Major Discomfort

In a startling reversal, British Prime Minister John Major rescinded his government’s six-day-old order to close 31 coal mines within five months. The closures would have resulted in the loss of jobs for 30,000 miners and staff. Faced with mutiny within his own party and widespread public anger over the callous treatment of coal workers, Major delayed the closing of 10 of the mines until after the first of the year. The fate of the remaining 21 mines awaits the results of a study on the future of coal mining in the U.K., not a cheery prospect in any case.