Historical notes on the use of troops during the 1984-85 miners’ strike
[PDF file]: […] of spies and informers, some in the heart of the mining communities.19 These informers (whose identities would be at risk of exposure in an Inquiry) reported to MI5, Special Branch and the Police. They gathered information about the strikers’ plans and helped the authorities to frustrate their picketing operations. All this would doubtless be […]