Mark Druckford slams Boris Johnson for ‘celebrating’ Margaret Thatcher’s coal mine closure

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Wales First Minister Mark Druckford has condemned Boris Johnson’s comments on Margaret Thatcher after the UK gave a “big early start” in the fight against climate change when it shut down coal mines as “dirty and insulting”.

Speaking on a visit to an offshore wind farm in the Murray Firth, the prime minister said Margaret Thatcher had helped climate change by shutting down “many coal mines”.

“Now we’re down to less than 2%, and I think I’m per cent of our energy comes from coal,” the prime minister added.

Read more: Almost all Covid restrictions in Wales will end on Saturday

Johnson was questioned about preparations for the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, in November, during a two-day visit to Scotland.

Pushed on whether he would set a deadline to end fossil fuel extraction, he said the UK had already transitioned out of coal in his life – he owed it to Mrs Thatcher.

“Thanks to Margaret Thatcher, who closed many coal mines across the country,” he said, “we had a big head start and we are now moving quickly away from coal completely.”

He reportedly laughed and told reporters, “I thought that would get you going.”

There is a “tremendous opportunity” to increase the use of more environmentally friendly technologies, he said.

Responding to the Prime Minister’s comments, Wales First Minister Mark Druckford told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I am afraid these are filthy and offensive.

“The damage done to coal mining areas in Wales 30 years ago was incalculable, and here we are 30 years later the Conservatives are still celebrating what they did.”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also said the comments were “very harsh and insensitive” to the mining communities.

“Life and communities in Scotland were utterly devastated by Thatcher’s destruction of the coal industry (which had nothing to do with any concerns she had on the planet),” she tweeted.

Labor said it should apologize for the “shameful” comments. Labor opposes the opening of new coal mines, saying it does not align with the UK’s desire to be a world leader in reducing carbon emissions.

But Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer wrote on Twitter that Johnson’s comments were “shameful”.

He wrote, “Dismissing with a laugh the destructive influence on those societies shows how detached he is from working people.”

Responding to the criticism, Boris Johnson said he was aware of the “huge impact and pain” of the coal-mining shutdown, responding to the backlash to the Prime Minister’s comments he made in Scotland on Thursday.

In 1984, there were 170 working coal mines in Britain, employing more than 190,000 people, but by 2015 they had all closed.

Mrs. Thatcher’s announcement that she was planning to shut down 20 of them led to a year-long feud over the miners. Millions of people protested the closure of the mines, and throughout the summer of 1984 there were violent clashes between the striking miners and the police, often numbering several hundred at each encounter.

Mr Drakeford was speaking to BBC Radio 4 after it was announced that Wales will move to alert level zero from Saturday 7 August.

As of August 7, restrictions on the number of people meeting indoors in private homes, public places or on events have been lifted, and all businesses and buildings can open their doors.

Nightclubs can reopen and the two-meter social distancing rule will not be a blanket rule, but rather it will be up to individual establishments to determine.

This means that Wales will have completed the transition to alert level zero which is the first time since the start of the pandemic that all businesses will be able to open and all legal restrictions on meeting people in private indoor spaces will be removed. Full details about all rule changes can be found here.

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