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
The welcome news that Cuba has finally been removed from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list is tempered by the fact that Donald Trump, the man who put it there, is returning to the White House, warns NATASHA HICKMAN
Thanks to impressive progress in Britain with wind and solar generation, clean electricity now costs a fraction of the price of gas — yet the current system keeps bills artificially high to protect fossil fuels, writes TOM HARDY
By spreading race-based conspiracy theories, the billionaire tycoon turned right-wing provocateur has been seriously undermining the case against those who really did let victims of the grooming gangs down, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
Many Western countries are grappling with deep political instability. What are the causes of this, and what could be a possible way forward? asks MARC VANDEPITTE
KEITH BENNETT explains why, despite its present meagre economic outcomes, an honest and fruitful partnership with China is worth pursuing
Nick Wright talks to photographer and author JANINA STRUK
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
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The police attack on striking miners at will be once again marked as a day of infamy at the annual march and rally of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign in Sheffield next Saturday, writes Morning Star northern reporter PETER LAZENBY
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The 40th anniversary of the 1984-5 miners’ strike will bring renewed demands for an inquiry into the brutal police attack on miners at Orgreave in South Yorkshire. PETER LAZENBY reports