THE SCOTTISH Government is set to widen the scope of their miners' strike pardon bill to include family members.

Until now, the legislation, which is currently making its way through parliament, only covered the miners themselves. 

Last night the Scottish Government confirmed to The Herald that they were now “proposing to extend the pardon to miners and members of their households who meet the qualifying criteria.”

However, they've once again rejected calls to pay compensation to sacked miners, saying that it's up to Boris Johnson's government to come up with any financial redress. 

In Scotland, there were roughly 14,000 strikers, and by the mid-1980s approximately 1,400 had been arrested, with over 500 convicted. 

Approximately 206, or 1.5 per cent of the total number of striking miners were dismissed.

It’s not clear if the Scottish Government’s widening of the scope will include those arrested in the community. The legislation as it currently stands only covers those on the picket line or on the way to or from the picket line. 

Earlier this year, Nicky Wilson from the National Union of Miners (NUM) told Holyrood’s Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice committee that not everything that happened during the strike was organised through official means. 

He told MSPs that there were often “spontaneous demonstrations”. 

“It was because people found out that a guy who had been on strike was no longer on strike.

"Therefore, a group within that community—be it wives, daughters or other family members—had a spontaneous reaction to that and demonstrated at the house. 

“Some of them got arrested.”

Jim Phillips, Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of Glasgow, told the committee that many of the incidents that led to arrest “resulted from tensions and conflicts that were introduced to mining communities by the actions of the National Coal Board.”

The Bill is to go before the committee next week. Former Labour leader Richard Leonard will attempt to amend the legislation to include compensation for the sacked miners. 

 The Scottish Government said the pardon law wasn't the appropriate mechanism for compensation. They said they would "continue to press the UK Government for a UK-wide public inquiry which should also include the payment of compensation."

Professor Phillips told The Herald this was a "lost opportunity.” 

“There's a chance for us in Scotland to say, we're responsible for this. These miners were arrested by Scottish police officers.

"They were prosecuted in Scottish courts. Then they were sacked by officials employed by the National Coal Board in Scotland.

"Those decisions were taken in Scotland. They were operational decisions. And they were made by people in Scotland.” 

"I don't quite understand where they're going with this other than to be seeing or to be finding within this issue a means of pointing to the inadequacy of UK policymaking."

Mr Leonard said the SNP were peddling a myth to suggest that "Boris Johnson will have any interest in even looking at it."

"Miners were arrested by Scottish police, prosecuted by Scottish procurator fiscals and sentenced by Scottish sheriffs in Scottish courts. This isn't about employment law, it is about the criminal law," he said.

"Don't let anyone tell you this is an issue 'for Westminster'. Scotland can, and must, right these wrongs and give these families the justice they deserve."

In their initial report on the bill, the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee warned that compensation “moves the Bill away from its intention of having a symbolic effect” and “would create significant practical difficulties that would delay the passage of the Bill and agrees that this Bill is not the appropriate mechanism for delivering such a scheme.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government very much sympathise with miners who lost out on redundancy payments and pension rights as a result of being sacked by the National Coal Board after being arrested or convicted for actions whilst participating in the strike.

“By offering a pardon, the Scottish Government is doing what it can within its powers to restore dignity to miners convicted in relation to the strike. However, Employment and Industrial Relations are reserved to Westminster.

“We agree with the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee’s view that the Bill is not the appropriate mechanism for delivering a compensation scheme.

“We have listened carefully to calls for eligibility to be extended to the families of miners. We are now proposing to extend the pardon to miners and members of their households who meet the qualifying criteria.

“We will continue to press the UK Government for a UK-wide public inquiry which should also include the payment of compensation.

“The Scottish Government also considers that, if the Bill is passed, then this could add weight to calls for action to be taken by the UK Government.”