Commons debate on Shrewsbury 24 secret files
A House of Commons debate calling for secret documents relating to the convictions of the Shrewsbury 24 to be published will take place this week, it has been announced.
The backbench debate will be held on Thursday morning after being secured by Labour MP Dave Anderson.
The debate will be on the following motion: "That this House is seriously concerned at the decision of the government to refuse to release papers related to the building dispute in 1972 and subsequent prosecutions, and calls on them to reverse their position as a matter of urgency."
It will then be followed by a vote by MPs. Campaigners previously collected more than 100,000 signatures on a petition to the Government calling for the disclosure of all documents relating to the charges, trials and convictions of the pickets arrested in 1972.
The pickets were arrested five months after the 1972 building workers' strike and charged under the 1875 Conspiracy Act, with six jailed, including Ricky Tomlinson, who later starred in the Royle Family.
The campaign group wants all documents relating to the case to be released, claiming they would prove that a "massive miscarriage of justice" took place.
The Government told surviving members of the so-called Shrewsbury 24 at the start of last year that documents relating to the case will be withheld for a further 10 years. The ban will be reviewed again in 2021. The papers are being withheld on the grounds of national security. In January 2013, Mr Tomlinson accused the Government of "bare-faced lies" for refusing to release documents relating to the Shrewsbury pickets' case on those grounds.
He has also appealed for people living in Shrewsbury at the time of the strike to come forward to reveal their memories of the strike and trial.
