We need justice throughout the Orgreave Inquiry

“There has never been a proper investigation into the conduct of the police for the assaults, wrongful arrests, and false prosecutions of the miners, not even for giving false evidence in court.”

By Charlie Thomas and Thomas Roberts

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced an inquiry into police actions at the Orgreave coking plant on 18 June 1984, during the miners’ strike. That day, heavily armed police launched a military-style operation against picketing miners. Mounted officers wielding truncheons charged at the crowd, followed by snatch squads in full riot gear. Miners were chased into a nearby village, where many were beaten and arrested indiscriminately. 95 miners were arrested, facing charges of unlawful assembly or riot, offences carrying severe prison sentences. It is widely believed this operation was directed by Margaret Thatcher’s government as part of a pre-planned strategy to crush the miners and the wider labour movement.

Alongside the police, the full weight of the media was turned against the striking miners, deliberately crafting a narrative that painted them as a violent “enemy within.” The BBC reversed footage to make it appear that police responded to missile-throwing by charging the crowd on horseback, when in fact the charge came first. It wasn’t until 1991 that the BBC issued an apology, claiming the footage had been “inadvertently reversed.” Even today, the media uncritically repeat South Yorkshire Police’s ludicrous disinformation that more police officers (71) were injured than pickets (51), one of the tasks of the inquiry must be to establish the true facts in this regard.

The case came to court in May 1985. It soon became clear that many police officers had large sections of their witness statements dictated to them, and that several had given false accounts—claiming to have seen events they could not have witnessed, or to have arrested individuals they had not. The prosecution collapsed, and all 95 miners were acquitted. There has never been a proper investigation into the conduct of the police for the assaults, wrongful arrests, and false prosecutions of the miners, not even for giving false evidence in court. But even the preliminary glance by the deeply flawed Independent Police Complaints Commissioner couldn’t escape the obvious conclusion that there was clear evidence of assault and perjury. Not a single officer has faced disciplinary or criminal proceedings. The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign has tirelessly fought for justice for the miners subjected to police violence, lies, and cover-ups.

Over the years, key police documents have either disappeared or been destroyed. The operational order for police deployments on the day has vanished, and other evidence has been embargoed until 2066 and 2071. In April 2024, Northumbria Police confirmed they destroyed two boxes of documents related to the strike and Orgreave. Among them were files concerning one of the most violent assaults, on miner Russell Broomhead, which had been captured by national television crews. This ongoing destruction of evidence raises serious concerns about the possibility of achieving justice.

During the trial, it emerged that new and unlawful public order policing tactics, set out in a secret police manual, were used for the first time at Orgreave. The manual, drawn up in 1983 in response to civil unrest in cities across the UK, authorised paramilitary-style policing tactics. It was classified, never brought before Parliament, but its contents were known to and approved by the Home Secretary of the day and senior civil servants. 

The brutal police tactics deployed against striking miners and their communities, have sown deep-rooted and lasting mistrust between former coalfield communities and the State. Today, this materialises through many residents’ feelings of despair towards their villages, which they perceive to have been stripped of most communal bonds through socially unjust deindustrialisation. These institutionally-inflicted psychological harms linger on through both deindustrialised landscapes, as well as the reduction of social networks in coalfield communities compared to their past.

Working-class former coalfield communities are still economically marginalised. There are lower-levels of socio-economic activity, as well as higher levels of deprivation than elsewhere in the UK. If all of the UK former coalfield communities were placed together into one region, they would embody the single most deprived area of the UK. The people of these places are no insignificant number, comprising 1 in 9 of the current UK population. The fractured relationship with the state means deliberately little is done to fix this economic damage.

Even when investment is granted, it largely arrives in top-down, bureaucratically inflexible structures contributing to a mismatch and disconnect between governance objectives and the needs of the people who live there. Former mining communities are still being punished for standing up against Thatcher during the strike. The reckoning with both the Thatcher-era vilification of the miners and the lasting economic deprivation inflicted on their communities must take place on the terms of those communities themselves. Older coalfield generations who lived through the strike need vindication, and younger generations need a basis for renewed hope in their communities’ future. That they will be able to move beyond the lingering scars of deindustrialisation and state violence.

Consequently, the fulfilment of Labour’s manifesto commitment to hold an inquiry into Orgreave is welcome, as is the appointment of Pete Wilcox, the Bishop of Sheffield, as its Chair. However, the launch of an inquiry does not in itself guarantee justice for the striking miners and their families. While the inquiry will be statutory, granting it the power to compel individuals to provide information, there remain serious concerns about whether it will have unrestricted access to police and government documents.

