Mongolia‘s entire way of life under threat from mining
The Big Dig, 2012 – Mongolia‘s mining boom is now in full swing, but not everyone is happy with the various consequences and shady business deals.
Mongolia is the new frontier in a massive, break-neck speed resources rush. But as it races to take advantage of Chinese demand, helped along by Rio Tinto, what is it getting from digging up the steppes?
Genghis Khan must be rolling in his grave as foreigners arrive in Mongolia to plunder his once mighty domain. Australian miner Rio Tinto is about to open one of the biggest copper mines on the planet in Mongolia, which will soon account for more than 30% of the country’s entire GDP. “Some of the optimistic geologists we have say that this business could run for up to 100 years”, Cameron McRae from Rio Tinto explains.
But the company only cedes the Mongolian government a 34% stake, provoking worries about where the benefits of Mongolia’s resource wealth will go. There’s concerns the government is ill-equipped to strike complex mining deals in the national interest. “The deal is a financial transaction and whether it’s really beneficial to Mongolia, I have many doubts about that”, argues Dorjdari from the Responsible Mining Initiative.
Environmentalists also worry that the mining push has come so fast and so aggressively that proper checks and balances are not in place. “Most tourists come to Mongolia because they want to see that pristine open space blue sky, but what if we couldn’t offer it anymore?”
Thousands Rally in Mongolia Over Foreign Mining Concessions
By Ganbat Namjilsangarav, Associated Press
ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia — Mar 30, 2016, 6:57 AM ET
A rare public protest in Mongolia’s capital on Wednesday drew thousands of demonstrators who criticized foreign mining concessions and demanded action to prop up the tottering economy.
More than 2,000 demonstrators in Ulaanbaatar’s Freedom Square also called for parliament to be dissolved and a new government formed over alleged corruption and the economic crisis battering the vast, landlocked nation.
Protesters say the mineral wealth that accounts for 94 percent of the nation’s exports has been exploited by foreign companies, with few benefits going to Mongolia’s 3 million people, one-third of whom live in poverty.
“Our wealth is shipped outside of the country. Where is that money going?” former wrestler and opposition lawmaker Battulga Khaltmaa asked the crowd assembled by an umbrella group of small political parties and civil society organizations known as Ethical Mongol.
Battulga was particularly critical of the terms extended to Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto PLC to develop the $5.4 billion Oyu Tolgoi copper mine. Talks on expanding the mine have bogged down over the government’s demand for more revenue.
Battulga and others also criticized efforts to revive the Tavan Tolgoi coal project, alleging that members of around two dozen influential families with ties to both ruling Mongolian Democratic Party and opposition Mongolian People’s Party stand to benefit the most from the deal through their ownership of shares in the Hong Kong-listed Mongolian Mining Corp.
“This business-political group … has already swallowed its brother, democracy,” said Erdenechimeg Luvsan, a Democratic Party lawmaker.
Protesters carried banners reading “Tavan Tolgoi is public property” and “Whatever happened to democracy?”
Miners in Botswana have discovered the largest diamond found in over a hundred years. The 1111-carat gem, slightly smaller than a tennis ball, was unearthed in the Karowe mine in central Botswana. The value has to be determined yet.
The so-called Lucara diamond is the second largest rough diamond ever found. Only the Cullinan, which was found in 1905 in South Africa, was bigger. That stone was later cleaved and polished in Amsterdam and was inter alia made a part of the British royal scepter.
Within the first few hours after hatching a barnacle gosling must make a giant leap from its clifftop nest falling over 400ft in order to reach the ground below.
That natural cliffs offer valuable habitats for many birds is widely recognized and cliffs are often protected. But cliff-nesting birds readily use habitats created by human activities, such as quarries to breed, rest or soar, riding the rising hot air above sunlit slopes. Such areas become more important as natural habitats of many birds are disappearing. But nature managers sometimes undervalue industrial sites as potential habitats. Why?
