Agenda item

Coal Industry

It was moved by Councillor John Booker, seconded by Councillor Keith Davis, that this Council:-

(a)       believes a relentless attack on Great Britain's coal and heavy industry continues unabated, and that the few remaining miners of this country, the salt of the earth, were brought to tears by the closure of Kellingley Colliery a week before Christmas 2015;

(b)       notes that Kellingley Colliery was the last deep coal mine operating in Great Britain, and is situated at Beal in North Yorkshire, three and a half miles east of Ferrybridge power station;

(c)        further believes “the powers that be” have now conspired to destroy our country's last remaining underground kingdom of coal;

(d)       also believes that, in effect, the badges and slogans that proclaim "Coal Not Dole" around Sheffield and in this Council Chamber have been washed away, like tears in the rain;

(e)       regrets that the island of Great Britain, which stands with enough coal under its ground sufficient for 500 years’ use, now imports coal from all over the world;

(f)        believes that if Great Britain is to have energy security and cheap, plentiful, reliable sources of power, coal must be a part of the solution, and that it is a crying shame that more of the coal we use will now be mined from under some other nation’s footprint instead of our own;

(g)       places on record its conclusion that politics is too important to be left in the hands of our current crop of national politicians; and

(h)       suggests that a copy of this motion should not be sent to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, for fear it would cause bewilderment and confusion.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Terry Fox, seconded by Councillor Peter Rippon, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of all the words after the words “That this Council” and the addition of the following words:-

(a)       was saddened to hear news of the closure of Kellingley Colliery, Britain’s last deep coal mine, and the loss of 450 jobs;

(b)       further regrets that the Government refused to extend a loan facility to Hatfield Colliery last summer, leading to its closure;

(c)        believes that the decimation of the mining industry was led by the Government of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s and is appalled that during this period she was being cheered on by UKIP Leader Nigel Farage, who was a member of the Conservative Party whilst Mrs Thatcher was Prime Minister;

(d)       recalls UKIP Leader Nigel Farage declaring in 2013 that he was the only politician "keeping the flame of Thatcherism alive";

(e)       further notes the comments by Nigel Farage that UKIP are "the true inheritors of Thatcher" and talking about Mrs. Thatcher said “I think she would get involved in UKIP”;

(f)        believes UKIPs claims to be a champion of the mining industry hypocrisy at its worst when they continue to back a leader who idolised the Prime Minister who embarked upon a personal crusade to destroy miners, their families and communities for political reasons;

(g)       notes that in a few years’ time there will be a new market for coal with a clean coal power station at Drax, but that market will be supplied by imported coal, with all the environmental costs of shipping coal to Britain; and

(h)       recognises the labour of all the miners who have worked in Britain’s coal industry over the last century and regrets that their jobs have been lost for generations.

On being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

(Note: Councillors Aodan Marken, Brian Webster and Robert Murphy voted for Paragraph (a) and abstained on Paragraphs (b) to (h) of the amendment and asked for this to be recorded.)

The original Motion, as amended, was then put as a Substantive Motion in the following form and carried:-