The end of NUM
March 3, 1985 - Britain's National Union of Mineworkers ends its bitter, year-long strike without a new agreement to cover mine closures.
Since 2008, the UK has cut the carbon content of its electricity generation faster than any of the world's 25 major economies. Natural gas generates 40 percent of the country's energy needs, follwed by renewable energy at 33 percent and nuclear energy at 19.5 percent. Oil and other sources make up the remainder.
NUM, which had 142,000 members in 1984, today has fewer than 400. There are only about 100 employed coal miners in all of England, Wales, and Scotland as of 2020. Only five mines are still open, producing only about 1 million tonnes of coal a year.
Britain still needs coal for manufacturing steel and cement. It imports cheap Russian coal to meet these needs, about 9.5 million tonnes a year.