UK's Johnson under fire over 'crass' coal closure quip

London (AFP) Aug 6, 2021

Opposition leaders and former mining communities on Friday lashed out at Prime Minister Boris Johnson for joking that former leader Margaret Thatcher's coal mine closures had given Britain a head start in fighting climate change. Thatcher, in power from 1979 to 1990, fought a bitter battle with coal miners in the 1980s, delivering the unionised industry's death knell by closing over 100 mine