Campaigners welcome launch of inquiry into 1984 ‘Battle of Orgreave’
It comes after a years long campaign for a probe into clashes between police and miners at the Orgreave Coking Plant
The Government has announced the formal launch of an inquiry into the so-called Battle of Orgreave, which saw violent clashes between police and pickets during the year- long mineworkers strike.
Campaigners welcomed the move, which followed years of calls for an inquiry into events outside the Orgreave Coking Plant in South Yorkshire on June 18, 1984 which left scores of mineworkers injured.
Sarah Jones, policing and crime minister, paid tribute to the campaigners, particularly the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign and the National Union of Mineworkers, saying their “tireless advocacy has brought us to this moment”.
She said: “For more than four decades, miners, their families and their communities have lived with unanswered questions about what happened at Orgreave.
“Today we have delivered on our promise to these tireless campaigners to ensure the facts finally come to light.
“The terms of the inquiry have been shaped by the chair’s close engagement with campaigners, and they place transparency at the very heart of the panel’s work.
“I am confident that they will bring the independence, expertise and balance needed to uncover the truth of what happened – however difficult that truth may be.”
Inquiry chairman the Right Reverend Dr Pete Wilcox, the Bishop of Sheffield, said: “In reaching this point, the Government has approved the terms of reference and confirmed the panel to support me as chair, and I am fully satisfied with both.
“These foundations allow us to begin the inquiry’s work with confidence, and engagement with stakeholders will begin immediately.
“I am acutely aware of the weight of expectation placed on this inquiry. It is my ambition, with the panel, to deliver an outstanding inquiry as swiftly as thoroughness will allow.”
The minister said in a written statement: “It will investigate the events of that day, resulting in the arrest of 95 picketers and scores of injuries, which left a lasting impact on communities across South Yorkshire and beyond.
“It will examine the planning undertaken by the police and government for the policing of the demonstration at Orgreave on June 18 1984, including relevant decision making in the lead-up to the day; what happened on the day; the immediate aftermath and lasting impact on individuals and communities, including the subsequent public narrative and the charging decisions and prosecutions relating to those arrested at Orgreave.”
Kate Flannery, secretary of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign said: “We need answers about the systemic violent and lying behaviour of the police. We need to know about plans of how police officers on the ground were briefed and how that briefing came about.
“We need government and police papers releasing that have been embargoed until 2066 and 2071.
“The police have recently still been destroying vital evidence needed for this inquiry. This is of great public interest and concern and is about a government who actively worked against its own population and handed the police paramilitary powers and destroyed an industry in the process.”