What caused the miners' strike?

Answer 1

All Of The Above *

Answer 2

The Miner's Strike of 1984 / '85 was caused by the massive pit closure programme introduced by Margaret Thatcher and her Tory government. They wanted to replace Britain's use of coal-fired power stations and industries with power derived from gas or nuclear sources. Also, Thatcher knew that the mining communities and the NUM were a very large left wing power-block who opposed her, and felt that if she could decimate them as an effective force, she would succesfully remove a potential threat to her continued leadership of the country. Thatcher brought in a Canadian buisnessman, Ian MacGregor, as her so-called 'economic advisor'. He was not a British citizen, had no understanding whatsoever of British economic history, and was certainly not impartial. Nonetheless, he oversaw a shoddy and biased 'survey' of the future economic viability of British mining, which predictably painted a bleak picture of it's ability to survive- one which was very far from the actual truth. This gave Thatcher the excuse that she needed to announce the programme of pit closures early in 1984. The sheer injustice of the situation prompted a furious response from the mining communities, and resulted in the NUM leader, Arthur Scargill, calling a nationwide miner's strike before the union membership had been balloted for strike action. This enabled the strike's critics to label it as technically illegal, although if a ballot HAD been run, the overwhelming vote would have been to strike anyway. There was particular hatred for Ian MacGregor, who had no buisness in being invited to a foreign country and serving as advisor to the Prime Minister when he wasn't even an elected British politician, and not accountable to the electorate.

Answer 3

poeple got unhappy