Adam Boulton: It’s 40 years since the most gripping news story I have ever worked on
Never mind elections, wars, revolutions, scandals and deaths, this week marks the 40th anniversary of probably the most gripping news story I have ever worked on as a journalist.
Gripping because there were vital economic, political and social issues at stake in this country.
Gripping because two powerful and exceptionally talented political leaders, Margaret Thatcher and Arthur Scargill, faced off.
Gripping because, in their own way, both sides were right.
Gripping that everyone in the country was caught up in the 1984-1985 miners’ strike and conflicted about it.
Gripping above all, for me as a journalist at the start of my career, because the strike reshaped this nation for the future.
On 5 March 1984, 6,000 miners walked out in South Yorkshire at collieries in Cortonwood and Bullcliffe Wood. That day the National Coal Board (NCB) announced there would be “accelerated closure” of 20 pits.
On 12 March 1984, Arthur Scargill, the president of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), called a nationwide strike.
It became the biggest industrial dispute since the general strike in 1926, with 26 million working days lost. It did not come to an official end until a year later, on 3 March 1985.
The NUM and the NCB came into existence after the Second World War. They were part of the consensus, shared by both Labour and the Conservatives, that took much of heavy industry into public ownership.
Arthur Scargill in 1984. Pic: PA
Scargill was a radical left winger who believed a perfect socialist society had never been achieved. Even so, he was right that defeat for the miners would lead to the end of a whole way of life in which the state supported workers and their families, regardless of market forces.
Before the strike he had likened the Thatcher government to “the Nazis” and called for “extra parliamentary action” against “this totally undemocratic government”.
Prime minister Thatcher was right that the deep mine coal industry was uneconomic and subsidised by taxpayers and had been declining in Britain, Europe and North America for decades.
Read more:
Previous strikes and what they achieved
Lessons to be learned from strikes past, present and what they mean for the future
After 200 years, one of England’s last coal mines is closing (2020)
In Britain there were around a quarter of a million coal miners in 1984 compared to a million in 1922. The number of working collieries was down from over 1,000 to 173. Britain was already switching away from coal as the primary source of energy to natural gas and nuclear. Thatcher was subsequently one of the first leaders to recognise the danger of global warming through hydrocarbon emissions but this was not a principle issue at the time of the strike.
Margaret Thatcher visiting Wistow colliery in 1980. Pic: PA
It was a febrile time in British politics. The previous summer, in the wake of military victory in the Falklands conflict, the Conservatives won a massive majority in the general election.
By the summer of 1984, Mrs Thatcher was calling the NUM “the enemy within”. She intended to elaborate on this theme in her party conference speech in Brighton in October, but it was disrupted by the IRA bombing of the Grand Hotel.
Thatcher was committed to confronting trade union power.
She was well aware that a miners’ strike in the early 1970s had effectively destroyed Ted Heath’s Conservative government. During the three-day week in the winter of 1974 there were daily power cuts around the country. Ministers appealed to the public to wash in two inches of shared bath water. Mr Heath lost the 1974 General Election on the question “Who governs Britain?”.
Sheffield in 1984. Pic: PA
In the popular memory the 1984-1985 strike has been sentimentalised almost exclusively in favour of the strikers and their families. (James Graham’s recent TV series Sherwood is an exception).
During the strike the musician Billy Bragg and the filmmaker Ken Loach challenged audiences with the documentary Which Side Are You On?
Popular films since then, such as Billy Elliott, Brassed Off and Pride have centred on the solidarity of the mining communities and the aid they got from other anti-Thatcher movements including Women Against Pit Closures and Lesbians And Gays Support The Miners. The depth of the lingering passions is encapsulated in the Billy Elliot The Musical song Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher: “We celebrate today/ ‘Cause it’s one day closer to your death”.
In reality the miners were not united and the country was not united behind them.
Police and strikers at Orgreave Coking Plant near Rotherham in June 1984. Pic: PA
Scargill made the mistake of not holding a national ballot to strike. This meant that the Labour Party, then led by Neil Kinnock, a South Wales miner’s son, did not support the strike.
There was widespread public sympathy for the miners, who faced losing their livelihoods. But opinion polls during the strike showed greater, and strengthening, support for the employers over the strikers. Asked in December 1984 what they thought about the methods being used by the NUM and Scargill, 88% disapproved and 5% didn’t know.