We continue our theme on land forms following a previous post on geomorphologic design. This time we talk about cliffs and the topic is presented by guest blogger Zoë Rohrer, ecological restoration professional from Spain.
Quarrying involves severe disturbances to the environment and so these areas are often disregarded by environmentalists. But more often the case is that quarries spontaneously evolve over time into areas of great natural value. Also, some species of birds, as well as other fauna, occupy cliffs even during the active life of quarries. For example, eagle owls (Bubo bubo), sand martins (Riparia riparia) and jackdaws (Corvus monedula) can be easily found in active sites. Another example, the black wheatear (Oenanthe leucura) is in decline in Cataluña but recent studies have detected flourishing populations in quarries there (Noguera et al, 2014).
The “business as usual” approach to mine restoration discourages cliffs as well. Under the influence of old legislation restoration plans often ignore important ecological aspects and valuable habitats are lost. For example, a typical restoration plan aims to eliminate or reduce cliffs, and therefore override any subsequent colonization by rupicolous species as public safety and cliff stability are major concerns in quarry restoration.
Public safety and cliff stability are major concerns in quarry restoration. However, we have the technical knowledge to create stable cliffs. For example, the method known as Talus Royal® consists of “accelerating” the natural weathering of rocks. The result are very stable cliffs, which are visually attractive and integrated into the landscape. Also, the irregular morphology promotes the colonization of flora and fauna. More information on cliff stability and ecological restoration can be found in Martín Duque et al, 2011.
In the mining life cycle the conservation end-use is regarded as a low profit activity, yet creating habitats can be less expensive than other end uses, such as agriculture. In the long run, it offers financial advantages as well. For example it can decrease the cost of post restoration management, since it avoids problems such as erosion. Conservation end-use has other added values as well: it brings biodiversity back, creates aesthetically valued landscapes, and increases public health and quality of life. A very interesting manual with guidelines on promoting rupicoulous species was published by the Spanish Foundation for Cement and Environment (CEMA, 2010).
Creating habitat for cliff-nesting birds should be approached case by case. It is not a universal recipe. But, industrial habitats offer the opportunity to enhance rupicolous birds. Managing quarries to create rocky habitats can be an opportunity to recreate a scarce habitat and to improve local biodiversity.
Zoë Rohrer is a biologist, specialized in Restoration Ecology. She is working on a project regarding the colonization of quarry walls by cliff nesting birds together with the University of Alcalá de Henares and LafargeHolcim. Her objective is to promote a more ecologically centered restoration in the mining industry.
Three million gallons of hazardous mine waste released into Colorado river
12 August 2015
A massive spill in Colorado has unleashed more than 3 million gallons of hazardous mine waste into the Animas River, a tributary of the Colorado River, which provides much of the drinking and irrigation water for the southwestern United States. The spill was triggered when employees working for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were trying to investigate a mine for contamination.
The San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado are home to many abandoned mines with ponds that are filled with contaminated water. As a result, many of the rivers are polluted with regular amounts of toxic water, killing off all aquatic life in the area. The last major spill in Silverton, which is where the recent disaster took place, was in 1975 and polluted nearly 100 miles of the Animas River with 127 million tons of hazardous waste.
According to the Colorado Division of Mining, Reclamation and Safety, the state is riddled with 22,000 abandoned mines. The mines fill up with water that is contaminated with zinc, copper, cadmium, iron, lead, manganese, and aluminum. Because of loose regulation by the state and federal governments, the mining companies would dump the toxic water into streams or back into tailings ponds where the water would get even more acidic.
The EPA’s task is to turn areas like Silverton into “superfund” sites that would attract investment to clean up. The town as recently as 2014 resisted the label of superfund out of fear that it would impact tourism. The EPA agreed to list Silverton in the “National Priority List” to improve water quality in the area. The most recent disaster occurred when EPA workers were trying to plug a mine below the Red and Bonita Mine to reduce acid runoff.
