As the grandaughter of a miner, I am no fan of Scargill, but I agree with Grandad1943, Scargill was never going to get reported honestly by the right wing press, certainly during the time of Thatcher, also remember there was not social media, no FB to refute the worst statements and allegations made by papers like the Daily Mail. This does not in anyway mean I supported Scargill.
Back to the point of the thread, it is incredible that money available was not used, or are we to assume that people are being left to struggle and go hungry to save the government's face, because acceptance of funds would mean acknowledgement of the problem?