Last week, the court of appeal quashed the convictions of the Shrewsbury 24. A group of trade unionists, some of whom were imprisoned, they have battled almost 50 years to clear their names. Their case, which included official disinformation, police malpractice, the right to organise, remains relevant today.
The 24 were, in 1972, part of the first nationwide strike by building workers for better wages and the abolition of the casual labour system used to keep wages down and conditions poor. They had peacefully picketed building sites in Shrewsbury to persuade others to join the strike. Five months later, they were suddenly arrested and charged with unlawful assembly, intimidation, affray, criminal damage and assault.
It was a political move, driven by a government desire to break union power. The Information Research Department (IRD), a secret Foreign Office cold war propaganda unit, was used to spread disinformation. An ITV documentary, The Red Under the Bed, using fake IRD information, was broadcast in the middle of the trial to smear the strikers.
All this should remind us that there’s nothing new in “fake news”, except that, in the past, the primary sources of disinformation were state institutions. That’s reason to be wary of demands today for the state to police disinformation.
The legal assault on the Shrewsbury 24 was the beginning of a long process of undermining trade union power. The return of a casual employment system, in the form of the gig economy, shows the continuing need for organisation. Having curtailed union rights, the government is now undermining the very right to protest. That, too, needs resisting. The real victory of the Shrewsbury 24 will lie in how well we learn the lessons of their case for contemporary struggles.
• Kenan Malik is an Observer columnist
