Broad in the beam, he’s not a man to share a tandem with

HeRe, surely, was a jolting moment. The House was discussing small businesses. Dennis Skinner (Lab Bolsover), veteran representative of the Derbyshire coalfields, rose to ask Business Minister Matthew Hancock: ‘Is the Minister aware that one of the smallest businesses in Britain now is the mining industry?’

Mr Skinner continued: ‘ There are three pits left, and 1,300 miners are due to be sacked at two of those pits. That will make it a minuscule small business.’

Coal mining a small business? In the 1970s Joe Gormley’s National Union of Mineworkers was a small army of strong men.

Actually, compared to today’s British Army, they were a pretty big army. Yet now, in this era of european dependency on Russian gas, our coalfields are reduced to three pits.

The term ‘small business’ is normally used to evoke firms on technical parks or f a mily concerns or specialist engineering works. Mr Skinner had given us an overdue jolt.

How can this neglect of coal make sense, economically or in terms of national interest? If we do not mine our still large coal seams, how can we ever see off Vladimir Putin?

Mr Skinner said t hat t he Government should ‘help those pits to stay open and give them tax breaks, as they do to the oil companies. Come on – help ’em out!’ Mr Hancock (b.1978) replied without much apparent interest.

We have had some other coal action in the Commons this week. Nigel Adams ( Con, Selby & Ainsty) has been banging the pit drum, bewailing the job insecurity of miners in his constituency. And Tom Greatrex (Lab, Rutherglen & Hamilton W) yesterday implored the Government to do more to try to keep pits open in Kellingley and Thoresby.

Michael Fallon, another minister, said that the Government was offering a £10million loan ‘to support a managed closure’ of those collieries. Hardly cheering.

The Labour frontbench did not comment. Instead, Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna talked about British universities’ ability to attract foreign students. Such are today’s economic and political realities.

Is it anti-Scargillism that makes us so careless of coal?

Is it husky-hugging environmentalism? Perhaps both. That does not mean it is wise.

Or is it because officialdom and today’s professionalised MPs are more interested in looking after their own? There was quite a long discussion about ‘gender balance in boardrooms’ – ie persuading companies to appoint more women as directors.

A Lib Dem minister called Jenny Willott was asked about this by ‘highly rated’ Labour frontbencher Stella Creasy. Highly rated by her chums, mainly.

Some London political types think of little else but gender balance in boardrooms. Is i t really of vast concern to voters? Would it not make more sense, electorally, to speak up for miners and their families? Miss Creasy, having done her bit for wimmin, sat down to examine some rail tickets.

There were so many ministerial aides on the second bench on the Government side that when Sir Tony Baldry (Con, Banbury) arrived to take his normal perch, there was initially no room. Sir Tony is broad in the beam. Not a man with whom to share a tandem. When he sat, he took so much space that one of the aides nearly popped out of the pod further down the bench.

VINCe Cable, Secretary of State, l ooks moth- eaten these days – little tufts at the back of his head which may not have seen a hairbrush for days. Yet old Vince is an effective operator in the Commons, never rising to a bait, never losing his cool. There is something other-worldly about him.

Ministers normally resume their seat when listening to backbenchers’ questions. Yesterday, when taking a question from Neil Carmichael (Con, Stroud), Vince forgot to sit. He just stood there at the despatch box, quite silent. Speaker Bercow eventually had to gesture to him to sit.

Mr Cable explained he had been ‘so gripped’ by Mr Carmichael’s oratory, he had ‘not been able to tear himself away’. Bored rigid, more like.