Former miners are “dying in abject poverty” and “unable to bury themselves” while the government drains billions of pounds from their pension funds, campaigners say on the 40th anniversary of the miners’ strike.
The National Mineworkers’ Pension Campaign says former Prime Minister Boris Johnson “lies behind his back” when he pledged in 2019 to end an arrangement that saw the government take 50% of the miners’ pension scheme’s surplus funds in exchange for a Promise: The value of the pot will not decrease.
In 2021, a report by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy committee recommended ending the agreement – which was drawn up in 1994, with campaigners saying the National Union of Mineworkers had not provided sufficient input.
“Allowing this arrangement to continue appears to run counter to the government’s stated aims of redressing socio-economic inequalities and ‘uplifting’ left-behind communities,” the report said.
The report acknowledged that the deal was far more beneficial to the government than expected and recommended that it be terminated.
However, despite the government’s promises, no action has been taken since the report was published, with campaigners claiming their pensions were raided, leaving many former miners trapped in poverty.
Charles Chiverton, a spokesman for the campaign, said at least £4.2bn had been taken out of the miners’ pension scheme which could have been used to improve the lives of former miners and their families. Some campaign members estimate the deal’s cost as high as £10bn.
One in five members receive just £10 a week from the pension scheme, with the majority receiving £50 a week or less.
Speaking about the impact this has had on miners who have worked for decades, including during the dismal period that began 40 years ago when miners were forced to go on industry-wide strikes to save their jobs, Chiverton said: “This It is disgraceful that some of our members died in abject poverty.
“Not only have they closed the coal mines, communities have been devastated and left so many black holes that they can’t even enjoy trips to the seaside like they used to.”
“The worst part is, some people can’t bury themselves,” he said.
The scheme had more than 300,000 members when it was founded and now has 115,000 members, with about 7,000 former miners and their spouses dying every year.
Many MPs from both parties have backed their cause, including Ashfield MP Lee Anderson, who said he had raised the issue of a “fairer deal” with his government.
The scheme is administered by trustees who have a fiduciary duty to members but are under no obligation to hold meetings held in private or publish minutes for members to review, he said, adding that they were required to hold meetings once a year. AGM was rejected. “The government controls our plans. We can’t control anything. So we really have no say.”
Chiverton said he believed that, four decades on, miners were still being held up as role models by the Conservative government, echoing the days of Margaret Thatcher.
He said: “Not only did they take away our jobs and our communities, they took away our retirements and our dignity. They took everything. And for what? To punish us for standing up bravely for our coal mines and our Fighting for the community? Is that so bad?”
The strike left miners killed, injured and imprisoned, leaving a painful legacy. Chiverton had been a miner for 28 years and was just 20 when the strike began on March 5, 1984. Too raw. “
He worked for the probation service for 15 years and saw poverty, drugs and crime move into former industrial towns and cities, and he still sees the impact of pit closures on former mining communities.
He added: “You wouldn’t believe what we’ve become now these mining communities that we were once so proud of.”
“It breaks my heart. Honestly, it does. It breaks my heart.”
The government has been contacted for comment.
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