Preferable to Starmer he may be, but there is scant sign of a sharp political break in Burnham’s policies so far — while left challenges aren’t making much of a running either, finds ANDREW MURRAY. How can socialism be put back on the map?
THE MINERS’ STRIKE of 1972 was the first time miners had staged a national stoppage since 1926. Its outcome has been labelled “the miners’ greatest victory.”
In 1971 the NUM submitted a pay claim of between £5 and £9 per week (dependent on grade) and the National Coal Board replied with an offer of £1.60 — which reflected the Tory government’s strategy of wage restraint. A national ballot of the miners voted for strike action which started on January 9, 1972.
It was to become an important landmark in working-class history. A key event of the dispute and the one which led to its victorious outcome was the Battle of Saltley Gate which occurred 50 years ago today.
The public inquiry is the result of more than a decade of determined campaigning. Now, those who fought for justice want the full story of government involvement and police conduct to be told, says KATE FLANNERY
The General Strike exposed the power of the working class — and the limits of its leadership, writes Dr DYLAN MURPHY
Four decades on, the Wapping dispute stands as both a heroic act of resistance and a decisive moment in the long campaign to break trade union power. Lord JOHN HENDY KC looks back on the events of 1986



