THE National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) revealed ­yesterday that the government had refused to abolish a deal which has taken £6 billion from miners’ pensions since 1994.

The “one-sided and unfair” deal stems from the privatisation of the coal industry, when the trustees of two pensions schemes, the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme (MPS) and British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS), wanted to ensure the miners’ pensions were secure.

The Tory government of John Major agreed to underwrite any future losses.

But in return it demanded — and was given — an agreement that in years when the schemes showed a surplus, the Exchequer could take half the cash.

Since then the Exchequer has raked in £6bn — three times the amount the government anticipated it would make over a 25-year period.

NUM general secretary Chris Kitchen wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron to appeal for an end to the agreement and the creaming off of pension fund surpluses, but Business Secretary Sajid Javid replied, refusing to renegotiate.

The two pension schemes have 430,000 members, many suffering work-related medical problems, including pneumoconiosis.

Mr Kitchen said that the MPS scheme was based on final salaries and that some miners were receiving as little as £50 a month, with recipients often topping up their pension with benefits.

“If they do get a pension increase they lose benefits, meaning that the government claws it back that way as well,” he said.

He said the union would continue to fight for the deal to be changed.