Angry looking. Aggressive.

"It’s that bloody Arthur Scargil again. We run the country, not him. He thinks he can get his way by bringing the country to its knees. Holding everyone to ransom. His henchmen are starting to blockade the power stations. We’ll have to import even more electricity from France. He’s going to bankrupt the lot of us. It’s costing a bomb to police his marches and prevent him causing even more disruption. Something has got to be done about it. What do you say?"

All at a loss. They look at each other blankly.

"Even if we buy in coal, that swine Scargil will try to blockade the ports. The only thing I can think of, to make us less dependent on the miners, is to increase our nuclear power output. But its filthy polluting muck so will the people buy it? The answer must be to not give them a choice. Make it a fait a’complis. Find a bloody good reason why they’ve got to have it. Any ideas?"

Look at Minister for Industry.

Unprepared look. Put palms of hands up. Shrug shoulders. Grimace awkwardly at his colleagues and say nothing.

"O.K. if I’m asking too much of you, who could we get some advice from? Is there some guru who is an energy expert and who can give us good reason for closing the pits permanently. If the pits were closed, we would save more money than we spend on subsidising them. We don’t HAVE to use coal for anything. There are only two economic pits. Lets close the rest. We need a good reason to do it. We don’t want to be seen as inhuman and ruining miners livelihoods for nothing. Can’t you lot think of something quick?"

Slam handbag onto the table as loudly as possible.

All jolt to a higher level of attention.

Start moving about to attract attention. Suddenly burst out with:

"There is a contentious researcher who claims that the burning of fossil fuels is increasing the CO₂ levels in the atmosphere to such an extent that heat cannot escape from earth in the usual way. He claims that if we continue burning fossil fuels at the current rate, average temperatures all over the world will rise. In turn, the polar ice caps will melt and..."

"Get to the point man. What are you on about?"

Blush. Embarrassed awkward movements.

"Well, to put it simply, it’s a reason to stop burning coal and to stop coal mining. It can’t be proven. It’s probably crap, but it can’t be disproven. You wanted a possible reason. It’s the only thing I can think of on the spur of the moment."

"I see. How can we use it?"

Look thoughtful. Hand on chin.

"Not many people know about this research because it is not highly regarded. Its scientific basis is weak. But if we raised its profile there are bound to be some people who will believe it. Science has its fashions. It favours nuclear power because that does not generate CO₂."

"Yes. Yes. You’ve got it. Shuffle a few millions of research funding their way. Set up a few conferences about it. Fund anyone who advocates it, not just in Universities and research labs. Give support to those ‘Eco’ groups - that would make us popular. We’d be seen to be doing something for the environment. Get some well-known International scientists involved. Get it onto TV. That would get public attention. That would make it stick. That would give us a good reason to smash the miners. That would get the public behind us. Well done. Just make SURE it can’t be disproven for a year or two.

All we need now is a slogan for it. How about ‘Coal is too hot to handle’? No, that’s dumb. It needs to sound right with the word ‘Research’ after it. How about ‘World Over-heating’? ‘World Over-heating Research’? No, that doesn’t sound scientific - more like cookery. ‘Global Warming’? Yes that’s it. All agreed? Right, get to it".

Get up and walk out - M. Thatcher first.