This Day in History

[Carruthers]

I remember the Aberfan disaster from my schooldays although some of the detail has become hazy with the passage of time.
This week's commemorations of the disaster, have brought to light the disgraceful way the National Coal Board and the Government behaved in the aftermath of the tragedy.

In 1966, the Aberfan Disaster Memorial Fund (ADMF) received 90,000 contributions which reached a total of £1,606,929. The remaining tips were only eventually made safe after a lengthy fight from Aberfan residents, resisted by the NCB and Labour Government. Clearing was paid for by a government grant and forced contribution of £150,000 taken from the charity fund. In 1997 the Labour Government paid back the £150,000 to the ADMF and in 2007 the Welsh Assembly donated £1.5 million to ADMF as recompense for the money wrongly taken.

Despicable is the only way to describe it.

Quote is from UT's link above.