STRIKES! They scare the life out of me as the outcomes are so predictable.

Can one forget or forgive Arthur Scargill’s blind fanaticism which closed down our mining industry, put thousands out of work and brought devastation to the mining valleys in Wales?

And to what end? Oh yes, we now have to import coal!

Do those going on strike realise what it is they are asking?

They want the folk who are working in the private sector to actually contribute to their pensions; pensions whose value is many times more than the ones they are likely to get.

To carry out such ‘blackmail’ at a time when the country is in such a bad state, causing loss of valuable income, not to mention the inconvenience to the public at large, is selfish and greedy to say the least.

Public services have been overstaffed and feather bedded for far too long and now should be the time for them to show a little concern for the mess the country is in.

They should also accept the fact that all of us have been hit in the pocket one way or another.

I would, if I were them, be a little concerned that there are thousands of people out of work, eager to get a job.

Blame must mostly lie with over-enthusiastic union leaders who, by the way, are themselves assured of large pensions, using emotive rhetoric, trying to prove they are actually doing something and taking notice of their members.

And as the votes cast to strike are only about 40 per cent, is it legal?