Cefin Campbell, Senedd Member for Mid & West Wales was amongst a group of Plaid Cymru politicians who met a delegation of former miners and campaigners at the Senedd this week as the National Mineworkers Pension Campaign gains momentum.
The National Mineworkers Pension Campaign has been fighting for decades for a fair share of the pension scheme they contributed to. The scheme was initially privatised in 1994 at the same time as the mining industry, with the UK Government agreeing to guarantee the scheme in exchange for 50% of the profits. However, the scheme performed much better than expected, which has subsequently seen the Treasury pocket over £4bn of the profits, while many former miners receive a pittance from the scheme.
In 2019, Westminster reneged on a promise to change the terms, which has led to former miners now fundraising ahead of a planned judicial review.
A previous inquiry the BEIS (Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) Committee in 2021 recommended reviewing the arrangements – concluding: “The beneficiaries of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme toiled in dreadful conditions, to keep the country’s lights on. Many now live with industrial diseases caused by the dangerous nature of their former occupation. The least they should expect in return is the secure retirement they were promised decades ago. Yet, successive governments have failed to deliver this.”
Prime Minister at the time, Boris Johnson responded to the report by saying he would ensure that former miners “receive their fair pension share” – but this turned out to be another lie.
Following the protest, Cefin Campbell, Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd for Mid & West Wales commented:
“I was extremely pleased to meet with campaigners from the National Mineworkers Pension Campaign at the Senedd this week. In many former mining communities in my region such as the Amman and Gwendraeth Valleys, I know of many former miners who have been left frustrated by a betrayal by Westminster regarding their pensions.
Day in, day out, these miners risked their health and lives by working in the mines – and clearly this sacrifice means nothing to Westminster. The least the UK Government can do is to start righting the wrongs of the past by paying the money this scheme has earned over many years.”
The campaign was further raised in the Senedd by Delyth Jewell, Plaid Cymru’s Member of the Senedd for South East Wales, who commented:
“Those promises that Boris Johnson made – empty words ringing in the corridors of Westminster. And the BEIS report that told you that you were right. That this injustice needs to be put right – that report has been left to gather dust.
“We in Wales know all about the dust. The stuff that clogged your lungs. The dust that cut so many miners’ lives short in our valleys. You’ve had enough of dust.
“It’s about time someone gave the miners what they deserve. The least you deserve. After everything you’ve gone through.”
The delegation of around 30 former miners and widows was led by Charles Chiverton, lead administrator of the National Mineworkers Pension Campaign. Speaking in the protest, Mr Chiverton said:
“We’ve calculated that in 20 years time, that’ll be it, there’ll be no miners or widows yet, and that pension pot will be worth billions will go straight down to the exchequer.
“At present day we’ve got mineworkers, 18% on less than £10 a week, 22% on less than £18 a week, and the average pension scheme is £84 a week.
“We’re being hounded to the grave for strikes in the 80s and made to pay.”
