I WELCOME the announcement by Michael Matheson, Scotland’s Justice Minister, that there is to be an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the policing during the miners’ strike in the 1980s ("Miners’ strike police review", The Herald, June 8). It is interesting that the Theresa May Government has turned down the request for a similar inquiry into the events at what became known as "the Battle of Orgreave" in England, which took place during the same strike. The reason behind that decision is easy to understand. Why would a Conservative government wish to have an inquiry into highly controversial events which took place under another Conservative administration? The SNP can be a bit more relaxed about inquiries into matters in the 1980s.
There are many allegations worthy of examination. There is no doubt that there has been a profound sense of grievance in many mining communities since the end of the strike with regard to measures taken against many miners. Margaret Thatcher, when Prime Minister, viewed the striking miners as the "enemy within" and there was no doubt that she was determined there would be no repeat of the experience undergone in the 1970s by Edward Heath, as Prime Minister, with the miners. The Thatcher Government at that time was going all out to defeat the miners. With that background, it is welcome news that at least some of the measures adopted at the time by or on behalf of the state, are to be subject to independent review.
Ian W Thomson,
38 Kirkintilloch Road, Lenzie.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel