Nottinghamshire mineworkers to march on Westminster to demand fair deal on pensions

The call to action comes after the BBC revealed last month that more than £420m from a pension scheme for mineworkers and mineworkers; widows has flowed into the Government's coffers in the past three years.

Tens of thousands of families, mainly in the East Midlands, Yorkshire and the north east of England, benefit from the pension scheme, which was taken over by the Government when British Coal was privatised in 1994.

The agreement was struck between the then-Conservative Government and the scheme's trustees, in exchange for a Government guarantee that the value of mineworkers' pensions would not decrease.

But campaigners claim former miners and their families have been robbed of billions by successive Governments and called for a fair share of the pension pot.

Mick Newton, a former Nottinghamshire miner and pension scheme campaigner, said: “This comes at a time when pensioners received a payrise of less than a pound a week.

"Mineworkers have been left fuming at this latest pension grab by the Government and this must represent the biggest pension grab of all time, and the ultimate insult to any group of pensioners for a lifetime of hard work."

"Mineworkers everywhere have been left with no choice but to make their voices heard in Downing Street and the Halls of Westminster.

"It really is a failure of society when retired mineworkers and widows have to march for their pensions, especially when most are limited by their health.

“However, we have no option but to carry on fighting against this ‘historic injustice’ and this will culminate in a lobby of Westminster on Wednesday, May 8 from 1pm to 4pm.”

According to reports, the Government has been receiving annual payments of £142.4m since April 2021, despite a cross-party committee of MPs recommending that the Government should stop taking money from the scheme and pay back some of the money it had already received.

The Government rejected these recommendations, and according to data obtained by the BBC under Freedom of Information laws, has continued to receive annual payments.