Union bosses want Reeves to pay compensation to miners who took on Thatcher
The chancellor is under pressure from trade unions to offer payouts to miners involved in strikes during the 1980s.
After Rachel Reeves announced £11.8 billion for the victims of the infected blood scandal and another £1.8 billion for the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, attention has been drawn to other ongoing claims.
Former TUC president Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) is now leading calls from the trade unions for Ms Reeves to consider the case of miners involved in the 1984-85 strike, which became a defining moment during Margaret Thatcher’s time in government.
He told The Independent: “Compensation, announced in the Budget, for the victims of the infected blood and Post Office scandals is very welcome.
“Similar payouts must be made to the families of miners who suffered from politically motivated criminal convictions under the Tories during the 1984/85 strike.
“During that strike, Margaret Thatcher’s government used the state to violently crush the miners and their communities.”
Mr Wrack said 11,313 miners were arrested, around 7,000 injured, 5,653 put on trial, 960 sacked and 200 imprisoned.
He said: “The Chancellor must now put aside money to ensure that miners, their families and communities are compensated for the persecution and violence they suffered.”
The trade union movement has been backing an inquiry into the strike led by the then National Union of Minworkers (NUM) president Arthur Scargill.
Moments like the Battle of Orgreave in 1984 have become symbolic of the way the Tories crushed the trade union movement’s power in the 1980s and 1990s.
Sir Keir Starmer has resisted calls for supporting an inquiry into what happened during the strike although it has received backing from Labour MPs.
However, The Independent understands Sir Keir’s openess to engaging in talks on historic injestices such as reparations for slavery has given campaigners some hope.