The project had begun in July. The Gold King Mine, which was connected with the Red and Bonita Mine, released its toxic water into the Animas River on August 4. Peter Butler, a coordinator with the Animas River Stakeholders Group, told KUNC radio that the EPA knew that there was water in the mine, saying, “It was known that there was a pool of water back in the mine, and EPA had a plan to remove that water and treat it, you know, slowly. But things didn’t go quite the way they planned and there was a lot more water in there than they thought, and it just kind of burst out of the mine.”
The river near the mine is home to a trout fishery. Between 2005 and 2015, three out of four fish species that lived in the Upper Animas River died off. The U.S. Geological Survey has said that the volume of insects and the number of insect species has declined. Since 2006, the USGS said that water flowing under Bakers Bridge, near Silverton, has concentrations of zinc that are toxic to animal life.
Jonathan Thompson, senior editor of the environmental magazine High Country News, told KUNC that normally the river is a deep green color but that, “right now where that has hit, it is bright orange. It’s like orange crush, but a really thick orange crush.” He also compared it to carrot juice because of its thick consistency. The EPA has instructed people to avoid contact with the water because mine waste is full of heavy metals and sediment.
The EPA has also confirmed lead concentrations of over 3,500 times normal levels above the town of Durango. Debra McKean, a toxicologist with the EPA, discussed the disaster with KUNC. “Yes, those numbers are high and they are scary because they seem so high,” she said, “especially compared to the baseline numbers.” As the toxic water flows downstream, she explained, the lead levels will peak and then decrease.
A state of emergency has been declared in the town of Durango, Colorado and surrounding La Plata County as new test results have shown an increase in arsenic levels and some mercury has been detected. This spill has already reached New Mexico and Utah, passing down the Animas River and into the San Juan River, which flows south and west across northern New Mexico, then northwest into Utah, eventually emptying into the Colorado River at Glen Canyon.
The EPA has been criticized for waiting a whole day to announce the spill. In response, officials said it took time for them to realize the severity of the spill. As part of the recent budget cuts, the EPA saw its funding decline for a fifth year in a row, reducing staffing levels to their lowest in 25 years.
The EPA estimated that a limestone water treatment plant to clean toxic water in the region would only cost between $12 million and $17 million, and $1 million a year after that. The last mining company to operate in Silverton was Sunnyside Gold Corp., which offered to pay $6.5 million in exchange for being released from all liability, including cleanup of pollution. The company was eventually bought by Kinross Gold Corp., a transnational mining company, in 2003. According to its fourth-quarter report, the company made nearly $1 billion in revenue in 2013.
When our river turned orange. Nine things you need to know about the Animas River mine waste spill: here.
1,800 Zambian villagers are taking legal action in the High Court in London against UK based mining giant Vedanta Resources Plc and Konkola Copper Mines after they claim their water sources and farming land were poisoned from the copper mining operations of both companies.
The 1,800 are members of four artisanal farming communities situated in the Copperbelt region of Zambia along the Mushishima and Kafue Rivers. They live close to the city of Chingola and next to the copper mines operated by Vedanta Resources plc, a London-listed mining company with revenues of $12.9bn, which bought a controlling share in Konkola Copper Mines in Zambia in 2004.
The communities, Shimulala, Kakosa, Hippo Pool and Hellen claim that polluted water is affecting their health and causing illnesses and permanent injuries. Without piped water from the mains supply their primary source of water for drinking, washing, bathing and irrigating farms are these waters.
The Claimants’ primary source of livelihood is through farming as well as some fishing from the rivers. The alleged pollution has devastated crops and affected fishing greatly impacting the earnings of the local people.
London based law firm Leigh Day have now issued proceedings on behalf of the villagers against Vedanta Resources Plc and Konkola Copper Mines at the High Court in London on Friday 31 July 2015. The lawyers allege that since the take-over in 2004 Vedanta Resources mining operations have been continually spilling sulphuric acid and other toxic chemicals into the rivers, streams and farmland near to where the communities live and farm.
