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Regional secretary with the National Education Union
Could Old King Coal save the Caley?
Police lead away an injured picketer at Orgreave Coking Plant near Rotherham

“SOME things just stick in your mind,” as Vashti Bunyan sang all those years ago.

As I packed my bags yesterday for Durham, where I’ll be spending the weekend at the Big Meeting, I couldn’t help but think of a speech I heard there four years ago, when I was attending the Miners’ Gala for the first time. 

Tosh McDonald, then president of train drivers’ union Aslef, spoke of the historic connection between the railways and the coal industry.

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