Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Home Office in London on Monday to demand justice over the Battle of Orgreave.
Campaigners brought drums, vuvuzelas, whistles and pots to the “make some noise for Orgreave” demonstration.
Police attacked striking miners at the Orgreave coking plant in Sheffield in June 1984, during the Miners’ Strike. They then framed 95 miners for riot.
Home secretary Amber Rudd last year ruled out an inquiry into the policing of Orgreave.
Joe Rollin from the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign told Socialist Worker, “I’m really happy with the turnout.
“Amber Rudd hoped that this would all go away when she said there wouldn’t be an inquiry. Today shows it won’t.”
Solidarity
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott brought a message of solidarity from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
“The Labour Party will not rest until you get a full public inquiry,” she said.
Activists from other campaigns brought solidarity.
Sheila Coleman from the Hillsborough Justice Campaign told Socialist Worker, “Hillsborough and Orgreave are inextricably linked.
“If South Yorkshire Police had been dealt with after Orgreave, we wouldn’t have had the cover-up over Hillsborough. But their behaviour was sanctioned from the top.”
Newly released documents from 1985 show that Margaret Thatcher’s government was desperate to avoid an inquiry into the policing of the strike.
Joe said the papers show that those at the top “are absolutely terrified about collective action”.
But he said the policing plan for Orgreave, among other files, have yet to be released.
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