Should our UK government put a few billion into opening new coal mines ?

In 1984 the year of the miners fight to save their pits from closure and their communities from being destroyed, they produced the cheapest deep mined quality coal in the world.

Mr. Arthur Scargill the NUM president begged the then tory government to invest in clean coal technology to iliminate carbon emissions.

This fell on deaf ears and thatcher and her hired executioner Mcgregor decimated the mining industry.

Germany today has abandoned nuclear power and has invested in the technology Mr. Scargill called for 29yrs ago.

Yes there is a need for coal and I believe in the future we will have to open new mines.

No. Once a mine has been closed it fills with water, becomes structurally unstable & therefore cannot be reopened - at least not without massive expense. Thatcher killed that industry forever.

As for the rest of your post - I'm not sure it's even worth commenting on.

brilliant idea. we could all turn off our central heating , open up a coal fire in the lounge and build filthy great coal bunkers in the back yard.

the conservative government at the time, closed mines because the coal cost more to dig up than it sold for. no one wants coal its dirty, its messy, and miners get killed by it it. anyone who wants mining brought back needs to think about the deaths of miners, if not killed in the mines they died from lung disease. mrs thatcher should be thanked for closing mines.

whilst we have the global warming scare mongers its unlikely to happen, but we have lots of coal which is difficult to get at but not impossible. By the way it was not Thatcher that caused the mines to close. indirectly it was the miners themselves that asked/demanded pay rises that the world market could not pay therefore priced themselves out of work. Very sad indeed!

That would be pointless. There isn't a high demand for coal nowadays.

No. The should put a few billion into researching clean energy such as 'LENR'.

Is there really any demand for coal anymore?

Oh, yea...make everyone have a job, good thing! Or chuck them in the Army like they do in the M.East and Israel.

brilock is an idiot so don't take any notice of the crap he or she is spouting

no