‘This is our pension money, the Government has no right to take billions from miners’

Ex-miners are locked in a bitter battle over £4.8bn of retirement funds

Dusty. Dark. Dangerous. Working deep inside Britain’s pits was hard, the conditions often poor and the hours long, but the miners toiled away in the cold and the wet, often for decades. 
They still see it as a contribution they made to their country, talking about it with an understandable sense of pride. They also talk of the friends and family they’ve lost over the years, either from accidents inside the pit or from health conditions brought on by years underground.
At its peak in 1913, the UK produced almost 300 million tonnes of coal a year. Along with being the major fuel source for British homes and industry, mines were also the bedrock of countless communities for over a century, employing thousands of local men and boys. 
During the last half century of toil, the miners were also working towards a generous pension, designed to provide a later life of comfort after decades of backbreaking labour. 
Today, however, those who are left have found themselves locked in a bitter battle with government, saying that they are owed £4.8bn in pension entitlements. The row has been going on for three decades and counting, and there’s still no end in sight.
The Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme (MPS) was created in 1952 on a voluntary basis, before becoming compulsory in 1961. In 1975, it evolved into a final salary scheme, with member contributions of 5pc topped up by British Coal. The average pension is £84 a week, with regular bonuses paid out on top. 
Britain’s reliance on coal began to wane, and British Coal was privatised in 1994. To secure the future of the scheme, a deal was struck between the government and the MPS trustees. The government would underwrite the scheme, guaranteeing that every member would receive their pension payments, complete with inflation-linked rises, even if the scheme went bust.
The MPS had been valued in 1992-93 and found to be in surplus. The deal dictated that half would go to the miners. The other half went to British Coal, with that money then placed into the Investment Reserve Fund, an emergency, “first port of call” pot in case the scheme ever ran into trouble. Initially, this was to be run down over a period of 25 years through payments to the government, now extended to 2029.
However, it was the final element of the deal that has caused 30 years of anger. The terms also meant that when the MPS was subsequently valued every three years, any surplus would be split. The miners would receive half, but the other half would go to the government.
Mick Newton spent 15 years at Thoresby Colliery, Nottinghamshire. The 61-year-old had to retire early, on a reduced pension, because mining gave him psoriatic arthritis.
“We always knew from day one that an injustice was being served upon us, and that the government was using an environment of weakness, if you like,” he says. “They knew that mine workers were defeated over pit closures and I think they thought they could go one step further. 
“We all had our heads down and they knew that we were in a vulnerable position, one that could make them substantial amounts of money through a spurious government guarantee.”
It has certainly been profitable for the government. At the time, the MPS was reportedly one of the biggest schemes in the country. It’s still in the top 20, even though no contributions have been made in the 30 years since privatisation. 
Throughout the duration of the government’s underwriting of the scheme, known as the Guarantee, it has never needed to pay in. The government has, however, received around £4.8bn in payments from the scheme since 1994, including more than £420m in the last three years alone. 
The miners see this as theft. 
The MPS itself argues that pensions are 33pc higher than they would have been, thanks largely to bonuses paid. 
Bert Moncur, 66, worked at Murton Colliery in County Durham for 18 years. He now has arthritis in his shoulders, knees and elbows, all caused by being a miner.
“The government didn’t put any money into the scheme. All the money is mineworkers’ and it’s deferred wages. Nobody’s got a right to that money except miners and their widows.
“It’s robbed me of a decent pension and now I’ve [retired], I’m below what I should be. They keep saying we’re 33pc better off with this 50pc sharing [agreement]. How much better off would we have been without that?”
He adds: “We’re going to be robbed to the grave. There’s no doubt about it, unless they give every penny back and I cannot see it.”
Giving it back was the topic of a recent meeting of the National Mineworkers Pension Campaign in Rugeley, Staffordshire, attended by more than 200 former miners.
One attendee, Ian Hoggan, 67, spent eight years at Lofthouse Colliery near Leeds and another 23 years at Selby coalfield. He’s had two knee replacements brought on by the work he did.
He’s been involved in the campaign since 2015 and attended its march around London in May this year, dressed as Dick Turpin.
He feels he’s been misled by the politicians he’s spoken to over the years, some of whom have claimed that both the government and the taxpayer have actually put money into the scheme, which is not true. “They have literally stolen money and just lied. We knew there was no investment from the government and from the taxpayer and it was just take take take. 
“It’s frustrating knowing the people running the country are just lying to you. I’m not just talking about the Conservatives, it’s all of them. Why are they dragging their heels when we know it’s our money, and they know it’s our money. Why don’t they give it to us? 
“I want them to give us our money back that they have stolen and go away and leave the scheme to us. They’ve never put a penny in.”
There may be hope on the horizon. In its 2024 election manifesto, Labour promised to “end the injustice” and said: “We will review the unfair surplus arrangements and transfer the Investment Reserve Fund back to members, so that the mineworkers who powered our country receive a fairer pension.
According to the latest valuation in 2023, returning the investment reserve would be worth around £1.4bn. However, there’s no further guarantee about how the surplus arrangements will change – or when. The Treasury did not respond to a request for comment.
It is also not the first time hopes have been raised. In 2021, a select committee of MPs called for exactly what Labour has promised, calling it a “historic injustice”. But the recommendations were rejected by then-prime minister Boris Johnson’s government. 
Every day, 19 members of the pension scheme die. Moncur believes the money should be returned – and fast, given how quickly miners are dying. “There’s an awful lot of money out there that needs to be called in now and dished out to the men who are still alive,” he says. “It would be nice to have it there for my wife in case anything happens to me. I would like to think my wife would be taken care of, not with a pittance of £10 to £14-a-week widow’s pension.”
He adds: “I believe something will happen, whether it’s all we want and expect is a different matter.”
Newton, who has been running the group’s campaign in the Midlands since 2015, agrees that the money in the investment reserve should be freed up. “Let’s not forget the widows,” he says. “A lot of mineworkers die early and the widows are still alive and on very small amounts.
“It needs to find its way back into miners’ pockets. If that happened, most of those people would be spending that money in the high streets, in the town centres, where as we know there’s shops boarded up on a daily basis. It has a direct impact on the sustainability of former mining communities. 
“Every year it’s been used as a cash cow for the government, but also, we believe, mineworkers are being punished all the way to the grave. It’s time for the Government to step up and hurry up.” 
The one aspect everyone involved agrees on is that the fund has performed very well. Even now, it makes £300m a year in investment income. The government argues the Guarantee has allowed the scheme to make riskier, more profitable investments because there was no danger of pensions going unpaid if it went bust. 
Whatever the historic rights and wrongs, there are still more than 100,000 members who would benefit from a change in policy. Several MPs have also added their voices to the growing sense that enough is enough. 
Yet the miners say they’ve had their hopes raised before, only to see them brutally dashed. 
If one thing seems certain however, it’s in Newton’s warning to the government: “With our last breath, we will fight you.”