THE MINERS VOTED ‘OUT’
The biggest recorded votes across Britain for out were recorded in the Regions where the coalfields are based, The North, Yorkshire, Lanc, Midlands, South Wales etc votes of 70% and more were witnessed overall, but within the coalfield villages and towns they were an even higher proportions.
Hardly surprising we might say. The EU implemented the most dogmatic and swingeing of so called ‘environmental measures’ aimed at stopping carbon pollution by heavy crippling taxes on coal users. While clean coal power stations were sabotaged by the Con-Lib coalition and the Tories who withdrew funding, Labour grandiose politicians ironically from coalfield constituencies pledged if elected to make the anti carbon taxes bight even harder, even signing a tri-partitite agreement that if any of the three major parties were elected they would ALL implement the same anti coal programme and kill us off whichever of them got in. Within two weeks of being elected the Tories had DOUBLED the tax on coal, not when it was burned, but when it was bought, this meant that even if you had a clean coal power station which did not emit CO2 you would still get hit with the carbon tax ! This effectively pulled the plug on the one and only remaining clean coal power station being built at drax, it took away Hatfield and Kellingley’s market overnight, since it was £m’s cheaper just to burn the large stock piles of coal on stock, straight up the chimney, thus adding to carbon pollution, rather than through clean coal technologies. Here was an anti-carbon tax which gave a 50% reduction in tax to burn the coal less environmentally friendly.
The soaring coal price, pushed British Steel over the edge, as you can’t make steel without coal, so heavily subsidised foreign steel, made with subsidised coal prices was therefore cheaper and drove British coal and indeed all European coal off the market. Though worldwide even MORE pollution was added by this process because no-where else was required to move to clean coal technologies, and now Britain was incentivised to abandon its own, the sum total MORE co2 pollution rather than less.
The cement industry dependant on coal was being crippled, while Aluminium was forced to leave Northumberland, a major employer because of the EU carbon tax being applied here, they moved elsewhere in Europe where it was not.
So when we see the entire political establishment ignoring over the last generation of miners and their families and communities fighting to save our industry and Union and communities, did anyone really think we were going to listen to their advice as to what was best for us now? All the middle class intellectuals, the London based well-heeled Leftists, the experts and bankers for whom we have had to carry the can in austerity and loss of hope, the liberals who never tire of telling us lumpen fools how racialist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, probably claustrophobic and agoraphobic and God knows what other things we are supposed to be running scared of and living in denial from, tell us they are speaking in our best interest. Was anybody really surprised when the rulers of Europe and America and the World bankers and academic experts all joined in a chorus line of irrefutable omnipotence WE ONE AND ALL GIVE THEM TWO FINGERS AND SAID GFO ! ?
Now its all most amusing to watch them all have a tantrum of temper flinging their toys out of the cot and banging their heads on the wall because they didn’t their own way ! Well we just have to ignore it until they calm down, then they come and have a cuddle.
By the way the body calling itself ‘THE NUM’ who is basically the area officials who are left after all the miners and the branches have gone, all chiefs and no Indians, have the said ‘the NUM is in favour of remain’! Nothing surprises us at all, but what is evident is they are not speaking for the miners, generations of us and our families, they are NOT speaking for the coal industry or our communities, they certainly never asked any of us. It joins a list of right wing and establishment policies and decisions they have made since the last miners branches closed and the last actual miners left the field.
Salutes to the rail unions RMT and ASLEF who stuck to their guns and voted and canvassed for OUT.
Now the task is to stop the right wing coup within Labour and the attempt to turn out Corbyn against the wishes of the members. We hold no illusions in Corbyn being won back to a clean coal energy perspective, but at least with him we can try, once we get shot of the green and liberal advisers who seem to have his ear these days.