Streatham Labour Party is marking the 35th anniversary of the 1984 miners’ strike with a screening of the film The Battle of Orgreave (An Injury to One is an Injury to All).
Produced in 2001 and directed by Mike Figgis, it was co-commissioned by Artangel and Channel 4. It is part of an installation by Jeremy Deller that has the same name and is now part of the Tate Collection.
The showing is on Friday 14 June from 6pm to 9.30pm in Brixton at Effraspace, 21 Effra Parade, SW2 1PX.
It will begin with an introduction by a former strike activist, followed by a panel of guest speakers including historian Norma Gregory, winner of a 2018 Windrush Inspirational Leadership Award, and a specialist in the history of Black miners.
The panel will discuss the social and political impact of the strike, the role of trade unions and the struggle to defend mining communities.
In 1984 members of the National Union of Mineworkers went on strike against Thatcher government plans to close many coal mines.
The dispute lasted for more than a year and was one of the most bitterly fought of the twentieth century.
Thousands of activists from all over the UK, including many from Brixton, twinned themselves and their organisations with mining communities to back their struggle to save jobs and communities.
On 18 June 1984, the Orgreave coking plant near Sheffield was the scene for one of the strike’s most violent confrontations, involving almost 10,000 striking miners and 4,000 police. It culminated with a mounted police cavalry charge through the village of Orgreave.
The court cases that followed are one of the most serious miscarriages of justice in UK history.
Since 2012, the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign has pressed for a public inquiry into the prosecutions. This is now Labour party policy and was in the party’s manifesto for the 2017 general election.
Doors open at 6pm for drinks and chat before a 7pm start.
A bar will be open until 10pm with drinks allowed into screening.
Admission on the door will be by suggested donation (£5 per person if affordable). Pies, salads, cakes and snacks will be on sale.
