Notes
Mr Arthur Scargill says that when the coal strike began in March, nobody imagined that it could possibly last till Christmas. For Mr Scargill, this is a boast, and one must certainly acknowledge that Mr Scargill is very good at running a strike in the teeth not only of public opposition but of many of his own members. But the reason that no one thought that the strike could last so long is that no one believed that a leader of an industrial union could really want to destroy his industry. This destruction is now happening. No one who has any choice in the matter will ever again wish to depend on British coal. Already hundreds of major customers have made alternative arrangements. The Central Electricity Generating Board will have to rely far more on nuclear energy and coal imports if it is to maintain its service to customers. Even before the strike began, it was ridiculous to argue for a coal industry based on the Plan for Coal, which, even when first conceived, was a ludicrously optimistic set of projections. To proclaim it now is as absurd as if the Queen were to start issuing decrees to our Indian Empire --- the world which the plan describes does not exist. In short, the fact of the strike has now become more important than its re- sults. If, as a consequence of the Nacods decision to strike, Mr Scargill were to win', he would cost the Government a great deal of money, but he could never recover the power of British coal. The reasons that he should not win are now, therefore, more political than economic. Mr Scargill has chosen to challenge the Government's right to govern. That chal- lenge must be beaten off.
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