Video special: History proved us right, say striking miners

CALLS for a public inquiry into the year-long miners’ strike are being stepped up as communities across the country gear up to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the start of the most bitter industrial conflict in living memory.
The Orgreave picket line in 1984The Orgreave picket line in 1984
The Orgreave picket line in 1984

A series of events will be held by miners, their families, supporters and union activists in the coming weeks, while the anger and bitterness which characterised the dispute will be re-kindled.

The strike started in Yorkshire in early March 1984 but soon escalated, with thousands of police officers drafted into Nottinghamshire, which became a battleground as some miners continued to work. The dispute pitted Mrs Thatcher’s government against the NUM and its fiery president, Arthur Scargill.

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Recent revelations in papers released by the National Archives that Margaret Thatcher secretly considered calling out the troops at the height of the strike have heightened the belief that a full-blown inquiry should be held.

The Orgreave picket line in 1984The Orgreave picket line in 1984
The Orgreave picket line in 1984

Labour MP Ian Lavery, a former president of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), has tabled an early day motion in Parliament, which “regrets that nearly 30 years after the strike ended, there are still men who were wrongly arrested or convicted during the dispute, who have never received justice”.

Mr Lavery said he would continue pressing for an inquiry into the events of 30 years ago.

He said: “People who live in great mining communities across the UK have not forgotten the strike and they will never forget.”

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The National Union of Mineworkers insists it is “alive and kicking”, still representing miners and their families and communities despite seeing membership collapse following the closure of most of the country’s pits.

The Orgreave picket line in 1984The Orgreave picket line in 1984
The Orgreave picket line in 1984

The union had 250,000 members when Arthur Scargill was elected president in 1982, but that figure has fallen to just 1,800, with many employed in just three traditional deep mines.

The union is helping to organise events to mark the 30th anniversary of the start of the 1984 strike, including a memorial service for Davy Jones and Joe Green, who died during separate incidents in Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire during the dispute.

General secretary Chris Kitchen said claims the union and its officials were making at the time of the strike had proved to be correct.

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He told the Press Association that he backed calls for an inquiry into the strike, describing what happened as “nothing short of industrial vandalism”.

The Orgreave picket line in 1984The Orgreave picket line in 1984
The Orgreave picket line in 1984

He said: “There was nothing wrong with the nationalised industry ethos of coal being mined in the UK and being burned in state-owned power stations for use in homes, hospitals, schools and industry.

“Coal is the cheapest form of producing energy but it has been penalised. The Government has been throwing money at wind farms and solar energy which it knows is unreliable.

“We can’t turn back the tide, but why can’t we invest more in carbon capture and storage and have a part-nationalised coal industry working for the good of the country?”

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Looking back 30 years ago, the NUM leader says it is increasingly clear that Margaret Thatcher was determined to “take on” the union and “destroy” mining communities.

He holds back from criticising Mr Scargill, saying that as more details emerge from the Cabinet papers of the day, the former president’s warnings of mass pit closures are being proved correct.

But the NUM is still embroiled in legal action against its former leader over legal bills run up by the International Energy and Miners Organisation (IEMO).

The strike started in early March 1984 over pit closures planned by the state-owned National Coal Board and pitted Mrs Thatcher’s government against the NUM and Arthur Scargill.

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Mr Scargill always maintained that the government planned mass pit closures as well as attacking the union, a sentiment which was backed up by a now-released note from an official at 10 Downing Street that said the strike was a “unique opportunity to break the power of the militants in the NUM”.

Some of the most shocking and memorable scenes of the year-long dispute were seen during clashes between thousands of striking miners and police at the Orgreave Coking Plant, near Rotherham, in June 1984.

Those arrested at Orgreave were held for a variety of offences, with several being put on trial for rioting. The trial collapsed after 16 weeks when it became clear police evidence was unreliable.

South Yorkshire Police referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission in 2012 after claims in a documentary that some officers may have colluded in writing court statements.

Joe Rollin, chairman of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign, said he believed the police were sending out a political message to miners that they would not tolerate mass picketing.