UK Orders Inquiry Into 1984 Orgreave Miners Clash

Britain’s Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has ordered a statutory inquiry into the 1984 “Battle of Orgreave,” one of the most violent episodes of the year-long miners’ strike against the government of Margaret Thatcher. The clash on 18 June 1984 saw more than 5,000 striking miners face a similar number of riot police outside the Orgreave coking plant near Sheffield, leaving about 120 people injured and leading to 95 arrests on riot and violent-disorder charges that were later dismissed. The inquiry, to be launched in the autumn and chaired by the Bishop of Sheffield, Rt Rev Dr Pete Wilcox, will examine police tactics, decision-making by national and local authorities, and the collapse of subsequent prosecutions. It will have powers to compel witnesses and documents, addressing long-standing demands from former miners and the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign for full disclosure of government and police records. Cooper said the investigation aims to resolve questions that have “cast a shadow over mining communities for four decades.” The move fulfils a Labour manifesto pledge and reverses a 2016 decision by the then-Conservative home secretary to rule out a probe. South Yorkshire Police said it will cooperate fully with the inquiry.