Boris Johnson says UK should start mining and burning coal again

Prime minister says current setup ‘makes no sense’

(Reuters TV)

Boris Johnson has suggested that Britain should start mining and burning its own coal again, despite the climate emergency.

The prime minister said it "makes no sense" for Britain to be importing coal from abroad for use in steelmaking "when we have our own domestic resources".

While the UK has largely abandoned coal for for power generation, slashing CO2 emissions, it still uses some in steelmaking, where the substance is harder to cut out.