Boris Johnson has refused to apologise after joking about Margaret Thatcher closing coal mines in Scotland and across the UK.
The Tory Prime Minister said it was “thanks” to Margaret Thatcher the mines were shut and chuckled as he said it during a two-day visit to Scotland.
He claimed that the former PM had given the UK an " early start" in the shift away from fossil fuels by closing pits.
At a media briefing with Scottish journalists Johnson was asked about setting a timetable for ending oil and gas exploration in the North Sea.
He said: “Look at what we’ve done already. We've transitioned away from coal in my lifetime. Thanks to Margaret Thatcher who closed so many coal mines [the Prime Minister then laughs] across the country where we had had a big early start and we’re now moving rapidly away from coal altogether.”
He then joked: “I thought that would get you going.”
His comments sparked anger among politicians across the UK.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "Lives and communities in Scotland were utterly devastated by Thatcher’s destruction of the coal industry (which had zero to do with any concern she had for the planet).
"To treat that as something to laugh about is crass and deeply insensitive to that reality."
While the SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford told Times Radio: "He [ Boris Johnson ] has no clue about the impact of Thatcher's deindustrialisation, not just from the closure of the coal mines but destruction right across the industrial heartlands."
Welsh First Minster Mark Drakeford told BBC Radio 4's Today: "I'm afraid that those remarks are both crass and offensive.
"The damage done to Welsh coal mining areas 30 years ago was incalculable and here we are 30 years later the Tories are still celebrating what they did."
In response the Prime Minister's official spokesman told reporters: "The Prime Minister recognises the huge impact and pain closing coal mines had in communities across the UK.
"This Government has an ambitious plan to tackle the critical issue of climate change, which includes reducing reliance on coal and other non-renewable energy sources.
"During the visit the Prime Minister pointed to the huge progress already made in the UK transitioning away from coal and towards cleaner forms of energy, and our commitment to supporting people and industries on that transition."
Asked if the Prime Minister would apologise, the spokesman said: "You've got my words there, the Prime Minister recognises the huge impact and pain closing coal mines had in communities across the UK."
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