From the miners' strike to Gaza: Jeremy Corbyn joins left voices at the Morning Star's annual conference
Standing ovations and rousing speeches on the 1984-85 miners’ strike prompted lively discussion of how we learn from the great struggle to win today's battles. BERNY TORRE reports on the Morning Star's annual conference
STRIKE veterans, trade union militants and left MPs led lively debate on the lessons of the miners’ strike for today’s struggles at the annual Morning Star conference at the weekend.
Applause rang out as Labour MP Ian Lavery and National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) general secretary Chris Kitchen called for a public inquiry into the policing of the 1984-85 miners’ strike on its 40th anniversary.
And sessions debated features of the biggest industrial dispute of the Thatcher years that can inform us now, from the co-ordinated use of state power to smash workers and the left to the importance of international solidarity and opposition to imperialism.
More from this author
Israel’s onslaught has created the largest number of child amputees in modern history, experts say
Similar stories
Durham Miners Association leader ALAN MARDGHUM talks to Ben Chacko about the continued relevance of trade unions, the lacklustre general election campaign, whether we can believe opinion polls and the ‘reprehensible’ North Durham candidate, Luke Akehurst
GREG CHALLIS reports on an event, organised by Chorley TUC, to remember the landmark struggle of the miners and their families, where calls were made for a return to working-class politics to address the issues of today
IAN LAVERY MP, who took part in – and was arrested on – the great strike, looks back on the significance of this heightened period of class struggle