FIFE MSP Alex Rowley joined with campaigners and former miners outside the Scottish Parliament in welcoming an independent review into the impact of policing on communities during the miners’ strike.

The Scottish Government have announced an independent review with the remit “to investigate and report on the impact of policing on affected communities in Scotland during the period of the miners’ strike from March 1984 – March 1985.”

The Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area saw several flash points, none more so when coal lorries were running from the Cartmore site in Lochgelly to power stations via Benarty.

There were angry scenes on the streets of Lochgelly and Lochore, Crosshill and Ballingry as the vehicles passed carrying stock piled coal to power stations.

The strike committees in Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly, Benarty, Cardenden and Kelty all sent men to form picket lines at Cartmore and police formed a line to allow the lorries to pass.

There was some good natured banter between the officers on duty and the pickets when there were no lorries passing, but the atmosphere changed when the Yuill and Dodds vehicles went in to Cartmore.

The result was a lot of arrests and a string of court cases that saw many miners who were convicted sacked.

That was in June 1984 but it is still something people remember.

There were other angry scenes in Scotland, none more so than on the road to Longannet Power Station, at Lower Valleyfield, and of course south of the border there were a host of confrontations, the biggest being at Orgreave. Speaking on the announcement the Kelty based MSP said: “I come from a mining community and remember the impact the strike had on families all around me.

“This announcement is a welcome step in a move to delivering justice to miners affected during the strike.

“Hopefully it will be the beginning of a process that eventually sees a full UK wide inquiry into the events that happened during that period. I welcome this opportunity to correct any injustices that happened to miners, their families and local communities during the strike.”

The Fife Miners Group were also met by Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard.