SHADOW Scottish secretary and former miner Dave Anderson called on the Scottish government yesterday to “shine a light on the truth” and hold a Scottish inquiry into police brutality during the 1984-85 miners’ strike.

Speaking to a gathering of ex-miners, the Labour MP said he was “outraged” at last week’s decision by Home Secretary Amber Rudd to rule out an inquiry into the conduct of the police during clashes at Orgreave.

Mr Anderson, who was a miner for 20 years and also served as a National Union of Mineworkers lay officer, said that Margaret Thatcher’s government had “used all the agents of the state against the strike and put into motion a chain of events that are still hurting communities today.”

He said it was unsurprising that the Tories didn’t want to grant an inquiry, given the long history of police and state collusion against working-class communities, which also included Bloody Sunday, the Shrewsbury pickets prosecution, the wrongful jailing of the Birmingham Six and the Hillsborough stadium disaster.

Although perhaps the most famous such incident, the Battle of Orgreave was not the only violent clash between picketing miners and police during the miners’ strike.

At Ravenscraig in North Lanarkshire, 292 people were arrested in just one day, compared to 95 at Orgreave.

Many former miners at yesterday’s event shared experiences of phone-tapping, police brutality and police helping scabs through picket lines.

Around 500 people were convicted and 206 men were sacked in Scotland during the confrontation with the Thatcher government.

Mr Anderson said the Scottish government’s refusal to hold an inquiry into the strike was “untenable,” given that it had heavily criticised the Tories for their decision last week.

Labour MSP Neil Findlay warned that the SNP had a opportunity to take a different approach and “expose the truth” or else it could side with the Tories.

Former Labour MP David Hamilton, another ex-miner, branded Ms Rudd’s decision “disgusting but unsurprising.”

SNP Justice Secretary Michael Matheson called for the British government to commission a UK-wide investigation and publish all papers it holds regarding the then government’s involvement in the policing of the strike.

He said: “This would provide transparency in relation to the concerns that have been raised.”