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Mine picket lectures students on lessons of heroic '84 strike

Facebook page forges connection with youth

A former miner who spent his 21st birthday on a picket line will talk to students today about lessons they can learn from the 1984/85 strike.

Mel Hepworth was invited to lecture at Royal Holloway University Labour club after setting up a Facebook page to mark the forthcoming 30th anniversary of the dispute.

He said the page, which has attracted support from 15,000 people in just four weeks, has helped forge a "connection" between generations.

He told the Star: "Even though a lot of people on the page are very young and a lot of them not from mining areas, they have a respect for the fight we put up against the government.

"And then there's the nature of the work itself - I don't think a lot of young people would fancy that nowadays."

Mr Hepworth began work aged 16 at Askern pit in Doncaster and walked out with his comrades when the strike was called in March 1984.

He celebrated his 21st birthday while picketing in Nottinghamshire and was admitted to hospital after months without heating and proper food.

The Tories have now brought society "full circle" as soup kitchens for miners are replaced by food banks, according to Mr Hepworth.

And the former miner has a clear message to a new generation of campaigners.

"We need rely on ourselves, not glorious leaders," he said.

"Some people on the page say all we need is another Scargill or another Benn but the reality is all we need is to look to each other.

"It's not that we need great heroes, we need ordinary people to do great heroic things."

Talk organiser and history student George Severs said the recent release of secret government documents has fired new interest in the strike.

He said: "It's really important that young people remember what happened, why it happened and most importantly, what the effects on these communities are now."

Former BBC labour correspondent Nicolas Jones will also talk about his experience of covering the strike.

The lecture starts at 6.30pm in Arts Lecture Theatre 2 at Royal Holloway University. All are welcome.

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