The danger of ignoring canaries in the coalmine: from child poverty and wood burning stoves to doctors’ pay

The danger of ignoring canaries in the coalmine: from child poverty and wood burning stoves to doctors' pay Kamran Abbasi editor in chiefIt's hard to imagine now, but coal was once king.Lorries delivered the coal that burned in the open fires we huddled around.We breathed in fumes, oblivious to the harm carried in the air, let alone the PM2.5 count.Better-off people could afford gas central heating, an aspiration beyond millions of households.In the 1980s Margaret Thatcher smashed the coal industry and the NUM, the coal miners' trade union.Another Margaret, Scargill in this instance, was a fellow medical student of mine.Her father was firebrand miner's union leader Arthur Scargill.We never discussed coal.In fact, I can't remember us discussing anything.