Question reference: S6W-25407
- Asked by: Annabelle Ewing, MSP for Cowdenbeath, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 8 February 2024
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Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 27 February 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to mark the 40th anniversary of the miners' strike in Scotland.
Answer
The Miners' Strike of 1984-85 is considered to be the most bitter industrial dispute in living memory. The Scottish Government recognises that the impact of the strike still runs deep in Scotland's former mining heartlands. Scotland is at the forefront across the UK in recognising the need to provide reconciliation, dignity and comfort to those communities still affected. That is why the Scottish Government brought forward legislation to provide a symbolic pardon to miners and other participants in the strike in relation to various offences committed during the dispute. We also continue to call on the UK Government to undertake a full UK-wide public inquiry into the strike.
The Scottish Government is therefore considering how best to raise the profile of the strike and its legacy in former mining communities, as the 40th anniversary of the dispute approaches.