Lawyers who have been over to Zambia to see the effects of the effluent spills and discharges, claim that the pollution primarily stems from the copper processing part of the plant called the Tailings Leach Plant.
A collection of field recorded footage of the Endangered (EPBC Act, NC Act) Black-throated Finch (Poephila cincta cincta). Clips contain finches at the nest, preening, foraging (see if you can spot them gleaning lerps), drinking and calling. Filmed in Townsville region.
Carmichael mine may push rare bird to extinction, scientists warn Greg Hunt
Scientists say clearing the largest remaining habitat of the black-throated finch to make way for coalmines will have ‘irreversible consequences’
Oliver Milman
Friday 24 April 2015 06.43 BST
The creation of Australia’s largest mine will have “serious detrimental and irreversible consequences” for the endangered black-throated finch and may even push it to extinction, a recovery team for the species has advised Greg Hunt, the federal environment minister.
The black-throated finch recovery team, comprised of scientists from the CSIRO and James Cook University as well as representatives from Townsville council, have written to Hunt and the Queensland government to warn of the impact of the $16.5bn Carmichael mine, set to be situated in the Galilee Basin region.
The letter states that there are only two remaining habitats where significant populations of black-throated finches remain, with the largest of these areas to be cleared to make way for the network of open-cut and underground mines that will make up the 455 sq km Carmichael project. The clearing of 87 sq km of prime finch habitat will pose a “serious risk” to the future of the species, the recovery team warns, while plans to mitigate the threat are “inadequate”.
Adani, the Indian mining firm that will operate the mine, is required to find more than 28,000 hectares of habitat outside the mining site for the finches, as part of an “offset” strategy to compensate for habitat loss.
However, the recovery team states this will not work because “any prospective offset that consists of suitable habitat will already be supporting black-throated finches and so cannot provide habitat for displaced birds”. “If it is not currently occupied by black-throated finches it is unlikely that it provides quality habitat and it cannot be converted to suitable habitat in a reasonable time frame. This is assuming that suitable habitat could be created from unsuitable habitat, and there is no evidence that this can be achieved.
“Any offset strategy will result in a net loss of habitat for the black-throated finch.” Concerns over the impact of mining upon the black-throated finch have previously been dismissed by federal MP and businessman Clive Palmer, who has plans for a separate Galilee Basin mine and pointed out that the birds “have wings and can fly” from danger.
Dr April Reside, an ecology scientist at James Cook University and member of the recovery team, said there’s been a 59% decline in black-throated finch numbers over the last decade and that there could be fewer than 1,000 of the birds left. “The Carmichael mine area is the best remaining habitat we know of, so the digging up of this site could mean the extinction of this finch,” she told Guardian Australia.
“These finches are very mobile and capable of flying long distances. If there were habitat capable of hosting them, they’d already be there. I’ve seen Adani say that with offsets there could be a net benefit to the finch, which is beyond ludicrous. We need to make sure the decision-makers know the facts.”
Reside said the endangered black-throated finch, described by the Department of Environment as 12cm in length and “gregarious”, is an “extraordinary” bird that deserves protection.
Adani has funded surveys of the black throated finch at the mine site and found nine instances of the birds in flocks of up of 30 individuals. The potential habitat of the finch covers around two-thirds of the project’s area, which is 160km north of the town of Clermont in central Queensland and will extract 60m tonnes of coal at capacity. Adani is required to identify offset habitat for the finches at least three months before mining commences, with the plan to be signed off by Hunt, who has already approved the mine itself. However, alternative habitat has yet to be outlined by the company.
