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THE sacrifice of workers on the altar of profit was brought home at the Durham Miners’ Gala, which returned after a gap of three years on Saturday.
Tens of thousands marched to the gala field, the Big Meeting proper, after a colourful march through the city amid banners and brass bands.
Speeches from labour movement leaders and guests began with the playing by Fishburn Colliery Band of the miners’ hymn Gresford, commemorating the deaths of 266 miners killed in an underground explosion at Gresford colliery in Wales in September 1934.
Failures in safety procedures and poor mine management were found to be contributory factors in the disaster.
Durham Miners’ Association (DMA) secretary Alan Mardghum reminded the 200,000-strong crowd of the key workers who died in the pandemic.
“Key workers gave everything, gave their lives,” Mr Mardghum told the huge gathering, at the same time as members of the government were “contravening their own laws, getting drunk and lying about it.”
Opening the Big Meeting, DMA chairman Stephen Guy pointed to the government failings that had caused needless deaths.
“They failed to close down, failed to stop the spread of the disease. It was a disaster,” he said.
He condemned the audacity of the Tories “to clap key workers while failing to recognise their true worth.”
In his closing speech, Mr Mardghum summed up his contempt for departing Tory leader Boris Johnson.
“Liar, misogynist, racist, absolute scumbag,” he said, bringing a roar of approval from the throng.
