Margaret Thatcher was not responsible for the demise of the steel industry - Yorkshire Post Letters
From: M P Laycock, Hollins Hall, Killing Hall.
Jayne Dowle (December 12) tells us that Britain's steel industry "got it in the neck from Margaret Thatcher and…Ian MacGregor,". She seems to overlook the rise of foreign competition and the damage done by strikes and other disputes.
She complains that "Margaret Thatcher drove the denationalisation of the industry". She would have done better to complain that Harold Wilson drove its nationalisation.
Before nationalisation, British owned companies used to compete profitably with each other.
She goes on to say "they went for the miners". They did not go for the miners. Arthur Scargill picked a quarrel with Margaret Thatcher. He boasted of his desire to bring down her Government. We shall never know how many pits would still be open today if he had not called that damaging strike.