IT’S all very well for Ray Davies to blame ex-PM Margaret Thatcher for destroying the Welsh coal industry (Argus letters, April 15).

And I note that unlike some of his mining colleagues he found further employment on that ‘gravy train’ formerly known as British Steel, so he obviously believes in the Thatcherite principle of looking after ‘number one’.

But what excuse does he offer for Arthur Scargill, an Englishman from Yorkshire, who managed to persuade Welsh miners and their leaders to down tools for almost 12 months in what was basically his personal and ideological vendetta against the then Tory government?

He even convinced them after six months and still no end in sight that they would have jobs to go back to.

Say what you like about Scargill, but he certainly led the Valleys communities up the garden path.

Mr A Greenhalgh Ross Street Newport