And could anybody answer my question about the coal mines ,did they return a profit and was it cheaper to import coal

It didn't matter that the pits had coal they were economically unviable to mine in part because of the unions ,under wilson and Heath the pits that closed downs work force could not be made redundant and so got moved to other pits which in turn made them unviable ,so a combination of weak government and bolshoi unions helped to accelerate the demise of the coal industry in this country

Tbf, the Leaders that followed Thatcher into office were always going to come up short and the Tory lead just narrowed and narrowed with each new leader, until, finally, something had to break.
Blair made some huge mistakes as PM, notably the PFI on Schools and hospitals (although they were, at the time seen as quick fixes) and of course, the illegal war in the Middle East, although, this was heavily supported by the Tories and there is little doubt that, it would have still happened whoever was in power. However, when you compare the politics of Thatcher and Blair
there was certainly a different "tone" to their style.
Thatcher was very much "look after no 1 and sod the rest", whereas Blair seemed rather more inclusive.

It's probably already been covered but I put more of the blame on Scargill than I do on Thatcher.
Whether she was what you wanted or not, she was elected and was defending her policies.
Scargill was not elected by the country and even went against those that did vote for him.
His strategy was flawed from the beginning and just handed the win to Thatcher because of his personal ego in many cases.
The miners that suffered, suffered badly and much of it could have been avoided. (I realise that's easy to say with hindsight)

Thank you for your potted history of the dispute, where did you get the information from, Thatcher's autobiography?

I could dissect this post & give an alternative version, but what would be the point, you're too intransigent & I'm too tired to care.

Id be happy to discuss.
Don't get my wrong, I'm not suggesting Thatcher did good things, but Scargill's role has been very well documented. It wasn't just a war of good versus evil as some would have it. It was two divisive leaders getting their agenda through at the expense of the guy on the coal face.

The miners were stuffed just as much by the unions as the government.
Its a matter of law now that solicitors and union leaders have been taken to court and in prison for mistreating union members over VBF claims fraud.
Not everyone came out of the miners strike poor..... And that is travesty here. IMHO.

I'm not in the mining industry but I lived through the miners strike in a mining area and my family has generations of miners before me. So I have no love for the destruction of the industry, but I am also open enough to see all sides of the argument.