There was near-unanimous backing for the strike in South Wales, Scotland, the North East, Yorkshire and Kent, where many of the richest seams were worked out. Other mining areas, especially Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire in the Midlands, did not go out on strike officially.
Communities were divided. Many angry confrontations took place as local strikers, joined by flying pickets, confronted police protecting those who drove or were bussed into work.
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In Yorkshire, violence between thousands of police and pickets shocked the nation in the so-called “Battle of Orgreave” outside a coking plant. A miner died in a similar confrontation in nearby Maltby. Official statistics record that 51 miners and 72 police were injured at Orgreave.
It was impossible not to get caught in the existential drama.
A Sky News colleague recalls: “I remember my uncle being on strike when I was a kid and I stayed awake in the nights worrying that he wouldn’t be able to buy any dinner and that he’d starve.
“He’s since told me that he had a great time on the buses to London to protest and they had plenty of beer. He had a police officer pal who asked to stand opposite him during the riots so they wouldn’t kick each other too hard.”
Scargill had also miscalculated by calling the strike in the spring when demand for energy was going down. The government had learnt its lesson from previous strikes and ensured stockpiling for at least six months. Scargill liked to say that the visible mounds of coal were like the hair in his combover – piled high around the edges and bald in the middle. He was wrong.
Miners return to work at Betteshanger Colliery after the strike. Pic: PA
Later coal supplies resumed as more desperate miners went back to work, and their overseers in the separate NACODS union did not join the strike.
The government also tightened the law, including a squeeze on welfare payments to families, to make striking more difficult.
A breakaway Union of Democratic Mineworkers was formed. Working miners, encouraged by David Hart, a shadowy Thatcher advisor, went to court to successfully “sequester” the NUM’s assets, which prevented the union from funding the strike.
Meanwhile journalists exposed NUM officials were seeking financial support from the Soviet Union and Libya, although it is denied that any money was ever received.
The NUM was discredited. A return to work by defeated and desperate strikers became inevitable. Union power was decisively broken in de-industrialising Britain.
Scargill in Barnsley earlier this month. Pic: PA
Today all Britain’s coal pits are closed, although there is still some open cast mining in the reprivatised industry. Active NUM membership in 2022 was just 82.
To the shame of successive governments there is a legacy of social deprivation in many former mining areas. In a spirit of protest, those left behind there voted strongly for Brexit and then made up much of the “red wall” which switched from Labour to Boris Johnson’s Conservatives in 2019.
The Conservatives were elected twice more immediately after the strike, in 1987 and 1992.
At Westminster an early day motion has been tabled marking this anniversary, paying tribute to the men and women of the strike and demanding an inquiry into its policing. It has attracted the signatures of just 27 MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn and Ian Lavery, who succeeded Scargill as an NUM president.
Scargill is now president of the Socialist Labour Party and the International Miners’ Organisation. Aged 86 he is still making speeches, he supported Brexit and recently demanded solidarity with the Palestinians, according to The Socialist Worker.
For me there could have been no more useful education than reporting on, and seeing how others reported on, the personalities, the events and the issues of the great strike which divided the nation.
Three men and a woman have been jailed for at least 20 years for the brutal murder of a much-loved son.
Steven Hutton, 43, was hit with a hammer and stabbed in the heart during a late-night home invasion at his flat in Dundee in March 2024.
He was taken to the city’s Ninewells Hospital, but died the following day.
Brian Miller, 29, Scott Henderson, 40, Barry Murray, 45, and Carri Stewart, 44, were on Monday found guilty of murder following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
Brian Miller. Pic: Police Scotland
Scott Henderson. Pic: Police Scotland
The killers were each handed a life sentence, and will spend at least two decades behind bars.
In her sentencing statement, Judge Lady Haldane said the evidence provided a “compelling picture of a plan to inflict serious violence upon Mr Hutton in his own home”.
Barry Murray. Pic: Police Scotland
Carri Stewart. Pic: Police Scotland
The judge described it as a “frenzied assault”, which in part was sparked due to a “missing packet of Pregabalin medication”.
‘Callous’ behaviour
Lady Haldane stated: “Steven Hutton lost his life in these horrific circumstances, compounded by the fact that not one of you sought to seek assistance for him as he lay dying until you were all well clear of the property.