The former prime minister has earned up to $150m since leaving office by advising the UAE and numerous other governments. A new report released Sunday has revealed questionable details about Tony Blair’s contracts with the Colombian government. According to revelations by Britain’s Telegraph newspaper, the Colombian government hired Mr. Blair to advise it on how it will spend US$3 billion earned in mining deals. However, Colombia is not paying for Blair‘s contract, which is funded by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Colombian government has admitted the UAE is funding the consultancy, “to support the implementation” of the new rules on how money from mining deals is distributed in Colombia. The contract was agreed after Colombia introduced a law in 2011 under which fees and royalties from the mining industry were sent back to central government. Before, about 80 percent of such mining “royalties” were kept by local and regional administrative authorities. It is not clear if Mr Blair had any involvement in the framing of the new legislation, as his work with the Colombian government began in 2009 as an adviser to Mr Santos. In 2014, the Colombian government began efforts to increase commercial ties and investments with the UAE, and after Sunday’s revelations the Santos administration defended its contract with Blair.
However, Colombia’s chief senior prosecutor Fanny Gonzalez has sent a letter to the Colombian presidency demanding explanations on the contracts, and sources from the Prosecutor’s Office told magazine Semana that they are preparing an investigation on the contracts and Blair’s firm. Blair is also the official Middle East envoy for the Madrid Quartet trying to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a group made up by the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia. This has raised questions about a possible conflict of interest. Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, explained to The Telegraph that the UAE has specific interests in the region which could conflict with resolving the Israeli-Palestinian issue. “The UAE is supposed to be a leading donor government on the issue of Gaza and the West Bank, so what does Tony Blair put first, his role as Quartet envoy or his role as a businessman when dealing with them?,” he asked.
The Telegraph also revealed that Blair would be quitting his role as the Quartet envoy in the following weeks, after the newspaper revealed his ties with the UAE. Through his company Tony Blair Associates (TBA), the former prime minister has received between US$75 million and US$150 million since he left Downing Street, providing consultancy to numerous governments.
Jimmy Ruffin, who died in Las Vegas a week ago aged 78, will be remembered for recording what is arguably Motown’s best and most memorable soul hit — What Becomes of the Brokenhearted.
However those of us involved in the epic miners’ strike of 1984 have more reason to remember and pay tribute to this great soul singer.
Having moved to Britain in 1984, Ruffin, along with Paul Weller, released the Council Collective single Soul Deep.
This music video is about the song Soul Deep.
The disc raised much-needed money for families of striking miners and the two singers’ efforts helped to win sympathy and support among a wider audience.
Mississippi-born Ruffin explained that his father had been a miner in the harsh coalfields of the US south and had himself experienced anti-union attitudes and actions in the US coal industry.
Later, still living in Britain, the singer made the seven-part series Jimmy Ruffin’s Sweet Soul Music for Radio 2.
When his brother David, lead singer of the Temptations, died of a cocaine overdose in 1991, Jimmy became a committed anti-drugs campaigner both in Britain and the US.
Jimmy Ruffin was born in dirt-poor Mississippi. At an early age, and with his even-younger brothers and sisters, Ruffin began singing with a family gospel group, the Dixie Nightingales.
By 1961, Ruffin was part of the Motown stable, mostly on sessions but also recording singles. He was drafted for national service, leaving the army in 1964.
He returned to Motown, where he was offered the opportunity to join the Temptations. Instead his younger brother David got the job.
Jimmy resumed his solo career. In 1966 he heard the song that would make him famous.
What Becomes of the Brokenhearted became a major success. The song reached number seven on US charts and number 10 in the British singles chart. The reissue in 1974 reached number four in Britain.
Ruffin found success in the US difficult to sustain and began to concentrate instead on the British market.
In 1970 three of his songs made the British top 10 and he was voted the world’s top singer in one British poll.
He broke with Motown and recorded for the Polydor and Chess labels.
In the 1980s Ruffin moved to live in Britain, where he continued to perform successfully.
As well as playing benefits Ruffin appeared with Weller on Radio 1. He told listeners he was involved because his father had worked down the mines before becoming a Baptist minister.
