Maggie and the miners - were the army at the ready? 

As a Social Worker in Loanhead /Bilston, I helped Miners' wives with benefits advice. I was also duty bound to write reports for the Courts on miners who were accused and convicted of 'breach of the peace'. I wrote these reports, making clear how these men were stalwart members of the community, fighting to keep their jobs, etc., and what they contrbuted to the community. I was thereafter under investigation, because the Courts did not like what I wrote, and all my work as a Social Worker over the past year was interrogated. Every last aspect of my work! It was a dreadful experience for me. In the end, the investgation found that I was always honest and could evidence my reports. I had done nothing wrong. They could find no faults. I was told never to do that again.

My dad worked down the pit in the 80s and he told me that army lads we’re dressed as police during the clashes,that’s why half the police ID numbers were missing from their shoulders

A sinister time. RIP, past industries,the future as never looked so bleak!

I had three friends who were in the army at the time and it was an open secret that soldiers were involved mainly because of their aggression.

The army were there helping the police i was told this by my pal who was a serving soldier at the time this is truth

I was there, The British Army was deployed, dressed as policemen in blue with no numbers, the difference was obvious, they could march, the Plod could not .

This was the beginning of the end for the post-industrial UK

SCARGILL MADE A MASSIVE MISTAKE HE STRIKED IN THE SUMMER , IF THEY HAD STRIKED IN THE WINTER THATCHER WOULDNT HAVE LASTED THATS WHAT WAS THE BIG ERROR

If the army had been there the soldiers would have been identified by now.

and the police should be ashamed the part they played....bulling and hurting the working classes why did you do this

she was vile what she did to people I wont miss you..but the price will go on forever for some poor people

I will tell you something, I lived and worked in the 70's in the UK. I was sick to death of strikes affecting my life, they didn;t care about me, so why should I care about them. majority rule, and the strikers were not the majority, I loved watching thatcher sort this mess out, scargill was an evil man.

Scargill was no match for the Iron Lady.

The thatcher years were a nightmare !!! I don't like any extremes left or right they always start telling you what you can do think and say

The bloke at 3 20 is my uncle I'm pretty sure,a striking Notts miner has was my father Sean Reid rip dad

I knew someone who was in the Army in 1984 and he swore up and down that not only was the Army involved in Policing the strike, he was too. The language used on Picket Lines was language used in the Military, wearing uniforms without numbers on. At the end of the day, Scargill couldn't win, if Thatcher was to go down, she was taking the country down with her

Going to miss this sort of programming.

Sad day when the miners lost. We all lost.

My cousin was in the Royal Scots they were given police uniforms to go beat up miners at the battle of Bilston Glen. He said you can tell who the soldiers were as they had no numbers on their shoulders as the uniforms were straight out of the box. To his shame.

She was the feminine Franco!

How come not one 1980s squaddie has ever come forward and sold their story to a newspaper, or spoken about the day they dressed up as a policeman during the miners strike? Probably because it never happened.

Why stiking miners and there wife's terrorised working miners and there children screaming we living on £21 a week 😮FFS tell that to your husbands not abuse break windows bully kids whos fathers husband chose to be working not bullied 🙄 and put there families first ❤ those men showed REAL back bone

Matgaret Tatcher,the Greatest snob in the UK.

MT micro managed the strike on a day to day basis,threw money galore at it,and would have spent more despite a near victory twice by the miners during that twelve months.The miners never had a chance,the stage was set from Maggie gaining power,and the outcome predictable,split of the union in Nott's,TUC failure to do anything when it mattered,dock workers-who would later regret not lending their support when the dock labour scheme was abolished.I will let someone else add the rest.

Oh well if it’s Paul Mason it won’t be one sided will it?

Coal mining should have been phased out during the 1960s. The Soviet agent Wilson closed twice as many coal mines as Thatcher did.

