Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been urged to visit communities in Upper Nithsdale following his “crass comments” on mine closures.
South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth challenged the UK government leader to go to Kirkconnel and Sanquhar to find out for himself the devastation caused by loss of the pits there.
Mr Johnson sparked a furious backlash when, during a visit to Scotland, he suggested Margaret Thatcher helped the environment by shutting coal mines.
While viewing a windfarm, he said the closures gave the UK “a big early start” in the fight against climate change.
And he is reported to have laughed and told journalists: “I thought that would get you going.”
Communities across Scotland. including Upper Nithsdale, were left devastated when coal mines were shut down in the 1980s.
Mr Smyth, who is Scottish Labour’s economic development spokesman, said: “The axing of mines by Thatcher had nothing to do with the environmentalism and everything to do with trying to crush the trade unions.
“The closure of the mines in communities across our region in the 80s, without any adequate support to rebuild the local economy, left a level of devastation that even today they have still not fully recovered from.
“You just have to speak to any former miner in those proud communities to appreciate how utterly divisive and destructive that period was for the local towns and villages affected and understand the considerable hardship and misery that was caused.”
He added: “I hope the Prime Minister will apologise for yet another bungling performance and his crass comments.
“I’d challenge Boris Johnson to visit the coalfield communities, speak to local people and listen to their calls to start to repair some of the damage caused all those years ago, with proper investment from the government.”
During his two-day visit to Scotland last week, Mr Johnson had been quizzed about preparations for the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November.
Pushed on whether he would set a deadline for ending the extraction of fossil fuels, he said the UK had already transitioned away from coal in his lifetime, and he suggested Mrs Thatcher had inadvertently got the ball rolling.
Mr Johnson declined to apologise amid a backlash over his remarks but the PM’s spokesman said he recognised the “huge impact and pain” of the closures.
