A Powerful Message for Amber Rudd – The Orgreave Campaign Is Not Going Away!
Boards went up overnight on Thursday 24 November in the area around Orgreave, near Rotherham in South Yorkshire. They carry a simple message to Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, who blocked the demand by the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC) for an inquiry into policing at Orgreave during the miners’ strike.
On June 18 1984 the police made extensive preparations, deploying around 6,000 officers from 18 different forces, equipped with riot gear and supported by police dogs and 42 mounted police officers. This force was unleashed against 5,000 miners who wanted to prevent access to the works by strike-breaking lorries that collected coke for use at the British Steel Corporation mill in Scunthorpe. Now the boards and leaflets which are being distributed carry a powerful message.
A SERIOUS CRIME HAPPENED HERE
STRIKING MINERS WERE BEATEN UP, FITTED UP AND LOCKED UP
THE GOVERNMENT HAS REFUSED TO INVESTIGATE
DEMAND JUSTICE NOW!
A spokesperson for the OTJC said, ‘Our campaign was furious at the way Amber Rudd led us up the garden path before blocking an inquiry. We are all the more determined now to build wider support for a public inquiry and over the coming months we intend to remind Amber Rudd that we are not closing down the campaign. Far from it, we are more determined than ever to get justice for the miners whose lives were changed so dramatically by the police action that day.’
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