Hundrds of ex-miners will have a “hell of a time” at a party with bands and comedians as Baroness Thatcher’s funeral takes place.
Durham Miners’ Association (DMA) general secretary David Hopper said that at a meeting in the last days of the North-East coal industry, a unanimous agreement was made to hold a celebration when she died.
It will take place at the Easington Colliery Club in County Durham on Wednesday, subject to the approval of its committee.
Mr Hopper said: “It’s the end of an era for the person who destroyed our coal mines.
“We are recognising that the perpetrator of all this evil has gone and thankfully she will not be coming back. At the meeting we agreed that at Thatcher’s demise, if we were still around, we would put on an alternative event.
“We will have a hell of a time. We will have comedians on and bands and we are going to enjoy ourselves. There will be a lot of men wanting to have a drink and celebrate.
“The proof will be in the pudding but the club is big and there will be 500 to 600 miners in there, with room for more in an overflow.”
The pit in Easington Colliery which was the setting for the film Billy Elliott closed in 1993 with the loss of 1,400 jobs and it is one of the most deprived parts of the country.
Mr Hopper said: “When you walk down the main street you would think you are in Beirut. It’s an absolute state.”
Alan Cummings, chairman of the DMA and a stalwart of the 1984 miners’ strike, said of Baroness Thatcher: “I couldn’t stand her. She had a very patronising manner and I could have put my foot through the television whenever I saw her on there.
“We opposed and hated everything she did. She has wrecked thousands and thousands of lives so no, it’s not in poor taste.
“We can understand why people are happy and rejoicing that she has gone because they remember these communities have never recovered.”
A separate event on Tuesday evening for women who supported the striking miners has also been planned.