THE CAMPAIGN to expose the Establishment stich-up of the Shrewsbury pickets won influential support yesterday from deputy Labour leader Tom Watson.

Dogged Mr Watson has previously used his position as an MP to take on press barons over media standards and raise the alarm over the existence of a Westminster paedophile ring, winning independent inquiries in both cases.

Now he has backed demands for the government to throw open files which could overturn convictions against 24 building workers, including actor Ricky Tomlinson, relating to a 1972 builders’ strike over pay and safety.

The Home Office recently refused to reveal secret documents relating to the strike, citing “national security reasons.”

But Mr Watson told the Morning Star: “I do believe they need to see those documents.

“It is my view that they clearly did not get a fair trial.

“Their case is currently being reviewed and those papers, were they to be given to the review, would help raise understanding of circumstances at the time.

“So yes those documents should be reviewed.”

Mr Watson made the intervention shortly after shadow home secretary Andy Burnham revealed evidence that former Tory PM Ted Heath and the security services were implicated in a campaign to secure convictions against the Shrewsbury Pickets.

The men were convicted of unlawful assembly, affray, intimidation, criminal damage and assault.

But one document uncovered by the campaign revealed how the attorney general at the time believed there was “no evidence of violence or damage to property” at the pickets.

It is hoped the release of further documents would help secure a hearing at the Court of Appeal and clear the names of the pickets while they are still alive.