“That is behaviour that can only be described as callous.”
Read more from Sky News:
Public inquiry to probe how killer evaded justice for 19 years
‘Stakeknife’ spy inside IRA should be named, says report
The judge paid tribute to Mr Hutton’s family and friends.
She added: “Those close to Mr Hutton, in particular his mother, have attended faithfully every day of this trial, and their quiet dignity throughout what must have been at times harrowing and distressing evidence stands in stark contrast to your behaviour.
“Mrs Hutton has in addition provided a detailed and moving account of her relationship with Mr Hutton, her only son, and the impact his loss has had upon her.
“I thank her for taking the time to prepare this thoughtful document, and I have taken all that she has said into account.”
Detective Inspector Richard Baird said the killers “now face the consequences of their actions”.
He added: “This was an unprovoked attack that cost Steven Hutton his life. We hope this conviction brings some form of comfort to Steven’s family.”
A new report into the activities of the top British spy inside the IRA during The Troubles has said that he “committed crimes of the worst possible kind”, including torture and murder, and should be publicly named by the UK government.
It’s widely accepted that the late republican Freddie Scappaticci was the agent, codenamed “Stakeknife”.
He headed the IRA‘s so-called “nutting squad”, a notorious internal security unit tasked with hunting and executing informants, but was himself operating as a mole for British intelligence.
The final report of a seven-year investigation named Operation Kenova has found that “there is a compelling ethical case” to reveal the agent’s identity.
Operation Kenova live: ‘Stakeknife’ spy inside IRA committed ‘worst possible’ crimes
Head of Kenova Sir Iain Livingstone said that “it is in the public interest that Stakeknife is named”. He urged the government to depart from its “neither confirm nor deny” (NCND) policy on the grounds of public interest.
It’s understood that the government believes Stakeknife cannot be officially named at this time due to some outstanding legal issues. Sky News has approached No 10 Downing Street for comment.
Freddie Scappaticci died two years ago denying that he was the agent, but all sides in Northern Ireland accept his denial was false.
Freddie Scappaticci. File pic: PA
The report also found a “significant failure” by MI5 in its late provision of materials to the investigation. “The further material revealed MI5 had earlier and greater knowledge of the agent than previously stated,” the report says.
Sir Ian Livingstone added that “further investigative opportunities were undoubtedly lost”, and that the confidence of the communities in Northern Ireland was undermined. Sky News has approached the security agency for comment.
Stakeknife produced a “vast” amount of intelligence. 3,517 reports from the agent were discovered, including 377 from one 18-month period. But the report found the intelligence was not shared with those who could have used it to save lives.
Read more:
Bloody Sunday shootings ‘unjustified and gratuitous’
Government will ‘look at every conceivable way’ to stop Gerry Adams payout
Last year, Operation Kenova’s interim report found the security forces were frequently aware of imminent abductions and murders but failed to protect those at risk.
Today’s report found his army handlers even took Stakeknife out of Northern Ireland for two holidays, at a time when he was sought by police for murder and kidnapping. He was flown on military aircraft and given military ID.
As a result, preventable deaths occurred with the security forces’ knowledge and those responsible were not brought to justice and were instead left free to reoffend.
Investigation lead Sir Iain Livingstone and Northern Irish police chief Jon Boutcher speak at a conference following the report
‘Wholly unjustified criminality’
The 2024 report also concluded that Stakeknife was involved in “very serious and wholly unjustifiable criminality”, including murder, and claims his intelligence saved “countless” or “hundreds” of lives were exaggerated. It found that the number of lives saved by his spying ranged from the high single figures to low double figures.
This contradicted claims that Scappaticci had saved hundreds of lives during the years he was active, with a former defence chief describing him as “the goose that laid the golden eggs”. The interim report found that claim to be “inherently implausible” and “a comparison rooted in fables and fairy tales”.
The 2024 report also called on the UK government to apologise to bereaved families, given that many murders were avoidable.
‘Each evil act being the epitome of cowardice’
There was also a call for an apology from republican leaders for “the most shameful and evil” actions of the Provisional IRA (PIRA). “It was PIRA that committed the brutal acts of torture and murder, each evil act being the epitome of cowardice,” the report stated.
No prosecutions connected with Stakeknife will take place, prosecutors in Northern Ireland have already decided.
