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Chamber and committees

National Mineworkers Pension Campaign

  • Submitted by: Christine Grahame, Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Scottish National Party.
  • Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 September 2022
  • Motion reference: S6M-05817

That the Parliament recognises the enactment of the Miners’ Strike (Pardons) (Scotland) Act 2022, which received Royal Assent on 26 July 2022, after the Bill was passed in the Scottish Parliament on 16 June 2022, and that the legislation pardons those wrongly convicted of certain offences relating to legitimate strike action; notes what it sees as the failure of the UK Government to do similarly; believes that, since privatisation of the coal industry in 1994, the UK Government has clawed-in billions of pounds from the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme without contributing one penny; understands that, since 1994, over 350,000 members have died, many of whom were in poverty, and that, currently, between 6,000 and 7,000 die each year; further understands that the average pension is £84 per week, with an estimated 35% of members on less than £18 per week and 10% on less than £10 per week; supports the National Mineworkers Pension Campaign, which plans to seek a judicial review of the terms of the operation of the scheme, and calls on the UK Government, especially in this time of high inflation and spiralling energy costs and interest rates, to do what it considers to be the right thing and voluntarily agree to amend the terms of the scheme to provide a fairer distribution of the funds.


Supported by: Karen Adam, Colin Beattie, Stephanie Callaghan, Maggie Chapman, Graeme Dey, James Dornan, Annabelle Ewing, Emma Harper, Bill Kidd, Fulton MacGregor, Rona Mackay, Gillian Martin, John Mason, Stuart McMillan, Jenni Minto, Audrey Nicoll, Mark Ruskell, Colin Smyth, David Torrance, Evelyn Tweed, Elena Whitham