source: Socialist Worker

first published: 29 January 2024

Image Credit: Mike Bird at www.Pexels.com

The new Channel 4 series 'Miners’ Strike 1984: The Battle for Britain' lays bare the police brutality and corruption at the heart of the “Battle of Orgreave”—a confrontation ­provoked by bosses and the Tory government.

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The series details new footage showing orchestrated police violence as well as miners speaking publicly for the first time about the injustices they faced.

The first episode totally misses the mark by suggesting that viewers should feel sorry for the scabs. But the second episode covers Orgreave with much more accuracy.

Striking coal miners turned up at Orgreave coking plant to picket on 18 June 1984 and were faced with terrible police brutality under the encouragement of Margaret Thatcher’s government.

The plan was for miners to hit steel production and go on the offensive. For the government it was an opportunity to crush the striking miners and prove that industrial resistance was hopeless.

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