Jim, That is an absolute outrage. If it really is as bad as you describe, then I would have thought that something would have been done before now. Of course, one must look at the whole story. There are those who have never been taught to manage their affairs and never save for a rainy day. Surely it can't all be put down to pit closures. Up in Newcastle, I once had a cleaner who managed to take 2 foreign holidays a year. When I asked her how she would cope when she could no longer earn money by cleaning, she said the state could keep her. It's a very worrying situation. John