The Fight For Justice

For almost 100 years a construction industry blacklist was operated in secret to systematically deny work to thousands of workers involved in trade union activity. Dave Smith, one of those blacklisted workers, has documented that history and is the secretary of the Blacklist Support Group whose work led to a Parliamentary debate early in September.

Today, Ricky Tomlinson is best known as an actor and star of BBC’s The Royle family – but 45 years ago he was a building worker who, in the summer of 1972, took part in a national strike against low pay and poor working conditions. In 1973 at Shrewsbury Crown Court six trades unionists, including Ricky, were sent to prison.

The strikers and their families have campaigned ever since for the release of government documents showing interference and manipulation in their prosecution, and for their cases to be

reviewed as a miscarriage of justice. In 2014 Theresa May, then Home Secretary, set up a judicial inquiry after it was revealed that undercover police ocers duped a number of women into sexual relationships to infiltrate law-abiding political groups.

MI5 also directed Special Branch to spy on a number of left-wing Labour MPs, including here in Coventry. 20 years ago Helen Steel was sued for libel by McDonald’s over a factsheet critical of the company’s practices. The police sent an ocer from the undercover Special Demonstration Squad to

become Helen’s partner. She and the six other women known to have been deceived into relationships with undercover policeman continue to battle for justice.

Secret government files released this year under the 30-year rule show that Margaret Thatcher’s government directly meddled in the internal affairs of civil servants’ union CPSA, the predecessor of the PCS. The government was concerned about the growing influence of marxists when the late