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A celebration of our heritage and political history
At this year’s ‘virtual Gala,’ the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign will be premiering their Miners’ Strike Stories film. KATE FLANNERY reports

ON THE day we celebrate the 136th Durham Miners’ Gala, we are mindful that last month we commemorated the 36th anniversary of the police riot at the Orgreave coking plant during the 1984-5 miners’ strike. 

With the ongoing support and solidarity from the Durham Miners’ Association (DMA), National Union of Mineworkers and the wider trade-union and labour movement, the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC) sustains its work and activities and continues to campaign for truth and justice. 

We were honoured that DMA president/secretary Alan Mardghum contributed to our online “virtual” Orgreave rally in June, along with many other eminent speakers and campaigners representing ex-miners, health workers, Hillsborough Justice, blacklisting, Justice4Grenfell, the Shrewsbury 24, Justice for Christopher Alder and JENGbA (Joint Enterprise: Not Guilty by Association). 

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