No apology from Boris Johnson over quip about Margaret Thatcher closing pits

Downing Street has declined to apologise for the Prime Minister’s claim about Margaret Thatcher giving the UK “big early start” on tackling climate change by closing coal mines in the 1980s.

There’s widespread anger at Boris Johnson’s remark, made during a trip to Scotland yesterday. 

Nicola Sturgeon called it "crass and deeply insensitive". to that reality.”

Labour’s First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford told BBC Radio Four's Today programme: “The damage done to Welsh coal mining areas 30 years ago was incalculable and here we are 30 years later the Tories are still celebrating what they did.”

Even his own MPs have criticised the remark, saying it could damage support in former mining communities in the north of England, the so-called Red Wall, where long term Labour voters switched to the Tories in 2019. 

Asked about the comment on Friday, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said: “This Government has an ambitious plan to tackle the critical issue of climate change which includes reducing reliance on coal and other non-renewable energy sources and during the visit the Prime Minister pointed to the huge progress already made in the UK, transitioning away from coal towards cleaner forms of energy.”

Asked if Johnson would apologise, the spokesman repeated: “The Prime Minister recognises the huge impact and pain  closing coal mines had in communities across the UK.”

The Tory leader’s remark came during a virtual press conference, where he was asked if he would set a deadline for the transition away from fossil fuel extraction. 

Johnson told the journalists: “Look at what we've done already. We've transitioned away from coal in my lifetime.

“Thanks to Margaret Thatcher, who closed so many coal mines across the country, we had a big early start and we're now moving rapidly away from coal altogether.'   

The Prime Minister laughed after the comment, telling the reporters on the call: “I thought that would get you going.”

One Tory MP told The Times: “It is spitting in the face of communities that still haven’t recovered.

“If you were at the Oxford student union in the 1980s you might have thought the miners’ strike was all jolly japes. 

“Boris’s success is that people think he’s one of them. This shows he’s not.' 

Another Tory MP who represents a former mining area said: “It's not really the smartest thing to say is it? It's also not right.”

Speaking after the comments from Downing Street, Labour leader Keir Starmer said: "For Boris Johnson to treat the pain and suffering caused to our coalfield communities as a punchline shows just how out of touch with working people he is. The Prime Minister must apologise immediately."

The SNP's Owen Thompson, who represents former mining communities in Midlothian, has invited the Prime Minister to visit the National Mining Museum Scotland and meet with former miners and their families.

The MP said: "Boris Johnson's offensive comments have gone down like a cup of cold sick in communities across Scotland, who have suffered decades of pain as a result of Thatcher's cruel Tory cuts.
 
"The Prime Minister should have the decency to book a return ticket to Scotland, so he can visit our local mining communities to apologise in person and see first-hand the devastation caused."