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Aberfan 50 Years on...

Many of us will recall this.

I was a junior schoolboy around the same age as the kids who were killed. I can vividly remember watching the black and white TV pictures whilst my mother wept into her hands sat on the settee.

It was only in 1997 that under the 30 year rule secret papers were released which revealed that the Labour Government of the day ripped £150,000 from the disaster charity fund and gave it to the National Coal Board to pay for the cleanup.

I recall we raised some funds at my school £15 I think we made which was a tidy sum back then.

In Short, the Labour government (the party of the Working man particularly Miners) raided the charity fund, taking about 10% of it, £150,000, to pay the National Coal board to clear up the dangerous spoil tips.

So instead of the Government /NCB paying for the clear-up, and compensating victims, they stole the charity money meant for the victims and used it as Government money.

In 1997, when this became public knowledge, the Blair Labour Government repaid the £150,000. Without interest. And without allowing for 30 years of inflation.

Fcuking disgraceful.......
 
Last Tuesday, Huw Edwards presented an excellent programme on the aftermath of the Aberfan disaster .
It was quite an eye opener.
Last Channel 4 had another very good programme on Aberfan: very powerfully stuff.
What strikes you is the quiet dignity of those struck by the disaster, both at the time and today.
 
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Terrible disaster, and my heart goes out to those who lost children.

But do we have to have a minutes silence for everything?
If you don't remember the event, watch the two documentaries I've mentioned, then think about your question again.
It's not as if, for the whole country, a minute's silence is held every year: once in 50 years!
 
Old boy was in the RN Fleet Air Arm at the time and we were in a quarter in Lossiemouth.

I can recall this event vividly but only have scant recollection (a vague memory or people crowded round a TV set) when England won the World cup.... a few Months earlier..
 
The role of the Chairman of the NCB, Lord Robens, warrants particular scrutiny.

Ex senior union official, ex Labour Government minister, fancied his chances as Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister but lost out due to traditional Labour infighting

Essentially still operating in Political mode tried to do a snow job in the immediate aftermath of Aberfan, then stuck up the Government for cash before any remediation and make safe work could start which then came from the Charity Fund.

Fared very badly to the extent that much of his "evidence" was disregarded.

Dedpite all that went on to be a Director of the Bank of England, Vickers and Johnson Matthey amongst other appointments.

Who says Politics does not pay.
 
The role of the Chairman of the NCB, Lord Robens, warrants particular scrutiny.

Ex senior union official, ex Labour Government minister, fancied his chances as Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister but lost out due to traditional Labour infighting

Essentially still operating in Political mode tried to do a snow job in the immediate aftermath of Aberfan, then stuck up the Government for cash before any remediation and make safe work could start which then came from the Charity Fund.

Fared very badly to the extent that much of his "evidence" was disregarded.

Dedpite all that went on to be a Director of the Bank of England, Vickers and Johnson Matthey amongst other appointments.

Who says Politics does not pay.

Or that the practices today in rewarding absolute failure are any different...

Nothing speaks about history like pictures..

inhabitants-of-the-welsh-mining-village-of-aberfan-attend-the-mass-picture-id2663801


article-2118686-0C77F040000005DC-396_634x415.jpg

article-2118686-0022F7AA00000258-585_634x422.jpg
 
.....
Dedpite all that went on to be a Director of the Bank of England, Vickers and Johnson Matthey amongst other appointments.

Who says Politics does not pay.

To be fair he was highly influential in the creation of the Heath and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. A well meaning Act hijacked by lawyers and spivs.
 
I was vaguely aware of this event growing up (I was only 4 when it happened), but reading about it now, I am absolutely horrified by the behaviour of the NCB before and after the event, and the Government after it.
If there was ever a defining argument against nationalised industry, the indifference of the NCB and their collusion with the Government over this is surely it.
 
Many of us will recall this.

I was a junior schoolboy around the same age as the kids who were killed. I can vividly remember watching the black and white TV pictures whilst my mother wept into her hands sat on the settee.

It was only in 1997 that under the 30 year rule secret papers were released which revealed that the Labour Government of the day ripped £150,000 from the disaster charity fund and gave it to the National Coal Board to pay for the cleanup.

I recall we raised some funds at my school £15 I think we made which was a tidy sum back then.

In Short, the Labour government (the party of the Working man particularly Miners) raided the charity fund, taking about 10% of it, £150,000, to pay the National Coal board to clear up the dangerous spoil tips.

So instead of the Government /NCB paying for the clear-up, and compensating victims, they stole the charity money meant for the victims and used it as Government money.

In 1997, when this became public knowledge, the Blair Labour Government repaid the £150,000. Without interest. And without allowing for 30 years of inflation.

Fcuking disgraceful.......

I agree. A disgraceful episode indeed.

I remember watching this on the telly when I was a child. I had just turned eleven so I was old enough to understand the horror of the event and the terrible loss that all those families had suffered.

I've spent a lot of time in Wales both during my time in the mob and afterwards. Wales is easy to get to from West London. I've worked there and we've had a few decent holidays there as well.

On one occasion many years ago, we were near Aberfan so we visited the church cemetery. A sad thing to see all the children's graves.
 
Last Tuesday, Huw Edwards presented an excellent programme on the aftermath of the Aberfan disaster .
It was quite an eye opener.
Last Channel 4 had another very good programme on Aberfan: very powerfully stuff.
What strikes you is the quiet dignity of those struck by the disaster, both at the time and today.

Think you may mean ITV.
I appeared in one that went out on Wednesday, in Wales only. Philip Thomas, injured in the school, became my penpal after the incident.
A class act, no bitterness over the hand life dealt him.
And the ladies who appeared in the one which was shown nationally by ITV last week - stoic and dignity plus plus.
I wonder how some would behave today
 
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