I ALSO deplore Joe Welthorpe’s opinion about the miners (HAS, Jan 13), but it was not Margaret Thatcher who destroyed the coal industry. Red Arthur Scargill’s sole purpose was to create a communist state and he used the miners to try to achieve this.

I never voted Tory in my life, but I admired Mrs Thatcher for standing up to him. She also stood up to the EU leaders and to the Argentinians. We could do with someone with her guts to lead the Labour Party in today’s climate.

And before the whingers start, my family were miners for three generations before me. I also served my time as a miner, including being at the coal face when an explosion killed miners at Easington Colliery. I also lost my father to a coal-related disease.

In conclusion, I went from the frying pan into the fire – from miner to submariner. Now that was a dangerous and dirty job – three months between showers.

Bill Burns, Chester-le-Street, Co Durham.