Nottinghamshire mineworkers pensions campaigners take fight to Prime Minister's doorstep
Former mineworkers and widows say they from across Nottinghamshire have lobbied the Prime Minister and called for an end to the ‘injustice’ over their decades-long pension battle.
On November 6, campaigners went to Number 10 North in Manchester to request a meeting with Prime Minister Andy Burnham to discuss the next steps after they were left disappointed by Chancellor John Healey when failed to give a timeline surrounding the Mineworkers Pension Scheme (MPS) fund surplus during the Budget speech.
Spurred on by this disappointment, Nottinghamshire campaigners have now become the very first of any group to protest outside Number 10 North ️as they seek to end ‘decades of injustice’.
Mick Newton who worked at Thoresby Colliery for 15 years and has been fighting for a fairer deal for the past decade said: “We’re taking our campaign to the front door of the Prime Minister to secure a date for a payout and put this injustice to an end once and for all.
"We have served the country well over the past 150 years.
"It's now time for the country to recognise our work and sacrifice.
“It was great to hear the Chancellor's Budget announcement last week – we thought we were home and dry.
“Then we heard the detail, or in this case, the lack of it.
“We had several meetings and representations over the summer and we thought it was all done and dusted.
“The MPS had set up our payroll for a substantial payrise in December, just before Christmas, and we thought that would be the case.
“However we are still waiting for a sign-off date by the Government of the £1.2 billion that is sat in our pension fund ready and waiting for distribution."
Mr Newton also addressed suggestions that the money in the scheme was actually taxpayers’ money.
He contuinued: “This is a myth that is being propagated – I can assure you that this money belongs to mineworkers and widows.
“The Government hasn't put one single penny into our scheme since 1987, and since 1994 successive Government's have taken more than £6 billion out of our scheme through a spurious 50/50 surplus share arrangement or Government guarantee, as it's called.
“This hasn't cost the Government or the tax payer a single penny.”
Pressure is now mounting on the Government after several Labour MPs signed a letter to Mr Healey, warning him that they ‘cannot see a justification for withholding the money that belongs to scheme members alone’.
Mr Newton added: “The MPS is a very successful scheme and has never been in deficit over the past 32 years.
“However it isn't just about the money, its about securing justice for more than 150,000 former mineworkers and widows, and to reclaim our dignity, integrity and pride in the work we did, work that fuelled an industrial revolution and two world wars.
“So it's important to also remember the thousands of miners who gave the ultimate sacrifice too.
“It's also important to remember that 200 former mineworkers and widows have died since the Budget speech.”