Following the 2010 re-release of the 1970 album I Am My Brother’s Keeper, Ruffin recorded a new album that he had planned to release during 2013. It was never completed.
Still the Enemy Within is a unique insight into one of history’s most dramatic events: the 1984-85 British Miners’ Strike. No experts. No politicians. Thirty years on, this is the raw first-hand experience of those who lived through Britain’s longest strike. Follow the highs and lows of that life-changing year.
Filmmaker ALEX MORRIS asks for your help to ensure the legacy of the miners is remembered with pride
In 1984 Margaret Thatcher labelled 160,000 striking miners, their families and supporters “the enemy within.”
As the strike began, a group of miners emerged who were prepared to fight on the front line of every battle.
They were demonised by the media and despised by the government.
Dubbed “Arthur‘s Army,” they were to lead a fightback that would not just rock the government but would change British society forever.
A young group of filmmakers are now taking on the challenge of putting this epic struggle onto the big screen in the form of a new feature documentary.
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Getting up at 6am for shoots, on location in South Yorkshire, the team almost felt like the miners getting ready to picket 30 years earlier.
Hearing from our miners, their stories of being on the front line were candid and visceral and filled with drama, sadness, humour and ultimately inspiration.
Director Owen Gower explains: “Interviewing the miners in our film was a real privilege. Many of them had not spoken before about their experiences in 30 years and it was incredible to see their memories come flooding back.”
In one of the interviews Durham miner and expert storyteller Norman Strike remembers how he had to start carrying his birth certificate around with him because none of the police believed that his surname was Strike.
“Even to this day people ask me: ‘Yeah, but what’s your real name’?” he told us before asking: “Did I ever tell you about my mate called Will Picket?”
Even off camera he swears Will Picket was real.
Thirty years on, these miners are still the enemy within – they continue to fight against the austerity measures being imposed by our current government and against the privatisation of public institutions not even Thatcher would touch. Like the strike, this film has had support from grass-roots activists and large unions such as the NUT, the FBU and the CWU.
Dave Green, national officer of the FBU, explained his union’s reasoning for supporting the film.
“The FBU were proud to support the miners during their long and bitter struggle in 1984-5.
“While this might seem a long time ago and some would say should be consigned to history only to be revisited as a matter of interest, the FBU are absolutely determined that the heroic struggle, the injustices inflicted on many communities across Britain and the political lessons to be learnt must never be forgotten.”
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We want to make sure that the current government is not allowed to rewrite history to glorify Thatcher and again demonise the miners.
We believe that it is important that the voices and experiences of the miners’ are heard.
“Many who come to this subject for the first time will be shocked about what they went through in their fight for British industry but will also see how much it resonates with the fight against austerity in Britain today,” adds Gower.
Pit Props: Music, International Solidarity and the 1984-5 Miners’ Strike: here.
This video is called Pride, International Trailer 1 (2014).
On 15 November 2014, I went to see the film Pride. Quite some people had come to see it: lesbian couples, straight couples, individuals on their own. Mostly women.
The film is about the British miners’ strike of 1984-1985, especially solidarity with the mining community of Dulais Valley in South Wales by London LGBTQ people. In reality, LGSM, Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, eventually became not just a London organisation, but had branches all over the country. And it supported more than just one mining community. Maybe that was a bit too complex to put into a 120 minute film. The movie is based on a real story, but diverges from it at some more points which we will discuss later.
There was much solidarity with the British miners’ strike. Internationally: many local solidarity committees in many countries. In Britain, there were over 600 solidarity committees. LGSM was especially for LGBTQ people. Another example was Lesbians Against Pit Closures, especially for lesbian women.
