Jon Trickett MP: Victory for the mineworkers pension campaign
Jon Trickett MP writes: After years of campaigning, the Mineworkers Pension Scheme Investment Reserve Fund will be transferred to retired miners and their widows. Countless constituents have written to me about this issue over the years. I know how much this will mean to many people in our area.
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Hide AdIt’s not just about money, it’s about fairness. Let’s not forget that it was miners who powered this country and made it what it is. Their hard work created the wealth of our nation. They never gave up the fight for what miners and their families were owed. The restoration of their pensions is the least they deserve.
I’ve been calling for miners' pension justice for many decades. It’s taken far too long to happen. Sadly many miners have not lived to see this day. We cannot change the past, but we should celebrate this victory.
During the election campaign I said that I would be relentless in demanding justice for coalfield communities. Restoring mineworkers’ pensions was one part of that. There is still more to do.
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Hide AdAn hour before the Budget I attended a parliamentary drop-in hosted by the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign. I’m sure none of us have forgotten the dreadful scenes at Orgreave during the 1984-85 strike. The sight of police truncheons being rained down on the heads of our men left an indelible mark on me. It still makes me angry to this day.
At the drop-in I met some of the gentlemen who were injured that day at the hands of out of control policemen. In one case a gentleman was subsequently put on trial. Luckily the police stories were found to be untrue and he was acquitted. He’s far from the only person who received this treatment. Many are still living with the consequences of police brutality and state intimidation.
I believe that an inquiry into the policing of the miners’ strike is long overdue. This was a commitment made in the Labour Party manifesto and I hope to see progress made as soon as possible to deliver it.
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Hide AdAnother pledge I made during the election campaign was to fight for large-scale investment in coalfield communities. In the last two decades the British economy has stagnated in no small part due to underinvestment. Since the mines were closed our community has received very little. Where there was investment under the Tory government it tended to go to London and the South East.
I was pleased to see the Chancellor announce increases in capital spending, but it’s important this money goes into communities like ours that have been held back for too long. I want to see investment in new hospitals, schools, roads and infrastructure. I want this investment to create well-paid, trade union jobs, to provide our young people with the opportunities they’ve been denied for too long.
In the coming weeks and months I will continue to speak out on these issues. I want to see the Labour government transform our economic structures and take this opportunity to build a new economic settlement on the principles of social justice.