Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme

That is an incredibly important point. When I had to apologise to some of the miners from Wales a...

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate and pay particular tribute to my hon. Friend...

Absolutely; that is a key point. I hope the Treasury Bench will listen intently to the points mad...

We should recognise that when the increase in the miners’ pension scheme was higher than that in ...

That is an absolutely relevant point. Other colleagues have referred to the relative pension leve...

I refer to my declaration in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests: I am a deferred member...

Absolutely. I could not put it any better myself. It is now time to review the surplus sharing ar...

The hon. Gentleman is making a powerful speech. He has given some alarming figures. Does he agree...

Absolutely. We owe a debt to the miners, and the Government have an obligation to them— a moral o...

May I take up my hon. Friend’s point about the moral obligation? Does he remember that when the P...

Absolutely. I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention, which has pre-empted my further remarks....

That is what we expect from Tory Ministers.

Absolutely.

The MPS winter newsletter states:

“Whilst the Trustees are and always hav...

May I say to the hon. Gentleman that there are those on this side of the House who not only have ...

God bless you. I am grateful for that intervention,

What I am trying to do—with all due res...

There is one point that my hon. Friend has not mentioned at all. I worked in the pit for 20-odd y...

Order. I assume the hon. Gentleman thinks I am not listening to him, and that I have not noticed,...

I will turn to address you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

No, I did not mind that, but the hon. Gentleman is making rather a long intervention; I know this...

I did happen to work down a coalmine and I am using the bit of expertise that I had regarding the...

It is a pleasure. I must say that we are not creating a precedent here for the Chair allowing a v...

I am grateful, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Bolsover ...

I thank my hon. Friend and neighbour for giving way on that point. As he knows, although Hartlepo...

Absolutely. This is a poignant time. Just a short while ago it was the anniversary of the disaste...

Fred Smith died last week. He was a proud Scotsman and a miner in the Castleford collieries. He d...

Absolutely. A dear friend of mine, Myrtle McPherson, an absolute stalwart and a legend in Easingt...

rose—

I know lots of Members wish to speak in the debate but I will give way one more time and then con...

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. Does he agree that, given that these surpluses are essenti...

I am rather alarmed that the Treasury uses some of the surpluses from the mineworkers’ pension fu...

As a Member of Parliament whose paternal grandfather was a coalminer and whose major conurbation ...

It is not often that I agree with the hon. Gentleman, but, absolutely, those people are certainly...

I shall now conclude, otherwise I will incur the wrath of Madam Deputy Speaker.

Our minewor...

Order. We will have to start with a time limit of seven minutes.

8.18 pm

It is good to have the opportunity to speak in this debate, and it is a pleasure to follow the ho...

I am curious to understand what the hon. Gentleman has just said. He thinks that now is the time ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that, but I think it was a fairly pointless question. I am not in ...

I am glad to follow the hon. Member for Mansfield (Ben Bradley); it is good that there is all-par...

It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband). My consti...

My hon. Friend makes a good point about some of the dangers that coalminers faced at the coalface...

My hon. Friend makes a valid point. Those who were colliers or miners can become victims of silic...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (Bill Grant) and to see c...

I do not want to break the consensus that is building in the Chamber tonight, but the hon. Lady c...

I accept that and, actually, the negotiations began at the end of the last Labour Government’s te...

We are talking about good deals and bad deals, but it is not just about the surplus. Is my hon. F...

“Bonanza” is right, “cash cow” is right and “injustice” is right when it comes to the mineworkers...

I am pleased to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield (Gloria De Piero), who has been a l...

The hon. Lady is talking about returns. Does she recognise that a 40% return on an investment fun...

I will come on to talk about what split I think there should be, but I just ask the hon. Gentlema...

rose—

I have taken an intervention and I am going to make some progress.

As I was saying, these s...

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Easington (Grahame Morris) for securing this important deba...

Order. Everyone has been very good at keeping to time, but I will have to reduce the official tim...

I swear that, for the past few times that I have spoken, the time limit has been reduced just bef...

My hon. Friend is talking about young people. This year in my constituency of Coatbridge, Chrysto...

My hon. Friend is right that this has to be an intergenerational debate. We have to show solidari...

The hon. Lady talks about coalfield communities. Does she agree that they are gritty, proud, and ...

It has been really good to see the solidarity shown from both sides of the House on this issue. E...

We should not be pleading for the miners to get justice in this Chamber. These are deferred wages...

My hon. Friend is bang on. These are absolutely deferred wages. This is money that belongs to ret...

I am pleased to be able to speak in this debate and I thank the Benchbench Business Committee for...

It would be very remiss of me not to mention my predecessor, Siân James, whose early life as a mi...

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention and agree with her. She talks about the injustice of...

My hon. Friend mentioned some of the disasters that mining communities have faced. I cannot but m...

I agree with my hon. Friend’s comments. The history of our coalfields is littered with examples o...

It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (Gerald Jones...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I will not, because I know that a few Members are waiting to speak, and we are short of time.

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I am sorry, but I am not going to give way.

If it were not for brave and relentless fighter...

It is a great privilege to speak in this debate. I want to congratulate my hon. Friend the Member...

Does the hon. Lady agree with me that in this debate, for once, the right hon. and hon. Members t...

Well, I think we will hear whether Treasury Ministers see it in quite that way at the end of the ...

Order. I am sorry, but we have to reduce the time limit to five minutes.

9.14 pm

I thank the hon. Member for Easington (Grahame Morris) for securing this important debate. I agre...

The time that the Fife miners spent working in the pits has obviously had a greatly detrimental e...

My hon. Friend makes a vital point. I suppose my question for the British Government this evening...

I come from a mining family. Both of my grandfathers were coalminers. One worked in the Garw and ...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Wayne David) and there have been some ...

We have had a tremendous debate, which has combined passion, eloquence and reasonableness. Most i...

I have done a quick calculation: if it is correct that there are currently 158,000 beneficiaries ...

The hon. Gentleman makes a powerful point—possibly with the aid of his calculator—that I had not ...

I would like to start by paying tribute to all hon. and right hon. Members who have contributed t...

The Minister refers to his predecessor. In my Adjournment debate back in February, she agreed to ...

I am always happy to meet anybody, and I am more than happy to meet people who have asked for mee...

I agree that this has been a fantastic debate, with everyone who participated believing that just...

They do not. There are six proposals, which I have written to the Treasury about, and the trustee...

The motion states:

“That this House calls on the Government to carry out a review of the ex...

As I just said, I will be meeting the trustees, and their proposals relate to six points, about w...

But this House is about to pass a motion agreeing to a review, so the Government are going to hav...

I am setting out my Department’s position. Whether a review is undertaken is a matter for the Tre...

The Minister seems to be saying that the proposals being considered are from the trustees and the...

The trustees have made it clear that protecting bonuses already accrued is their priority, rather...

The trustees’ proposals are important. However, speaking to that is a red herring and does not an...

I certainly will. I think I have only two minutes left, and I was going to come on to exactly tha...

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Surely the Government cannot ignore a motion passed by the whole...

The short answer is that that is not a point of order, but it is open to the Government to do tha...

Thank you, Mr Speaker. The guarantee gives recipients security because, of course, they know futu...

We were doing so well in this debate, and I am heartened by the many contributions, especially fr...

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Easington (Grahame Morri...

The right hon. Gentleman is a natural optimist, and I say that in no pejorative spirit. I am sad ...