine with the SNP winning another five years in power. 'He's fine with another five years of higher bills, longer waiting lists, declining school standards, gender madness, and ultimately, independence. 'Reform will vote to let the SNP in, Conservatives will only ever vote to get the Nationalists out.' Her comments about Reform refer to Mr Farage saying in a recent interview that he is 'not that worried about the SNP' and that the party is 'going to have a resurgence'. Asked by journalists after her speech in Edinburgh if Mr Farage is an 'active threat to the Union', Ms Badenoch said: 'If he wants the SNP to have another five years, that is a threat to the Union, so yes.' On the Barnett Formula – the funding mechanism which delivered an extra £9.1billion over three years to Scotland in this week's spending review – she said it was not the problem, 'it is the SNP that is the problem'. She said: 'It doesn't matter how you change it, they're still going to mess things up. 'What we need to do is get the SNP out of running Scotland, and then all sorts of things will start to improve.' In her speech, Ms Badenoch condemned the income tax gap between Scotland and the rest of the UK, and said: 'The SNP's failure to grow Scotland's economy has cost public services more than £1billion in this year alone. And that's before Labour's jobs tax kills growth. 'Scottish people are paying for more and getting less.' She said she will demand that the windfall tax on oil and gas is ended, saying: 'I didn't agree with imposing the levy in government ... But it is a good example of what I think we got wrong.' Introducing Ms Badenoch yesterday, Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said: 'We are under new management: two new leaders with a shared vision to renew our party and champion our common sense Conservative values. 'We are both realistic about the challenges we face, but we are also optimistic that our party can earn back public trust. 'Our country needs a strong Conservative and Unionist Party that can win again across the United Kingdom. We need it because of the damage that our rivals are doing to our country. 'The SNP are weaker for Scotland. Look at the mess they have made of our beloved country.' Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said of Ms Badenoch: 'The suggestion that she is the only one who can address the concerns of Scots is like an arsonist claiming they are best placed to put out the fire.'
South Wales Argus
18 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Starmer and Trump call for ‘diplomacy and dialogue' in Israel and Iran conflict
The two leaders spoke on Friday evening, as western nations began a diplomatic flurry to calm the burgeoning conflict, which started with early morning Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear bases. Sir Keir earlier urged his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to de-escalate and work towards a 'diplomatic resolution'. An explosion is seen during a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel (Tomer Neuberg via AP) David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, meanwhile warned the Middle East is facing a 'moment of grave peril', after he spoke to Iran's foreign minister and called for calm. Earlier calls from the PM, as well as France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Friedrich Merz, for restraint appeared fruitless, as a fresh wave of strikes hit Tehran and other targets across Iran on Friday evening. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, vowed revenge, and his country launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel in a retaliatory attack. Air raid sirens were sounded across Israel and its citizens were ordered to move into bomb shelters, while plumes of smoke could be seen rising in central Tel Aviv. In London, the Prime Minister convened a Cobra meeting of high level ministers and officials to discuss the situation in the Middle East. Warren Stephens, the US ambassador to the UK, was also seen outside the Cabinet Office in Whitehall after the meeting on Friday afternoon. Sir Keir spoke to US President Donald Trump on Friday evening (Alex Brandon/AP) A Downing Street spokeswoman said Sir Keir and Mr Trump 'discussed the military action in the Middle East overnight and agreed on the importance of diplomacy and dialogue' when they spoke on the phone. She added: 'Updating on his conversations with partners today, the Prime Minister reiterated the UK's grave concerns about Iran's nuclear programmes. 'The leaders looked forward to speaking again at the G7 in Canada next week.' Both the UK and the US have insisted they were not involved in the Israeli strikes and that Israel acted unilaterally. Foreign Secretary Mr Lammy would not say whether the Government had been forewarned of the action. Tzipi Hotovely, Israel's ambassador to the UK told Sky News the first time the her country discussed the strikes with the UK was at midday on Friday. Israeli's Iron Dome air defence system fires to intercept missiles over Tel Aviv, Israel (Leo Correa via AP) She also told the broadcaster: 'The aim is to make sure Iran won't have nuclear capabilities. This is why all our targets are military targets. This is why we're attacking the nuclear sites. 'This is not a plan that was created in one night. This is a plan being created in many years from understanding the levels of danger.' Among the sites hit by Israel's strikes are several of Iran's main nuclear sites, as well as missile factories. Hossein Salami, the leader of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was also reportedly killed in the initial attacks.
Glasgow Times
19 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Starmer and Trump call for ‘diplomacy and dialogue' in Israel and Iran conflict
The two leaders spoke on Friday evening, as western nations began a diplomatic flurry to calm the burgeoning conflict, which started with early morning Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear bases. Sir Keir earlier urged his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to de-escalate and work towards a 'diplomatic resolution'. An explosion is seen during a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel (Tomer Neuberg via AP) David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, meanwhile warned the Middle East is facing a 'moment of grave peril', after he spoke to Iran's foreign minister and called for calm. Earlier calls from the PM, as well as France's Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Friedrich Merz, for restraint appeared fruitless, as a fresh wave of strikes hit Tehran and other targets across Iran on Friday evening. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, vowed revenge, and his country launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel in a retaliatory attack. Air raid sirens were sounded across Israel and its citizens were ordered to move into bomb shelters, while plumes of smoke could be seen rising in central Tel Aviv. In London, the Prime Minister convened a Cobra meeting of high level ministers and officials to discuss the situation in the Middle East. Warren Stephens, the US ambassador to the UK, was also seen outside the Cabinet Office in Whitehall after the meeting on Friday afternoon. Sir Keir spoke to US President Donald Trump on Friday evening (Alex Brandon/AP) A Downing Street spokeswoman said Sir Keir and Mr Trump 'discussed the military action in the Middle East overnight and agreed on the importance of diplomacy and dialogue' when they spoke on the phone. She added: 'Updating on his conversations with partners today, the Prime Minister reiterated the UK's grave concerns about Iran's nuclear programmes. 'The leaders looked forward to speaking again at the G7 in Canada next week.' Both the UK and the US have insisted they were not involved in the Israeli strikes and that Israel acted unilaterally. Foreign Secretary Mr Lammy would not say whether the Government had been forewarned of the action. Tzipi Hotovely, Israel's ambassador to the UK told Sky News the first time the her country discussed the strikes with the UK was at midday on Friday. Israeli's Iron Dome air defence system fires to intercept missiles over Tel Aviv, Israel (Leo Correa via AP) She also told the broadcaster: 'The aim is to make sure Iran won't have nuclear capabilities. This is why all our targets are military targets. This is why we're attacking the nuclear sites. 'This is not a plan that was created in one night. This is a plan being created in many years from understanding the levels of danger.' Among the sites hit by Israel's strikes are several of Iran's main nuclear sites, as well as missile factories. Hossein Salami, the leader of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was also reportedly killed in the initial attacks.