This music video from Manchester, England says about itself:
According to the film, LGSM started in London, with one punk rock lesbian in her early twenties, and four gay men in their early twenties. And Joe, a 20-year-old cooking school student. Joe is still of an age when having gay sex was illegal, still in the closet because of his homophobic (and striking miners-hating) parents with whom he still lives. A Dulais Valley mining trade unionist, Dai, comes to meet them in London. He confesses he had never met a LGBTQ person before. Nevertheless, he soon gets along well with the Londoners. An organisation like LGSM had to deal with some people in the LGBTQ community who were not activists, and/or, if activist, then only for gay rights in a narrow sense. Likewise, with some people in the mining community who were not activists, and/or, if activist, then only for trade unionism in a narrow sense. LGSM and Dai say in the film that solidarity should be wider and stronger than that. Dai speaks about an image on an old trade union banner: hands of two different people joined in solidarity.
LGSM founder Mark Ashton remarks that police, usually present at the entrances of gay clubs to harass patrons, are not present any more. He understands why: the Thatcher government has ordered them to go to the mines instead to beat up workers. If the Thatcher government would succeed in breaking the strike, then police repression of LGBTQ people would re-start with a vengeance. Therefore, LGSM should exist.
LGSM activists go to Dulais for the first time, staying there for the night. The film shows about ten activists; in 1984 reality, it was 27.
The film has both serious and comic moments. Gay activists help to free miners, unlawfully jailed by police. One of the LGSM activists is originally from Wales, but left it because of his homophobic family. When he meets South Welsh mining families, they tell him they have prejudices against him … not because of his sexuality, but because he is from North Wales rather than from South Wales … seconds later, everybody laughs. His pro-miner activism eventually helps this North Welshman to acceptance by and reconciliation with his mother.
The strike continues for months and more months. The Thatcher government tries to break it with violence and hunger. During one of the LGSM visits to Dulais, Mark Ashton says in a speech that sometimes, during a struggle, defending oneself is not enough. There has to be a counter-offensive. He promises the miners that LGSM will organise something spectacular for the miners in London. But he does not know what yet.
Then, help comes from a very unexpected side: the Rupert Murdoch media empire. Murdoch’s daily paper The Sun published an attack dog article against the ‘evil’ alliance of ‘pits and perverts’. However, this backfired for Rupert Murdoch. LGSM now knew what spectacular thing they had to do in London: organise a big pro-miners event, called the Pits and Perverts concert. It was a big success.
The final scene of the film is after the miners went back to work, after a year of striking, with their heads held high. Gay Pride marchers assemble in a London park. A Right wing policeman mocks the LGBTQ people by saying the miners have lost. A gay organisational bureaucrat tells LGSM that the Gay Pride marches should become more apolitical, and that political groups like LGSM should march at the back end. They don’t want that. And then, busloads full of National Union of Mineworkers people arrive; including a brass band. They, and LGSM, then can march in the front ranks of the London Gay Pride march. Dai’s ideal of the two hands, depicted on the union banner, becomes reality.
The miners brought many banners with them. One of these, visible in the film, is of the Mardy NUM branch. This brought back my memories of 1984 and 1985, when miners’ delegates, an elderly couple, a retired miner and his wife, from Mardy stayed in our hometown, at the request of our local solidarity committee with British miners. I then translated the English of this couple at trade union meetings. Unfortunately, I am afraid that now, thirty years later, they may no longer be alive. Women in their 40s from Mardy arrived as well. They addressed a bingo night (similar to the one in Dulais pictured in the film) and a meeting at the Women’s Center.
When the strike ended, the elderly couple happened to be guests of our solidarity committee again. The TV set switched to British television. There, they saw the Mardy miners marching back to work, heads held high, behind a brass band.
In England and the USA, there were four criticisms of the film for differing from reality during the miners’ strike. First, protagonist Mark Ashton was not only a gay rights activist and a pro-miner activist, but also a Young Communist League activist (its General Secretary). The makers of the film said they had omitted this because it might damage success of the film on the United States market. There is just one hint on-screen: when Mark Ashton is announced in a London gay bar as wanting to make a speech in support of the miners’ strike, someone in the audience shouts: ‘Commie!’ Mark’s Young Communist League membership may have helped acceptance of LGBTQ activists among Welsh miners, some of them being communists as well.
