Boosting the pensions of miners was the right thing to do as we look to clean energy in the future - Ed Miliband
Generations of miners across Yorkshire helped power our country and our world. They helped build the wealth of this country, and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude.
But for too long, those who worked in the mines, and many more who kept pits up and down the country running, have been denied the decent pensions they deserve. It has been a national scandal that previous governments have taken money that could have been passed to those miners and their families.
Last year, our government took the decision to end the historic injustice of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme, returning £1.5bn to former mineworkers and lifting the pensions of its 112,000 members by 32 per cent.
But we had unfinished business. Over the last year we have heard the call of members of the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme, which includes all the women who were employed by British Coal and many other former mineworkers, in their demand for justice too.
That is why in the Budget this week the government took the decision to transfer the full £2.3bn reserve of the BCSSS to its members, boosting the pensions of its 40,000 members by an average £100 a week. Putting more money back in the pockets of the more than 10,000 members across our region.
With this decision we will deliver for all members of the former British Coal pension schemes. I want to pay tribute to the National Union of Mineworkers and all the campaigners involved in ending this decades-long injustice. This victory is theirs.
Mining was at the heart of communities across Yorkshire, provided a livelihood for hundreds of thousands of people, and built a culture of pride and solidarity that remains an important part of our national heritage today.
As we deliver for those who powered our past, so too we must look to the future. Just as coal provided good, secure jobs in the last century, clean energy offers the economic opportunity of our time.
That is why we are putting clean energy at the heart of our Industrial Strategy, backed by the biggest investment in clean energy in Britain's history - to deliver a new generation of good, well-paid jobs with strong trade unions, including in mining communities across Yorkshire.
Our mission is set to more than double the UK’s clean energy workforce, supporting 800,000 good jobs by 2030. From carbon capture to offshore wind, clean energy will provide good jobs for young people today and opportunities for generations to come.
We are already seeing what this means for communities across Britain, with former coal power stations like West Burton set to be home to a pioneering nuclear fusion site – providing enormous economic opportunity to the region. This is what our mission to take back control of Britain’s energy is all about. We are driving to homegrown clean power because it is the only way to get off the rollercoaster of international
fossil fuel markets and escape the grip of dictators like Putin. Our mission is about energy security, lower bills, good jobs and climate action.
With this week’s Budget, we have shown our determination to right the wrongs of the past and invest in protecting our country now and for generations to come.
Ed Miliband is the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and Labour MP for Doncaster North.