Labour shut down twice as many pits as Thatcher

WOBBLING red-seat Tory MPs should remember that it was Harold Wilson who closed more than twice as many pits as Mrs Thatcher, just as Barbara Castle closed more railway stations and miles of railway than any other minister or government.

Margaret Thatcher also rebuked Michael Heseltine for wanting to close pits in areas represented by the moderate union that had not taken strike action. “That is no way to repay loyalty,” she told him.

Rod Enderby, King’s Sutton, Northants