Brilliant this my wife’s father was ted leader celynen south

Not exactly sure where I stand on this, because I was only 13 when it started. However, and looking back, in my opinion, the police were heavy handed at times, but having said that striking miners and aggressive pickets needed to be dealt with. Why should they stop so-called scabs from working if they wanted to? If you want to strike - fine, go ahead, strike, and see where it gets you. But for those who wanted to work they should not be vilified and intimidated into joining a strike they don’t want to. If this line had been taken all those years ago I doubt there would’ve been so much aggression. The film “Billy Elliot”, which I’ve enjoyed watching time and time again, and the musical stage version in London, has prompted an interest in the 1984/5 miners strike. Thankfully, it never affected me or any close member of my family, but I can certainly sympathise with those who were affected by it and how they had very little to live on at the time. In the film Billy Elliot’s father decided to break the strike in order to raise money to send his son to audition for the Royal Ballet School. Needless to say, it didn’t go down well! In the years following the strike I’ve become aware of continued family disputes. One situation that I do know of occurred after two miners from the same family (not sure where) ended up disagreeing about the strike. One, the father, was on strike, the other, his son, was working and was considered a ‘scab’. The father hated his son so much for breaking the strike he never spoke to him again. Even after over thirty years since the strike ended the father and son were never reconciled. I find this exceptionally sad, and I believe the father has since died.

Coal was doomed with or without Maggie because of greenhouse gases.

Despite being the most photographed dispute in history, there don't seem to be any pictures of soldiers dressed as police officers. Anecdote it not a substitute for evidence.

The pits were loosing money hand over fist something had to be fone

it went on for 1 year

Paul Mason: MI5 agent

Bring British coal back

This just justifies that the unionists, of GB during the Thatcher years came to Australia and caused strikes at the beer breweries in the early 1980's at Easter and Christmas. I remember the beer strikes of 1982 and having a Scots Union Official (Thatcher Escapee) dictating terms for the Easter Weekend. This was Queensland, Australia.

good old scargill, got the NUM to pay him his pds 80,000 plus a year life pension and for his multi million pound london flat rental being pds 40,000 a year. Not forgeting the NUM paying pds 13,000 a year for car and chaufer for him even though he was retired... he also sued the num for money on many occassions lossing some cases but winning thousands..... he also has not yet returned the 1million pds given to him in 84 by the soviet union for the miners. He kept it it appears. Scargill started this strike and now we know everything was lost and all mines closed.... steel industry followed as electricity too expensive and no coal. Guess who picked up the european market that we lost due to these closures. Soviet union... wonder if he was working for them ? close englands industries , destroy them and then they have the market with germany.

Who could have thought that satan had actively worked against the people?

I'm glad Mags crushed Union Blackmail of the National Economy-----------"overpay me or else!"

Thatcher massively overplayed her hand with this one. Coal-mines were declining anyway (from after WW1) and that put a bad taste in the mouth for a lot of people with the Conservative Party.

Cause they were.. I own a public report from the 80s... They were already suited and booted in police uniforms

Violence will not succeed she said .The most violent woman who revelled in working class pain.Horrible woman.Ex services after the strike and remember how many service folk thought she was wonderful but none were from mining steel or industrial areas.

Englishmen eh. Judging by the comments, many still like to knock out a tommy tank over ugly Maggie. No taste.

Thatcher was too soft.

When the needed the army they tried to cover up the attocities. For fear of causing offence to a certain demographic!

the people involved in that strike should be ashamed

Dire Straits Iron Hand (= Margaret Thatcher ) sets it all out so well. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EXvWHWxNgH4.html Mark Knopler was certainly right on point! Wonderful song with beautifully descriptive lyrics.

Still Hate Thatcher

Scargills right hand man was an mi5 agent

Maggie was brilliant , I was there at those great times , great leader

Redwood passing the book

Liar

so 5000 pickets turn up at a coking plant to shut it down and the police are the bandies for enforcing the law and rights of the workers in this plant, its a joke i understand there maybe an enquiry now if Corbyn is elected well i hope it is to also prosecute those pickets that regarded extreme violence as a legitimate right, the police only stood up to those thugs who thought they had the right to bully people and anyone who thought that the police would send only a couple of offices to control a mob of 5000 miners is an idiot and they got all they deserved people like scargill had no interest in miners he just used them as pawns in his anti government agenda as history has no shown so why should she not have the army ready ,union leaders still had a fat pay day and perks while they incited their own troupes to riot

enjoy migrants

Surely all you lefties should be happy with what Maggie did. Less coal means less greenhouse gasses, eh? You care about that stuff right?

SCARGILL....horrible man !!!!

Bringing in troops was just the tip of the iceberg, I worked for a lady who's father worked in mi5/6 and during the miners conflict, on his death she went through papers that had been locked away in their family home which pointed to a meeting in which, had the unions got the upper hand there would be moves to eliminate Scargill through either an accident or poisoning.

State terrorism.

Scargill❤