It’s now 30 years since the epic struggle between the miners and a Conservative government led by Margaret Thatcher, a strike that lasted a bitter twelve months. Former Labour government minister Kim Howells was involved at the heart of the action, working for the National Union of Mineworkers in South Wales. In this deeply-felt memoir, he asks some challenging questions about the conduct, the strategy and the outcomes of the strike.

This memoir by Kim Howells was Broadcast on BBC One, 10:25PM Sun, 9 Mar 2014, and is available on the Iplayer until 11:24PM Sun, 16 Mar 2014.