Despite evidence that the violence was instigated by the police (and undercover military personnel) in an orchestrated attack, as well as evidence of falsified witness statements and an establishment cover-up, the government decided an inquiry was unnecessary because out of the hundreds injured “no one died”, and all of the 95 arrested were eventually acquitted.
Aside from the authoritarian reasoning which argues premeditated state violence is fine as long as nobody is murdered, this announcement suggests the Conservative government understands how integral its lies about Orgreave are to legitimizing violent worker suppression.
In 1981, Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher launched a war on unions by announcing the closure of 23 coal pits, starting an on-going industrial dispute which crescendoed at a South Yorkshire coking plant three years later.
The National Union of Miners (NUM) mobilized 10,000 pickets at the Orgreave coking plant to stop strike-breaking lorry drivers transporting coke to steel mills.
A force of 5,000 police officers descended onto Orgreave to break the pickets, armed with riot equipment, armoured vehicles, attack dogs and military horses. Unprovoked, baton-wielding police charged the miners on horseback and the fleeing picketers were chased through the terraced streets of Orgreave; many were badly beaten and dozens were arrested.
To justify this violent attack, South Yorkshire Police manipulated witness statements and gave false evidence in court to prosecute the miners with violent conduct and inciting riots. Although the picketers were eventually acquitted, the lengthy and expensive court cases drained union resources and marked the beginning of the end for the NUM. Any pits that survived closure were privatized in 1994 and a government assault upon unions has continued since.
more on Thatcher’s class war
https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/orgreave-winning-the-battle-means-winning-the-war
Aside from the authoritarian reasoning which argues premeditated state violence is fine as long as nobody is murdered, this announcement suggests the Conservative government understands how integral its lies about Orgreave are to legitimizing violent worker suppression.
In 1981, Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher launched a war on unions by announcing the closure of 23 coal pits, starting an on-going industrial dispute which crescendoed at a South Yorkshire coking plant three years later.
The National Union of Miners (NUM) mobilized 10,000 pickets at the Orgreave coking plant to stop strike-breaking lorry drivers transporting coke to steel mills.
A force of 5,000 police officers descended onto Orgreave to break the pickets, armed with riot equipment, armoured vehicles, attack dogs and military horses. Unprovoked, baton-wielding police charged the miners on horseback and the fleeing picketers were chased through the terraced streets of Orgreave; many were badly beaten and dozens were arrested.
To justify this violent attack, South Yorkshire Police manipulated witness statements and gave false evidence in court to prosecute the miners with violent conduct and inciting riots. Although the picketers were eventually acquitted, the lengthy and expensive court cases drained union resources and marked the beginning of the end for the NUM. Any pits that survived closure were privatized in 1994 and a government assault upon unions has continued since.
more on Thatcher’s class war
https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/orgreave-winning-the-battle-means-winning-the-war
