Inquiry into Orgreave violence during 1984 miners' strike announced
The inquiry, expected to launch in the autumn, will investigate the events surrounding clashes at the Orgreave Coking Plant in South Yorkshire on June 18 1984, which caused 120 injuries.
In total, 95 picketers were arrested and initially charged with riot and violent disorder, but all charges were later dropped after evidence was discredited.
The inquiry will be statutory with powers to compel people to provide information where necessary, the Home Office said.
The Rt Revd Dr Pete Wilcox, the Bishop of Sheffield, has agreed to chair the inquiry, which the Home Office said is intended to 'aid the public's understanding of how the events on the day, and immediately after, came to pass'.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said what happened at Orgreave 'cast a shadow over communities in Yorkshire and other mining areas'.
Ms Cooper added: 'The violent scenes and subsequent prosecutions raised concerns that have been left unanswered for decades, and we must now establish what happened.
'I pay tribute to the campaigners who never stopped in their search for truth and justice, and I look forward to continuing to work with them as we build an inquiry that gets the answers they and their communities deserve.'
The Home Office said formal consultation between the Home Secretary and the Rt Revd Wilcox on the inquiry's terms of reference has begun.
The Rt Revd Wilcox said he did not 'underestimate the weight of expectation or the significance of the task'.
He added: 'I look forward to engaging with stakeholders in the coming weeks over the draft terms of reference, and to working with the government to identify experts to support me on the independent panel.
'I expect the panel to begin its work in the autumn, and we will endeavour to deliver an inquiry which is thorough and fair, and which will uncover what happened at Orgreave as swiftly as possible.'
The Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign (OTJC) said it wanted to know who was responsible for 'organising and ordering the deployment of multiple police forces, including mounted police armed with truncheons, shields and dogs, against striking miners'.
The campaign group said it wanted the inquiry to find out how it was decided that 'striking miners should be attacked and arrested at Orgreave and charged with riot and unlawful assembly, which carried heavy prison sentences'.
It added that it wanted to know why 'the police operational order for police deployments that day disappeared and other evidence been destroyed or embargoed until 2066 and 2071'.
OTJC secretary, Kate Flannery, said the announcement of an inquiry was 'really positive news'.
Ms Flannery added: 'We now need to be satisfied that the inquiry is given the necessary powers to fully investigate all the aspects of the orchestrated policing at Orgreave, and have unrestricted access to all relevant information including government, police and media documents, photos and films.'
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) general secretary, Chris Kitchen, said the inquiry was 'hugely welcome'.
Mr Kitchen added: 'The events at Orgreave, and throughout the strike, destroyed the trust between the police and mining communities even now, 41 years later.
'It is vital that this trust is won back and the NUM believe this inquiry will go some way to rebuilding that trust.'
Kevin Horne, a miner arrested at Orgreave, said: 'It is now over 41 years since a paramilitary style police operation was planned at Orgreave and it is important to remember that some of the miners attacked and arrested there are now dead and many others are old and ill.
'We need a quick and thorough inquiry with a tight timescale so that surviving miners can at last obtain the truth and justice they have been waiting for.'
Mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard, said the inquiry was a 'landmark moment for justice and accountability'.
Mr Coppard added: 'The Inquiry represents an opportunity to examine not only the actions of South Yorkshire Police and other forces on that day, but also the broader role of government at the time.
'It's a step towards setting the historical record straight, ensuring lessons are learned, and restoring public trust.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Reform recruits former senior detective as police and crime adviser
A top ex-detective who spearheaded a series of high profile murder investigations will join Reform UK as its adviser on police and crime. Colin Sutton, who led the investigation into serial killer Levi Bellfield, is to help Nigel Farage's party develop its pledge to halve crime in five years. Mr Farage has said he will spend £7 billion on policies towards this goal, including by recruiting 30,000 extra police officers. The Reform leader told the Mail on Sunday newspaper that ex-police officer Mr Sutton would be a 'huge asset' to his party. Mr Sutton told the paper he would give all frontline officers tasers, reopen 300 closed police stations, and stop investigations into online arguments as part of Reform's policing offer. The two men will appear together at a press conference on Monday morning.
