1. What discussions has the Counsel General had with other law officers regarding the case of the Shrewsbury 24? OAQ(5)0023(CG)

The Members will know that this answer is subject to the established law officers’ convention.

Thank you, Counsel General. You’ll be familiar—but Members may not be familiar, from the conversations I’ve had this week—with the case of the Shrewsbury 24. The early 1970s saw the first and only national building workers strike, where workers were on strike for 15 days, and at a time when building workers were at the bottom of the pay scale and health and safety was non-existent, with building workers being killed on an all too regular basis.

Following the strike, workers who took part in the flying pickets, including two constituents of mine, Arthur Murray and Terry Renshaw, were arrested and subsequently cleared at Mold Crown Court. They were then rearrested and sent for trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court, where the pickets were convicted on a number of charges and some of whom were sent to prison.

Nearly 40 years later, there’s not been justice and many questions remain, such as: why were they cleared in Mold and then rearrested and trialled in Shrewsbury? Counsel General, whilst I recognise that criminal justice remains non-devolved, can I ask what consideration has been given to how this injustice has impacted on Welsh workers and whether you’ll meet with me to discuss this further?

Well, I thank you very much for the question. Of course, the campaign in respect of the Shrewsbury pickets is one of a number of miscarriage-of-justice campaigns from the 1970s and 1980s, amongst them Hillsborough and Orgreave. Of course, the common issue that arises in that campaign and others is the issue relating to the integrity of the judicial system and the alleged abuse of power.

Of course, the common feature often in these cases is the actual use of conspiracy laws. That was certainly the case in Orgreave and was certainly the case in respect of the Shrewsbury 24. Members will also recall the issues with regard to the use of conspiracy laws regarding the campaigns against Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg in the 1970s and, indeed, 1980s relating to the campaign for the S4C channel.

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Ann Jones) took the Chair.

I can also tell Members, of course, that I remember very well meeting with one of those who was in prison, Dessie Warren, in the 1970s, in respect of campaigns around those very issues. So, I’m very familiar and very alert to the issues that they actually raise.

Perhaps what I could do is ask the Member if she would perhaps write to me with her request for Welsh Government support and a meeting and I will ensure that such a request is carefully considered by the Welsh Government.

I was interested by Hannah’s question and I had a look at the case, which I kind of had heard of from years ago. I think it used to be known as the Shrewsbury 2, rather than 24, but I gather it’s the same case. When I tried to put it into a political context, the conclusion I came to was that tougher trade union restrictions on issues like flying pickets weren’t introduced until later. So, as there were no tough regulations on picketing in 1972, it is possible that the Government did use rather arcane laws on conspiracy to prosecute some or perhaps all of the 24. So, there may be a possible injustice. Certainly, the files relating to the case should be put in the public domain.

The only problem I wanted to flag up with you, Counsel General, was one of public funds, because although it is obviously a matter of concern to Hannah Blythyn because it relates to some of her constituents, which I perfectly acknowledge, we do have to recognise that legal fees can escalate in these sort of matters. So, I just hope that if the Welsh Government did get involved we could at some point have some estimate of the likely legal fees incurred to the Welsh taxpayer.

Well, I’ll just say to the Member that the issues of justice and the issues of the disclosure of files are not within the jurisdiction of Welsh Government. It is not a devolved matter. As I understand it, what the Member is raising is the issue of the impact of perceived miscarriages of justice, how they’re perceived within Wales, and the impact that has on the integrity of the judicial system.