A LOCAL man who was the youngest Scottish miner sacked during the 1984-85 strike, has said miners will “keep fighting for financial compensation” after new book publishes fresh insights into the historic event.

These stories and injustices have been shared in Coalfield Justice: The 1984-85 Miners’ Strike in Scotland by professor of economic and social history at the University of Glasgow, Jim Phillips.

Professor Phillips himself helped to bring about the 2022 Pardons Act. This was when veteran miners in Scotland won a collective pardon from the Scottish Parliament for convictions acquired during the 1984-85 miners’ strike.

The 2022 Pardons Act recognised the distinct injustices facing Scottish strikers. They were twice as likely to be arrested as those in England and Wales, and three times as likely to be sacked.

Watty Watson of Ballingry in Fife, the youngest Scottish miner sacked during the strike, said: ‘Jim is a friend as well as a historian of veteran miners and their families. His book tells our stories about our strike for our jobs, communities and futures.

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“It explains how we won the Pardon from the Scottish Parliament for our public order convictions during the strike, and why we’re going to keep fighting for financial compensation.”

The book highlights the campaign for restorative justice and the still unattained goal of financial compensation.

Jim Phillips said: “The miners’ strike was the ultimate in unjust transitions.

“The Conservative government pursued its strategy of privatisation and anti-trade unionism covertly, with no attempt to offset the effects of pit closures through alternative employment in mining communities.

“The veteran miners and family members interviewed in my book explain how strikers in Scotland were twice as likely to be arrested and three times as likely to be sacked by their employer, the National Coal Board, as strikers in England and Wales.”