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Minister dismisses idea of split in Cabinet over Palestinian statehood
A Cabinet minister has dismissed the idea that there is a split at the top of Government over when to recognise a Palestinian state. Sir Keir Starmer has been facing calls to immediately make the change amid the continued desperate situation in Gaza. Israel announced at the weekend that it would suspend fighting in three areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day and open secure routes for aid delivery Health Secretary Wes Streeting is among those to have signalled a desire for hastened action calling for recognition 'while there's still a state of Palestine left to recognise'. While Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the Government wants to recognise a Palestinian state 'in contribution to a peace process'. Speaking to Good Morning Britain, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: 'There's no split. The whole of the Labour Party, every Labour MP, was elected on a manifesto of recognition of a Palestinian state, and we all want it to happen. 'It is a case of when, not if.' He added: 'It's about how we use this moment, because you can only do it once to have a meaningful breakthrough.' He had earlier told Sky News that recognition would happen 'in this Parliament [..,.] if it delivers the breakthrough that we need'. Later this week, the Prime Minister is expected to chair a Cabinet meeting on the conflict. The UK is working with Jordan to airdrop aid into Gaza and evacuate children needing medical assistance, with military planners deployed for further support. However, the head of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency has warned such efforts are 'a distraction' that will fail to properly address deepening starvation in the strip, and could in some cases harm civilians. Images and warnings of starvation emerging from Gaza in recent days have piled pressure on the Israeli government over its conduct in the conflict. The Prime Minister held crisis talks with French and German counterparts on Saturday, during which Number 10 said they agreed 'it would be vital to ensure robust plans are in place to turn an urgently-needed ceasefire into lasting peace'. A Downing Street readout of the call made no mention of Palestinian statehood, which Sir Keir has faced calls to immediately recognise after French president Emmanuel Macron announced his country would do so in September. Some 221 MPs from Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, SNP, Greens, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and independents have signed a letter pressuring the Government to follow suit at a UN meeting next week. The majority of those who have signed, 131, are Labour MPs.
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Public parole hearing for one of killers of Stephen Lawrence delayed
The public parole hearing for one of the killers of Stephen Lawrence has been delayed. David Norris was due to make a bid for freedom on Wednesday and Thursday but the hearing has been adjourned because unspecified information has not been made available to the panel that is due to hear the case. Norris was jailed for life with a minimum term of 14 years and three months in 2012, after he and Gary Dobson were convicted of murder in 2011 nearly 20 years after Stephen's racist killing. A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: 'The hearing has had to be adjourned due to information directed by the panel not being made available for the case. 'Without all proper information, the panel cannot consider a parole review. 'The panel's priority must be to ensure the relevant information is available, so that they can thoroughly review the potential risks and ensure public protection.' A new date will be set for the public hearing once the information has been provided. Stephen was on his way to catch a bus with his friend Duwayne Brooks in Eltham, south-east London, in April 1993, when he was set upon and killed by a gang of five or six attackers who used a racist term before they struck. Incompetence and allegations of corruption, centred around Norris's drug dealer father Clifford Norris, dogged the investigation into Stephen's death for years. There was also outrage when it emerged that undercover officers from the Metropolitan Police had spied on justice campaigners supporting the family. In 1999 a public inquiry into the case found that the force was institutionally racist, a conclusion repeated by Baroness Casey in 2023 in her review following the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer. Parole hearings are normally held in private, but a public hearing was allowed in Norris's case after an application by the media that was backed by Stephen's parents. In a document outlining the decision, it was revealed that Norris now accepts that he was present at the scene of the murder, but claims that he punched Stephen and was not the person who stabbed him. The other suspects in the case were Jamie and Neil Acourt, who have since been convicted of unrelated drugs offences, and Luke Knight. A sixth suspect, Matthew White, died in 2021. The College of Policing is leading a review of the most recent stage of the investigation into Stephen's death after Dobson and Norris were convicted.