MINERS from across the North East raised a glass last night to celebrate the death of Margaret Thatcher.
In a sign of how difficult a legacy the former Prime Minister left in some parts of the region, NUM leaders spoke openly of their delight at the 87-year-old’s passing.
Davey Hopper, president of Durham National Union of Mineworkers, said he was inundated with messages from well-wishers following the news.
“I turned 70 today and I couldn’t ask for a better present,” Mr Hopper told The Journal. “I waited a long time for this, the damage the woman did to this particular region and to coal mining was a disgrace. I have no sympathy for a woman whose policies will have contributed to thousands of early deaths.
“Time does nothing to soften this. I go round these communities and see villages with no work and horrendous social problems. That is her legacy.”
Mr Hopper said he was opening a bottle of Johnnie Walker whisky saved for 20 years for this occasion.
Easington Miners’ Lodge Secretary Alan Cummings also said he too would celebrate with a drink.
Last night former miner Dave Anderson, Lanour MP for Blaydon, said that while a death was obviously sad for the family, he was unable to feel sadness himself at the news
He said: “A hundred years from now it would still be too raw, she still would not be forgiven. I spent the weekend at Hetton-le-Hole where I was a miner. I looked out the window and saw a patch of ground that used to be my house.
“It was torn down by her, because of Thatcher’s policies, the jobs went because of Thatcher’s policies and hundreds of thousands of men were thrown on the dole and had their way of life destroyed as a result of Thatcher. I will never forgive her for what she did. Never.”
And former NUM man Ian Lavery, now MP for Wansbeck, said he questioned the state’s role in Lady Thatcher’s funeral arrangements.
“She will be remembered for the bad she did, not the good, I don’t think she should have anything like a state funeral and this ceremonial funeral should not be allowed.”
He added: “I would never celebrate anyone’s death, but certainly I will not be shedding any tears at today’s news, and I think a lot of people will feel the same.
“We in the North East are still suffering the effects of Thatcher’s actions. She ripped the heart out of mining communities, she killed them, and she will never be forgiven for that.”
Easington MP Grahame Morris said: “Baroness Thatcher evokes strong emotions and I would not want to make political capital out of the death of an elderly lady. But politically we are still living with the legacy of the Thatcher decade in power.
“That was an era which saw huge job losses in our traditional heavy industries – coal, steel, shipbuilding, manufacturing and the rest. It was an era which rolled back workplace rights and encouraged the ‘greed is good’ yuppie culture which led to the obscene banking and city bonuses culture which ultimately took our economy to the brink of collapse.
“Under her watch the North East became an economic and industrial wasteland from which it has never fully recovered.”
