'No alternative' to closing pits - Lord Heseltine

Lord Heseltine said pit closures were an economic necessity

There was "no alternative" to mass pit closures in the 1980s and 1990s, former government minister Lord Heseltine has said.

Lord Heseltine was President of the Board of Trade when he closed more than half of the UK's remaining mines, nearly a decade after serving in the Thatcher government during the 1984-85 miners' strike.

The former Conservative deputy prime minister told the BBC's Politics North he had "great sympathy" for mining communities, many of which were devastated by unemployment.

But he insisted the closures were economically necessary.

Speaking ahead of the 40th anniversary of the beginning of the year-long strike, Lord Heseltine said both Labour and Conservative governments of the 1960s, 70s and 80s had struggled to deal with the industry's future.

"There was one long decline under all governments as mining became less economic or seams ran out in the pits," he said.

"This was not a new phenomenon."

Demonstrators jeered Labour Party and Trades Union Congress speakers at a rally concerning mine closures in London in March 1993

Now 90 years old, he added: "We've always to remember that coalmining was a dirty, dangerous and unhealthy activity.

"In a sense, bringing it to an end had its upsides.

"Life has moved on and the people now are employed in very different, much healthier industries."

However, the Coalfields Regeneration Trust (CRT) charity warned on Monday the former coalfield communities were falling further behind the rest of Britain decades on from the pit closures.

It said communities had been "let down" by a lack of investment since the loss of an industry which employed more than 220,000 people.

"In that time some things have got better - land has been cleared up compared to how it used to be - but we see the gap widening between the coalfields and the other parts of the UK, the cities in particular," CRT chair Linda McAvan said.

Lord Heseltine shut more than 30 pits as President of the Board of Trade in the 1990s

Lord Heseltine was President of the Board of Trade in John Major's Conservative government when in 1992 he announced the closure of 31 of the country's 50 remaining coal mines, resulting in 30,000 job losses.

That followed a wholesale closure programme in the 1980s, which took effect after the strike came to an end in 1985.

He said the decision was "unpleasant" but that apologising for taking it would be "a pointless thing to do".

He added: "The timing and process were extremely uncomfortable and I had great sympathy for the communities who were very admirable, loyal, decent and hard-working people.

"I had a job to do as a minister. That doesn't mean you were proud of what you did, but you had to do it. There was no alternative but to do it."

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].