In The Times, Jawad Iqbal recently argued that “Forty years on, an Orgreave inquiry looks pointless,” citing cost to the taxpayer and the age or ill health of many victims. But this argument misses the point. The trial of the Orgreave miners collapsed before the prosecution even concluded its case—because police evidence was so transparently unreliable that it couldn’t stand scrutiny. This exposed the charges as politically motivated, not rooted in evidence. Yet the media gave far more attention to vilifying the miners than to the revelations that followed, leaving a lasting reputational damage and a slur on the names of the miners. An inquiry is necessary to set the record straight. The miners deserve justice, peace of mind, and formal recognition of state wrongdoing. The fact that many now fear they may not be able to participate, or even live to see the outcome, is precisely why the inquiry must be open, accessible, and concluded swiftly. Iqbal’s argument ultimately amounts to: “nothing to see here, move along.”

Yvette Cooper has framed the purpose of the inquiry as restoring “confidence” in the police. But the role of the police has always been to defend private property and repress the working class. This was made clear by their actions at Orgreave and throughout the miners’ strike, where they operated as an occupying force within pit communities. At Orgreave, the police were not out of control, they were doing exactly what they were deployed to do: break the strike. That is why there is deep resistance to a public inquiry confirming their true role.

A public inquiry must determine who was responsible for deploying a paramilitary-style operation at Orgreave, and whether this was ordered by the then Government. It should establish who decided that pickets would be attacked, arrested, and charged with riot and unlawful assembly. The inquiry must have the power to compel the production of all relevant information and evidence. It must guarantee full participation for those with a direct interest, allowing them to contribute their experience and knowledge. The inquiry should be accessible and inclusive, enabling oral evidence from affected individuals. The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign must be recognised as a principal stakeholder and placed at the heart of the process. Finally, the inquiry must be concluded swiftly so striking miners and their families can witness justice served – so they can be publicly vindicated and be provided with a sense of closure to resonate with all coalfield generations. 

During the Miners’ Strike, the Labour Party rank and file stood firmly with the miners. Labour activists, premises, and equipment supported the strike to a degree rarely seen since the 1920s. The Labour NEC backed the miners and called for a levy in their support. Labour Party conference condemned police violence and defied leader Neil Kinnock’s call to condemn picket violence. Yet, what many saw, thanks to TV, was the public equivocation of Kinnock and others. This undermined the labour movement’s morale and discouraged wider worker solidarity with the miners.

Two bulletins produced by Basingstoke Labour Party during the strike.

Today, rank-and-file Labour activists can help secure justice for the striking miners by bringing motions to their ward and constituency Labour parties.

Sheffield Central CLP has already passed an emergency motion titled ‘Orgreave Inquiry and Justice’ and submitted it to this year’s Labour Party conference. Members should write to their delegates to ensure the motion is prioritised and supported. Members of affiliated trade unions should also write to the relevant officers. Members can also take a version of the motion for their CLP to pass.

Orgreave Inquiry and Justice

This ward/CLP notes:

• The welcome announcement by the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper of an inquiry into police actions at the Orgreave coking plant on 18 June 1984 during the miners’ strike.
• The tireless work of the Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign has culminated in this announcement.
• The IPPC 2015 report, which concluded that there was evidence of criminal assault, perversion of the course of justice, and that officers committed perjury.
• The operational order for police deployments that day disappeared and other evidence was embargoed until 2066 and 2071.
• Northumbria Police confirmed that in April 2024 they destroyed two boxes of documents relating to the strike and Orgreave.

This ward/CLP believes:

• striking miners and their families deserve truth and justice.
• That a public inquiry should determine:
  • Who was responsible for the deployment of a paramilitary-style operation, and whether it was ordered by the then Government(?)
  • Who decided and how was it decided that pickets should be attacked and arrested at Orgreave and charged with riot and unlawful assembly?

This ward/CLP resolves to instruct the Home Secretary to ensure the inquiry will:

• have the power to require all the relevant information and evidence to be produced to it.
• ensure those who have an interest in the inquiry must be able to fully participate in order to lend their experience and knowledge to the process.
• be accessible and inclusive to allow people to provide oral contributions to the evidence gathering process.
• recognise the OJTC as a principal stakeholder throughout.
• be concluded swiftly so participants can see the outcome.

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• Charlie Thomas is a member of Sheffield Central CLP and Thomas Roberts is a member of Barnsley South CLP and Chair of Sheffield Labour Students.
• You can follow the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X.
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