Well Red Eye, that's sounds a bit of a twist of facts to me. Yes they closed the mines down because they couldn't make a 'profit'. But what is a profit? Now we import coal from god knows where, we have no strategic resource to fall back on if things in the wider world go wrong, and we have to pay ex miners welfare etc. I think if you add up the real costs, the closure of the mines was a disaster. It had a lot to do with MT's desire to crush the miners at any cost. German and French mines still run at a loss, I wonder why they keep them open, both Countries have far higher standards of living than we do? I don't think £50000 goes that far if you haven't a job!