Making the news today....

[Johnsond]

1 hour ago, eggsarascal said:

Raw materials is the problem apparently, they can't get coal for the furnaces at the right price, funny that...

 

[eggsarascal]

12 minutes ago, Johnsond said:

 

Yeah, read all about it. I've said from when I first joined this parish we would come to regret closing down all our mines. Many weren't viable bur there were plenty that could have still being worked today that could power our industry.

[Johnsond]

7 hours ago, eggsarascal said:

Yeah, read all about it. I've said from when I first joined this parish we would come to regret closing down all our mines. Many weren't viable bur there were plenty that could have still being worked today that could power our industry.

Listening to the Labour industry secretary earlier this morning saying she didn’t believe the Chinese 🇨🇳 were negotiating in good faith 😳😳😳 🤔you think not !!! Talk about absolute naivety. 

[Steven P]

10 hours ago, eggsarascal said:

Yeah, read all about it. I've said from when I first joined this parish we would come to regret closing down all our mines. Many weren't viable bur there were plenty that could have still being worked today that could power our industry.

 

 

Unfortunately a consequence of Thatcher - the Right wing hero - breaking the miners unions and subsequently the downfall of the UK coal industry. 40 years ago.

 

Would be great if it was viable but with no UK iron ore mines to speak of, no coal mines to speak of the only raw material we produce is limestone - blast furnaces are usually best sited near the raw materials - wales had the coal locally, Redcar had ironstone and coal, Scunthorpe iron ore and lime, Sheffield coal, iron, hydro power, 'British Steel' in its various names and owners only really profitable recently because of the special steels division (rail steels and so on)... I'm not holding my breath that public ownership will reverse years of decline... but give it a go, it is better than throwing thousands of employees on the scrap heap.

[AHPP]

11 minutes ago, Steven P said:

better than throwing thousands of employees on the scrap heap.

I’d say it isn’t. If something’s dying, let it die quickly and with dignity. Don’t effectively put the workers on the dole where they still go in and pull the levers but know in themselves it’s fake. 

Edited April 12 by AHPP

[Steven P]

I haven't looked at the age demographic though - yes, I'd tend to agree that let them go quick so that they can get out there, retrain, enter a new line of work and be happy productive workers. All well and good if you are under say 35. Once you get past 50, retrain and enter the workforce is going to take 5 to 7 years... you are starting a new career aged nearly 60.. and who is going to employ a near 60 year old 'new start' knowing they'll only get 5 years profitable work from them?

 

Aligned with this near 60 year old looking for a new career, there could be another 4000 of them similarly recently trained looking for new jobs in a town where there are not that many vacancies. Let them move for work? Away from their lifelong homes, kids and grandkids? Look to the North East, it takes generations to revitalise an area when the sole major employer closes, holistically a managed decline is a better option I think, let them retire where they work, and develop the young to move into new industries.

[AHPP]

The north east’s decline is being managed by giving everyone the dole, either at home with drugs and television or in some government job. How’s that going? Poorly. Not much real industry. Distorted markets. Swathes of pointlessness. 
 

Paternalism might be well intentioned but it doesn’t work. Have the humility to accept individuals can’t push components of societies round like chess pieces. The pieces WILL do their own thing and you’ll end up with a weird mess.

[openspaceman]

2 hours ago, Steven P said:

Unfortunately a consequence of Thatcher - the Right wing hero - breaking the miners unions and subsequently the downfall of the UK coal industry. 40 years ago.

Funnily enough,  and apart from the way she set about it, it was the only good thing I think she did.

 

The worst thing was the moving of the social housing stock into private landlords' hand  and enriching her banking sector friends at the same time.

 

The second worst was going with Keith Joseph  rather than Goldsmith over GATT.

Edited April 12 by openspaceman
Keith not Kieth

[Johnsond]

Some on here previously advising on strategies in regards Ukraine etc don’t seem to realise the security implications of not having our own steel manufacturing capacity. Watching the news this morning listening to various politicians waffling utter crap trying to justify the absolute mess successive governments have left the steel industry in. The situation the UK finds itself in regarding sourcing coking coal is ( bearing in mind the resources under our feet) a monumental own goal brought on in no small way by the ludicrous chase for “Net Zero” funnily the one clown who is rather conspicuous by his absence this morning is Milliband. 

Edited April 14 by Johnsond

[BillQ]

On 12/04/2025 at 12:37, AHPP said:

The north east’s decline is being managed by giving everyone the dole, either at home with drugs and television or in some government job.

Possibly true half a century and more ago but not so much now, I was one of those who was out of school and on the dole in the mid 70's and facing that possibility went the other route of armed forces engineer. Swans shut, Consett iron co shut,  pits shut etc etc and places like that had originally drawn people from other areas and countries because there was work/money, when that happens it isn't easy to return so there's always going to be a problem and that's what the government should be doing only better. 

However entrepreneurs do it better, Robert McAlpine was a major player getting Nissan into the UK, shame we don't have politicians who can spot opportunities like that.