Abstract
Apart from their manifesto, the Conservatives have published no overall plan for privatisation. The first indication that a nationalised industry is under threat usually comes when one or other senior party ideologue floats a proposal. In this article, Dexter Whitfield documents the indications that the National Coal Board, or its more profitable parts, is amongst the industries that the government plans to privatise – but only if the power of the National Union of Mineworkers can be broken.
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References
1.
1. Editorial, Economic Affairs, Oct-Dec 1984, Institute for Economic Affairs.
2.
2. See What Future for British Coal Policy, C. Robinson and E. Marshall, University of Surrey, 1983. ‘Mines to the Miner’, Economist, 12 March 1983. ‘Privatisation’, Michael Beesley and Stephen Littlechild, Lloyds Bank Review, July 1983.
3.
3. ‘Coal Production: the role of the private sector’, E. Hassal, Land and Minerals Surveying, September 1984, pages 484–491.
4.
4. ‘Coal has a future’, Michael Cross, New Scientist, 6 September 1984.
5.
5. The Future of Nationalised Industries, TUC Discussion Paper, December 1984.