Sold down the river by New Labour
By Justice Convenor Rick Sumner

THE CONSEQUENCE of the defeat of the 1984 strike was the closure of the vast majority of the Britain's pits followed by privatisation of the few that were left. This meant that our demand for the reinstatement of all sacked men from the strike was no longer feasible as there were no pits left to reinstate anyone to. At the start of the strike there had been 170 deep mines in Britain while in 2002 there are just 16 – that is the scale of the butchery of the mining industry.

When a Labour government was elected in 1997 the Justice Campaign switched its demands from reinstatement of the sacked men's jobs to the reinstatement of their pension rights, lost the moment they were sacked by the National Coal Board. The sackings and court decisions had, after all, been the result of a politically motivated judiciary during the strike and we were hoping for some redress of the wrongs then committed. A legal system which is above political considerations, and is not merely the legal arm of the government of the day is, after all, a pretty fundamental expectation of democracy, a belief we thought would be shared by a government committed to law and order as 'New' Labour claimed to be in 1997.

Our hopes were initially raised when Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott gave an unequivocal assurance from the platform of the 1999 Durham Miners Gala that the victimised men would all be looked after as regards to pensions. An Early Day Motion had already been put to the House of Commons in February 1999 by Sunderland MP Bill Etherington, so we thought the wheels were already well in motion.

Next, at the 2001 Labour Party Conference, Justice Convenor Rick Sumner had a brief meeting with the then energy minister Helen Liddell MP, herself a miner's daughter. We were informed that the government were considering the many responses to a consultation document about the issues that had been sent out to concerned parties. Recently Brian Wilson MP, the current minister responsible, also gave us an assurance. But our hopes have swiftly turned to bitter disappointment as this article by Justice convenor Rick Sumner describes:

Sold down the river

"Our victimised men have just been stitched up and sold out by the New "Labour" Government. Last December myself together with two sacked Kent miners and the Dover M.P. Gwyn Prosser met Energy Minister Brian Wilson in his office at the DTI. He agreed there had been victimisation and promised to put things right. He told us the only men who would not benefit from a new deal were those who were convicted of life threatening violence. He was extremely convincing and when we left the building the four of us felt we had finally reached an acceptable deal.

Shortly after this there was an announcement from Wilson's office that there would be a review of our sacked men with an update in their pension contributions. When the new proposals were actually published it was another kick in the teeth for men who have now suffered for 18 years.

All that is on offer is FIVE years pension contributions and these will not apply to "any miner whose dismissal was attributable to behaviour of the following kind:

The document also says that it cannot "reconsider the results of any court of law or tribunal proceedings" despite the fact that a major part of our 17 year long campaign has been that the Tory Government subverted the judicial process for its own political ends and NO conviction related to the strike can be trusted.

The New "Labour" Government is, by this statement, backing up the misuse of the law by Thatcher's gang. In taking this stance the Government is bringing the legal system into even further disrepute. The least we should expect from this Government is an admission that the law was used as a political tool by the Tories but these abuses are being put right so that decent trades unionists can begin to believe in British justice.

The National Union of Mineworkers has advised victimised men to reject this insulting offer. This was endorsed unanimously by sacked miners at meeting in Barnsley and Mansfield. We are calling for REAL JUSTICE for ALL our victimised men... fully restored pension credits using money from the Miners Pension Scheme – a scheme that has been plundered for millions of pounds by this government.

The Justice Campaign urges all supporters to protest to their M.Ps. and to write to Brian Wilson M.P. Minister of State for Energy and Industry, DTI, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET.