After years hidden away, Oldham’s memorial to six local volunteers who died fighting fascism in the Spanish civil war has been restored to public view, marking both a victory for campaigners and a renewed tribute to the town’s proud International Brigade heritage, says ROB HARGREAVES
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It’s time for truth and justice
The uncovering of new files by the home affairs select committee has again raised the need for a full inquiry into what happened at Orgreave and afterwards, writes DIANE ABBOTT
A phalanx of South Yorkshire Police face the picket line outside Orgreave coking plant in 1984
While pretending to seek peace, Europe is heading toward a collision course with Russia – using security guarantees, troop deployments, expropriation and censorship as tools, writes SEVIM DAGDELEN
Alba party leader KENNY MacASKILL makes some suggestions on how to save our pubs and reduce irresponsible drinking
The catastrophe unfolding in Gaza – where Palestinians are freezing to death in tents – is not a natural disaster but a calculated outcome of Israel’s ongoing blockade, aid restrictions and continued violence, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
Opinion polls point to electoral collapse, parliamentary rebellion and a looming leadership challenge as Starmer’s Labour haemorrhages working-class support and the far right exploits the vacuum left by a hollowed-out party, says NICK WRIGHT
The long-term effects of chemical weapons such as Agent Orange mean that the impact of war lasts well beyond a ceasefire
UNRELEASED files about the 1984 Battle of Orgreave from five police forces have recently been uncovered by the cross-party House of Commons home affairs select committee.
This material includes files from the Merseyside, Metropolitan, Norfolk, Northumbria and West Yorkshire police forces, including reports from senior “liaison” officers for units deployed at Orgreave. At least two Met police files have also been identified as containing information relating to Orgreave.
The uncovering of these new files swiftly followed the recent identification of nearly 800 unreleased South Yorkshire police files that were not considered when the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, ruled out an independent public inquiry or statutory inquiry into Orgreave in October 2016.
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The murder of an anti-racist protester in 1979 by a special unit of the Met Police was followed by a gruelling battle to win answers about what happened on that tragic day. Now material related to that campaign is available to the public and researchers for the first time at the Bishopsgate Institute. INDIANNA PURCELL reports
