How times have changed.

More than 35 years ago miners were fighting to save coal mines from destruction and many were in sympathy with their cause.

Roll the lock forwards to the 21st century and we are living in a very different world from that of the miners’ strike.

Today we are in the grip of a creeping paralysis – climate change.

If we don’t do something about reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, our children and grandchildren may find themselves living in a a much poorer place.

So when Cumbria County Council gave the go-ahead for a coal mine in West Cumbria, a few eyebrows were raised, to say the least.

The protests have now had their impact, and in putting the plans on hold, the council said it was reconsidering them “in the light of new information.”

This new information, but hardly a shock, is the Government’s Climate Change Committee Sixth Carbon Budget which sets out the volume of greenhouse gases the UK aims to emit during 2033-2037.

But there is another side to this coin. The development will bring an estimated £160m of investment into the region and hundreds of much-needed jobs.

And it is argued that mining coking coal here for steel production is far better for the environment than importing it.

And so the fight will go on until the council makes up its mind. Again.