Friday, August 06, 2021
Crass Johnson joke reopens old wounds
Nobody would ever describe Boris Johnson as 'Mr Sensitivity', but his latest faux pas has hit a new low, even for him. As the Independent explains, the prime minister was reported to have chuckled as he said Britain owed its escape from reliance on coal energy to Margaret Thatcher’s closure of the mines in the 1980s:
Speaking during a visit to a wind-farm off the coast of Scotland, Mr Johnson said that the UK’s dependence on coal for its electricity had fallen from 70-80 per cent in his childhood to less than one per cent now largely “thanks to” Lady Thatcher.
“We’ve transitioned away from coal in my lifetime,” he said. “Thanks to Margaret Thatcher, who closed so many coal mines across the country, we had a big early start and we’re now moving rapidly away from coal altogether.”
Around 20,000 people lost their livelihood in Wales as a result of Thatcher's wholesale closure of pits, which led to the bitterly divisive miners’ strike of 1984-85; whole communities were devastated by the loss of their main centre of employment; while the Welsh economy is still struggling to recover decades later. It is no joking matter and certainly nothing to celebrate.
Surely, Johnson must retract his statement and apologise for it.
Speaking during a visit to a wind-farm off the coast of Scotland, Mr Johnson said that the UK’s dependence on coal for its electricity had fallen from 70-80 per cent in his childhood to less than one per cent now largely “thanks to” Lady Thatcher.
“We’ve transitioned away from coal in my lifetime,” he said. “Thanks to Margaret Thatcher, who closed so many coal mines across the country, we had a big early start and we’re now moving rapidly away from coal altogether.”
Around 20,000 people lost their livelihood in Wales as a result of Thatcher's wholesale closure of pits, which led to the bitterly divisive miners’ strike of 1984-85; whole communities were devastated by the loss of their main centre of employment; while the Welsh economy is still struggling to recover decades later. It is no joking matter and certainly nothing to celebrate.
Surely, Johnson must retract his statement and apologise for it.
Comments:
<< Home
Bad taste apart, Johnson's analysis is inaccurate. Thatcher effectively replaced coal with gas, another fossil fuel. Moreover, in her fight against the miners she had the nuclear fleet of electricity generators running close to or above safety limits.
It certainly had nothing to do with the environment but to control the unions and develop a free market approach by bringing in foriegn coal. Nothing to do with protecting British industry,economy.
It will be interesting to hear what ex coal mining areas think of him saying this.
Post a Comment
It will be interesting to hear what ex coal mining areas think of him saying this.
<< Home
