Campaigners step up calls for inquiry into 1984 ‘Battle of Orgreave’

The government has repeatedly ruled out an inquiry into the events at Orgreave in South Yorkshire in June 1984.

Scores of miners were arrested during a day of violence, and many were injured, although all charges were later dropped.

The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign will hold a protest in Sheffield on June 18 in a fresh attempt to have their demands accepted.

Joe Rollin, the group’s chairman, told the PA news agency: “We still believe there is overwhelming evidence for an inquiry.

“The government has stopped replying to our letters, even though we believe there is a link between what happened at Orgreave and the legislation brought in this year to restrict protests.

“For many the wounds of Orgreave are as fresh as if it was yesterday.”

Campaigners have described what happened at Orgreave as a “seismic event” in history.

The clashes between thousands of police and pickets on June 18 1984 became known as the Battle of Orgreave, a day which will never be forgotten by those who were there.

A British Steel coking plant near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, had been picketed peacefully for weeks, as had many pits which largely came to a standstill because of the strike over jobs and closures by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).

Something changed dramatically on the fateful day, and decades later, campaigners are still fighting to establish the reasons for what happened.

They blame the then government for being behind the police tactics, to break the morale of the NUM, but they also believe officers went too far in attacking pickets, leading to dozens of injuries.

Mr Rollin said the campaign group was pinning its hopes on a Labour government agreeing to hold an inquiry if it wins the next general election.