Mark Ashton died in 1987, only 26 years old, of AIDS.
The second criticism of Pride is that it over-emphasizes anti-LGBTQ prejudices among miners at the time the strike started. It seems that most miners were already then happy with solidarity from London or elsewhere, no matter what the sexual orientation of people in solidarity. In the film, after the unprepared speech by Joe in a hall full of miners, there is mostly stone silence. However, in reality the speech got a standing ovation. Still, it is true that before the strike, miners did not turn up at Gay Pride demonstrations with trade union banners; while they did so later. It is also true that the British Labour party used to reject members’ pro-LGBTQ rights proposals; but supported them in 1985, just after the miners’ strike, thanks to the block vote of the National Union of Mineworkers. It looks like the film director exaggerated anti-gay prejudices in mining communities early on, in order to have more of a dramatic change in the course of the film, as the prejudices melted away.
The third criticism of the film is about this witch hunting newspaper article, attacking both the miners and LGBTQ people as a ‘Pits and perverts coalition’ which the Thatcher government should destroy soon:
Now opening in the US – as in the UK, the film is distributed by Rupert Murdoch’s 20th Century Fox.
Which might explain why all references to the LGSM and NUM-bashing The Sun – the origin of the term ‘Pits And Perverts’ – have been erased.
The film does mention the attack dog article, but does not show in what paper it was.
The fourth criticism of the film is from a review by Emily Hobson. She writes that LGSM ‘included some people of color, nowhere on screen.’ This is indeed an omission in speaking actor roles; as the film depicts the big Pits and Perverts solidarity concert in London, where Bronski Beat played, it does show some people of colour in the audience.
In spite of all points of criticism, this is a great film which I recommend.
This video has interviews with the filmmakers of Pride, with its actors and with real life people on whom their roles were based.
The release of the new documentary, Still the Enemy Within, coincides with the 30th anniversary of the 1984-85 miners’ strike. The 112-minute film comprises unseen or rarely available archive footage, interspersed with news reports, dramatic reconstructions and interviews with those involved in the strike. It opens with the March 1984 announcement of the closure of Cortonwood Colliery, the spark that ignited the strike that then spread throughout the British coalfields. It also shows how the Nottingham area National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) refused to call out its members and became the centre of a strike-breaking operation by the Tory government: here.
SOUTH Yorkshire Police faces legal action as exasperated official investigators try to make it release documentary evidence regarding the 1984 “battle of Orgreave,” which saw police run riot attacking striking miners: here.
South Yorkshire Police (SYP) caved in to pressure yesterday to release five boxes of documentary evidence relating to the Orgreave scandal. The Independent Police Complaints Commission threatened legal action this week unless the evidence is released: here.
A catalogue of state interference in the justice system during the 1984-5 miners’ strike in Scotland has led to demands yesterday for an immediate review into criminal convictions against strikers. Katy Clark, MP for North Ayrshire and Arran and left contender for deputy leadership of the Labour Party in Scotland, has written to the Scottish government calling for the review into the convictions of miners in Scotland during the strike: here.
Despite the hardships of being on strike for all of 1984, incredible solidarity from across the labour movement made for the best Christmas the miners ever had, recalls John Dunn: here.
POLICE watchdog the IPCC refused to launch a formal inquiry yesterday into a historic violent rampage by officers against striking miners at Orgreave in South Yorkshire. The decision, announced by the Independent Police Complaints Commission after a two-year delay, was slammed by former National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) president and Labour MP Ian Lavery: here.
AN INSPIRATIONAL film recording the testimonies of people involved in the miners’ strike against pit closures of 1984-85 will receive its premiere in Yorkshire on Friday. Former striking miners, families, women against pit closures and others contributed to the film Our Miners’ Strike: here.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 