London Socialist Historians Group
Press Release 7th March
Contact Dr Keith Flett 07803 167266
Historians say time for files on State involvement in 1984/5 miner’s strike to be revealed
The London Socialist Historians Group who organise the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research in central London have said that with the 40th anniversary of the 1984/5 miner’s strike now upon us- strikes started in some pits from 5 and 6 March 1984- it is time for files on State involvement in the strike to be made public.
The historians say that the Public Record Office has released a considerable number of official files relating to the strike.
However there is certainly more detail to be discovered. An article in the Daily Mirror on 7th March by Conrad Landin and Ewan Gibbs reveals that Coal Board plans to shut pits leading to up to 70,000 job losses were deliberately delayed until after the 1983 General Election which the Tories won. These revelations come from Coal Board papers.
The Government decision to order an inquiry into some activities of undercover police spies [not related to the strike] suggests that much information remains outside of the public domain. However the very long running SpyCops Inquiry is some way from 1984/5, if it ever gets there.
At the time it was widely believed that soldiers appeared in police uniforms at some strike flash points. In addition there is little doubt that the State interfered in the internal activities of the National Union of Mineworkers.
It is already known that the previous NUM General Secretary Joe Gormley co-operated with the security services to highlight militant activity in the Union. Arthur Scargill was clearly from a very different mould but the focus of Government agents appears to have remained.
LSHG Convenor Dr Keith Flett, said The miner’s strike was a key event in modern British history. It is more than time that we had a full account of what the Government did around it, particularly with continuing concerns around the activities of State agents. We’d like to see all Government papers relating to the strike made available to historians with at least a summary fully in the public domain.
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