The money was given to local government, not back to national government. It was down to the local council what they did with the money.
Companies which are only making money because of the improvements in efficiency which would never have happened if the unions still had control.
Sorta agree with that, there could have been a better compromise but it takes two to tango and the unions weren't interested in negotiating either.
Anybody is welcome to re-open those industries, I wonder why they don't ? As for coal, yes its expensive to import but still cheaper then domestically produced, however I believe there is some interested in expanding surface mining in the UK,
UK miners hit by cheap coal, dear diesel despite demand jump | Reuters
Having worked in the car industry, car production in the UK in the 70's was a joke. Why do you think foreign produced cars quickly outsold UK produced ones ?
Wake up and smell the roses, nobody wanted to buy British goods, crap quality and high prices. UK was no longer a industrial superpower, still living in the past of 'empire' that it stole.
A war that could have been avoided.
Lol