London asked to ‘return’ £15 million in opencast taxes
LONDON is being asked to ‘return’ £15 million it took from taxes on opencast mining operations in Clydesdale to repair the environmental damage the industry left behind.
The appeal has come from the Scottish Government’s energy minister Fergus Ewing who wants at least some of the money, if ‘repaid’, to restore the former mining sites of the Douglas Valley and help find new work for the workers laid off when Scottish Coal collapsed last year.
He wants that money to add to the funds Holyrood has ploughed into creating 550 new jobs to replace those lost here in Clydesdale and throughout the Scottish coalfield.
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