Do you agree with the view that the prime cause of the miners’ strike in 1984 was the conservative governments determination to reduce trade union power?

The fact that the Conservative government wanted to reduce trade union power was indeed a factor which led to the miners’ strike in 1984 but not necessarily the biggest one.
It is relevant to state that the Thatcher Government was concerned over the general power that the unions held and had taken action to curb union powers with the introduction of the Employment Act 1982. Source 1 highlights the fact that the strike was the culmination of a long conflict between the Conservative Party and the mineworkers union. The National Union of Minors (NUM) was the strongest and most powerful union and it was widely accepted that it had been responsible for bringing down the Edward Heath Conservative Government following the minors’ strike of 1973-74. In 1972, the NUM led by Arthur Scargill had put forward a joint bid to gain wage increase and to highlight the increasing number of pit closures that threatened its members livelihood. In order to succeed Scargill had used minors from across the country to bring the movement of coal to a standstill. Heath believed that the government would survive the strike longer than the miners. He cut electricity which led to ordinary people being without light and heating for long periods. Heath held an election as to who ran the country, the miners or the government. The answer of the electorate was not what he expected and the Conservatives lost power with the mood of the public showing some sympathy towards the unions. It might be considered that this provided a motive for Thatcher to take on the NUM and Arthur Scargill. However, there were more specific issues that related to the future of coal mining in Britain. As Source 2 confirms, Thatcher believed that there was no point