§ 3.10 p.m.
§ The Earl of KimberleyMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they would approve of the National Coal Board rewarding working miners proportionately after the strike for the time they were at work.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (The Earl of Avon)My Lords, Her Majesty's Government very much appreciate the efforts of those miners who have continued to work during this sad and unnecessary dispute. They have received proper recompense for their work, while those who have been on strike since last March have each lost an average of nearly £9,000. The NCB has already paid to working miners an advance on account for the 5.2 per cent. increase in base rates offered from November 1983. When this pay award is finally agreed by the NUM, together with whatever is agreed for the current year, miners who have worked through the dispute will benefit further.
§ The Earl of KimberleyMy Lords, I thank my noble friend for that Answer. May I ask him—and I am sure the majority of your Lordships will agree with this—to tell the National Coal Board that they have treated the miners very fairly?
§ The Earl of AvonYes, my Lords, I would indeed agree.
§ Lord ShinwellMy Lords, does the noble Earl, Lord Avon, appreciate that, although one recognises the beneficial intentions of the noble Earl, Lord Kimberley, it would nevertheless be unwise to indulge in excessive discrimination? We must consider motives on both sides: the motives of those who refused to be dictated to by Mr. Scargill and some of his friends, and the motives of those who were inclined to support him. Motivation must be taken into account. If we want to develop a successful coalmining industry, in the interests, not of one side or the other but of the nation as a whole, the one thing we must avoid is any further bitterness.
§ The Earl of AvonMy Lords, I am sure that the noble Lord speaks words of wisdom, and perhaps rather appropriately in the very week when we have a 50–50 situation.