Families of IRA victims associated with Stakeknife will give their response to the Kenova report in a news conference later today.
They want Scappaticci to be officially named, and many are seeking an apology from the British government.
UK
Emma Caldwell: Public inquiry formally under way which will probe how killer Iain Packer evaded justice for almost 20 years
A public inquiry into the murder of a woman is now formally under way and will examine what went wrong in the police investigation that allowed a serial rapist to evade justice for almost 20 years.
Iain Packer murdered Emma Caldwell, 27, in 2005.
In February 2024, he was ordered to serve a minimum of 36 years behind bars after being convicted of a string of violent offences.
Alongside double-murderer Andrew Innes, it is the second longest sentence ever handed down by a Scottish court, behind the 37-year minimum jail term given to World’s End killer Angus Sinclair in 2014.
Iain Packer. Pic: Police Scotland
Packer was found guilty of 33 offences following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow, including Ms Caldwell’s murder, 11 rapes and multiple sexual assaults against other women.
Following the killer’s conviction, Sky News heard testimony from several former sex workers who raised concerns to police about his dangerous sexual behaviour years before Ms Caldwell was murdered.
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Police interviewing Packer following his arrest over Ms Caldwell’s murder
The Scottish government last year ordered a judge-led public inquiry into the police handling of the case, which will be chaired by Lord Scott.
In an update on Tuesday, Justice Secretary Angela Constance announced it has now been formally set up and work is under way.
The inquiry will examine the investigative strategy and decision-making by what was then Strathclyde Police, including the direction given by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS).
It will probe what steps could reasonably have been taken that might have resulted in Packer being apprehended and prosecuted at an earlier stage, and any other factors relevant to the circumstances of the investigation and related prosecution.
The inquiry will also examine if any failings in training, procedures, operating models or systems of working contributed to any failures in the police and COPFS case.
The subsequent findings and any recommendations will be reported to Scottish ministers.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance. Pic: PA
Ms Constance said: “My thoughts continue to be with Emma Caldwell’s mother Margaret and her family, who have suffered unimaginable heartbreak.
“The public inquiry will look at what went wrong in the investigation of Emma’s murder and I hope it will provide the answers that the family need and deserve.
“I consulted with the chair, Lord Scott, on the terms of reference for the inquiry and also met the Caldwell family and other parties to discuss the inquiry’s remit.
“While these terms do not feature all of the issues raised with me during discussions, I am satisfied that they are both well focused and sufficiently flexible and broad enough to allow the chair to examine wider issues he may consider relevant to a robust, efficient and effective inquiry.”
Ms Caldwell. Pic: Family handout
Ms Caldwell vanished in April 2005 just days after telling her mother about her hopes to defeat a heroin addiction, which began after her sister’s death.
She went missing in Glasgow while working as a sex worker. Her body was discovered the following month in Limefield Woods, South Lanarkshire.
During Packer’s trial, jurors were taken to the forest where Ms Caldwell’s body was dumped. Pic: Sky News
Investigating officers interviewed Packer that June but he was not convicted until almost two decades later after cold case detectives re-examined the case in 2015.
Police Scotland apologised to Ms Caldwell’s family and Packer’s other victims for how the original inquiry was handled by Strathclyde Police, saying they were “let down”.
Margaret Caldwell, Ms Caldwell’s mother. Pic: PA
Margaret Caldwell, Ms Caldwell’s mother, has never given up on her pursuit of the truth.
Solicitor Aamer Anwar, the family’s lawyer, said: “The reference to Strathclyde Police in the terms of reference may be interpreted by some to mean that the inquiry can only deal with the police force up until, but not beyond when it became Police Scotland.
“Strathclyde Police ceased on 1 April 2013 when it merged into a single national service, as Police Scotland.
“If this inquiry is to pursue the truth, then it must look not only at Strathclyde Police, but what happened when Police Scotland took over responsibility.”
Solicitor Aamer Anwar (centre) alongside Ms Caldwell’s family earlier this year. Pic: PA
Mr Anwar said Packer’s survivors “deserve their place at the heart of this inquiry”.
He added: “A toxic culture of misogyny and corruption meant the police failed so many women and girls who came forward to speak up against Packer.
“Instead of receiving justice and compassion, they were humiliated, dismissed and in some instances arrested, whilst the police gifted freedom to an evil predator to rape and rape again.”
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