Labour will end miners' pensions injustice

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Labour will boost ex-miners’ pensions and put right the historic injustice of the unfair distribution of bonuses in the mineworkers pension scheme.

After the privatisation of British Coal in 1994 the Mineworkers Pension Scheme was structured 50/50 which meant any surplus would be shared 50/50 between the miners and the Government.

Labour announced in the manifesto launched yesterday that it would rebalance the ratio of redistribution from 50/50 to 90/10 in favour of the mineworkers.

The manifesto says:

This is something I’ve fought for in shadow cabinet because it will make a big difference to ex-miners in our area, who currently get an average pension of just £84 a week.

The closure of coal mines by the Thatcher government decimated communities like those in the Dearne and left many miners out of work and out of pocket.

Along with many Labour coalfield MPs I’ve called on the Conservative Government to review the scheme, but we’ve been ignored.

Labour will change the rules to mean the vast majority of bonuses rightly going to the miners and their families.

This has been welcomed by Inky Thomson, from Bolton-on-Dearne, who worked at Highgate pit and has been a lifelong member of the NUM. He said:
“I’m very thankful that the return of a Labour government will see some fairness introduced into the scheme. John has been involved for some time and as a member of the shadow cabinet has played an key role in getting us to where we are now. The NUM have met with numerous MPs to progress the case and now it’s within reach.”

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