Letter
The Miners’ Strike
6 June 1985
Sam Miller writes: I did not condone the assault; I was reporting an account of it. If I had seen any point in airing my own disapproval of the assault, or of the account, I would have done so.
Sam Miller
Sam Miller is a London journalist who specialises in Middle Eastern affairs.
Grimethorpe Now
Sam Miller, 6 June 1985
For a few days last October the Yorkshire mining village of Grimethorpe appeared to lose its composure. News of Grimethorpe colonised the front pages of the tabloids. It was a strange affair. On 17 October 1984 we were told the story of Coal Board property set on fire by ‘rampaging hooded mobs’, and of a woman police sergeant attacked and injured after the same mob had besieged the police station. The following day the Deputy Chief Constable of South Yorkshire was to be seen on the main news broadcast of the day giving the villagers an ‘unreserved apology’ for instances of police wrong-doing.
Read anywhere with the London Review of Books app, available now from the App Store for Apple devices, Google Play for Android devices and Amazon for your Kindle Fire.
Sign up to our newsletter
For highlights from the latest issue, our archive and the blog, as well as news, events and exclusive promotions.