General secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions GAWAIN LITTLE calls for support and participation in the national partnership organised to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1926 general strike
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Orgreave: the blue print for policing dissent
The Tories' attempt to broaden police powers in dealing with protest adds urgency to the call for an enquiry into events at Orgreave, writes CHRIS PEACE
1984
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The economic value of disability benefits far outweighs their cost, argues Dr DYLAN MURPHY
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JUNE 18 1984 was a day different to any other during the 1984/85 miners’ strike. Miners weren’t stopped and turned around by the police at roadblocks as had been happening throughout the strike. Instead, they were literally ushered into the fields surrounding the Orgreave coking plant by the police.
What was also different about that day was the vast numbers of police there with 13 different police forces from all over Britain present. All were assembled and briefed to attack, and all done in a time without mobile phones and electronic communication.
Significantly it was also a day different in terms of the extent of police brutality and violence unleashed on those present by well-armed and pseudo paramilitary-trained police units.
More from this author
Miners battered by the police in 1984 still await justice as Labour pledges to launch a probe — but will any new inquiry pry loose the BBC’s buried footage and expose the Tory lies that framed innocents, asks CHRIS PEACE
State-led repression during the 1984-85 miners’ strike has a frightening number of similarities to the situation workers and campaigners find themselves in today, writes CHRIS PEACE
A rejuvenated interest in trade unions and the labour movement among younger people shows battles such as Orgreave are not ‘consigned to history’ – but part of an ongoing class struggle that’s still very much alive today, says CHRIS PEACE
