Scandal of miner cash

WHAT a terrible scandal that sick and dying miners went to their graves without enjoying the relief that compensation could have bought in their final years.

Damning evidence of how coal bosses dragged their feet, delaying and bumping up the legal cost of awards for lung diseases, is distressing for the families involved.

We need an urgent inquiry into what occurred to ensure it never happens again, and hold to account any officials involved who may now be in positions of public authority.

Mining trade unions fought hard and risked financial ruin to win their landmark legal battle, with the £2.4billion settlement reflecting the industry’s failure to protect workers from known coal dust hazards.

So it’s depressing to learn from recently unearthed 1997 documents that the compensation could have been paid earlier, reducing the number of miners who died without receiving a penny.

Theresa May boasts that she is determined to end “burning injustices”. Well, along with police brutality in the Battle of Orgreave, here’s another burning injustice deserving an inquiry.