What a bloody wasted weekend! I attended a school at Durham University organised by Broad Left groups in South Wales and Durham. There were a few hundred active pickets attending, and there was a real opportunity to discuss ways of putting the strike back on the offensive. Instead we had to sit through boring lectures on subjects most of us have experienced at first hand, ie the role of the media, the courts, and the police. It was more like a post mortem, and I was really disappointed when a pratt called Kim Howells attacked the use of mass pickets at Orgreave and Port Talbot, and none of us were allowed to argue against him! I’m bloody mad at myself for going.
One thing that cheered us up were the controversial comments from the new Bishop of Durham who called MacGregor, ‘an imported elderly American’, and upset the Tories who have always believed god is on their side. I even sold a copy of Socialist Worker to a passing clergyman!
