SNP Justice Secretary says no compensation for miners as part of strike pardons

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Miners pardoned for historic convictions linked to strikes should not receive compensation from the Scottish Government, the Justice Secretary has said.

Challenged by former Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard, Keith Brown said it was an issue for Westminster. Brown argued that a compensation scheme could delay miners from being pardoned and was not within the Scottish Government’s powers.

The Scottish Government is planning to pardon living and dead coal workers convicted of certain offences during the miners’ strike of 1984-85.Brown said the collective pardon was to “recognise the disproportionate impact felt by those miners" and to "help the mining communities heal old wounds”.Included are convictions for offences such as breach of the peace, breaches of bail conditions or obstruction that were allegedly committed on the picket lines or demonstrations in support of miners.Brown told MSPs that pardons would not formally quash convictions or give people any further rights or entitlements and said:“I am clear that the Bill should not cast any doubt on decisions made by the judiciary at the team or seek to place blame on any individual or group of individuals.”He added: “The conditions of the pardon recognise miners and police officers found themselves in extremely challenging situations where relationships came under unprecedented strain.“Miners who took part in industrial action did so to protect their jobs, their way of life and the communities.“Police officers were only exercising their duty to uphold the law and in circumstances and on a scale which had never encountered before.“The pardon will apply both to living people and posthumously given the passage of time since the strike.”On compensation, Brown said: