John Redwood on the Tower Colliery Story
January 27, 2008 « Previous Page — Next Page »
Amidst the frenetic flurry of stories on Tower Colliery this week, one story caught our eye as an insightful breathe of fresh air …John Redwood commented in his blog this week on the closure of Tower Colliery. He was Conservative Secretary of State for Wales at the time of the pit closure and subsequent buy-out. Without his enthusiasm for the project, it is doubtful whether the miners would ever have become owners of their own pits.
Redwood blogs thus :
When the miners arrived in my office, I think they were surprised by my enthusiasm for their cause, and by my explanation that their task was not to persuade me, but to work with me on our joint case to the Energy department and Coal Board to give them the opportunity to run the mine. As it meant being allowed to prove the Coal Board wrong it was not going to be easy, but I felt that between us we could do it.
So was forged a partnership in British politics that none had predicted. I joined forces with Tyrone O ‘Sullivan, the charismatic Lodge Secretary and leader of the buy out team to persuade Coal Board and government the should give the miners a chance. I was the only person who saw nothing strange in the alliance. I had always believed in workers participation and employee ownership. Here was a chance to show its magic in an industry that had been gravely damaged by the them and us mentality of the large corporation.
Perhaps the greatest modern legacy Thatcher left the Valleys was the Tower Colliery Story where two hundred or so workers bought their own pit and worked it by and for themselves until they dug every last tonne of coal they could dig out of the ground. The Tower Colliery Story is a success story and a story of radicalism. Every community needs a good story to tell the next generation.
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