No lives lost, no miscarriage of justice, no inquiry
Minister’s verdict on Battle of Orgreave probe and – surprise, surprise – the Left is outraged
‘It would do nothing to heal the wounds’
AMBER Rudd yesterday ruled out an inquiry into the Battle of Orgreave – one of the most violent clashes of the miners’ strike.
The Home Secretary rejected calls for a statutory investigation into the clash between police and pitmen at a South Yorkshire coking plant in 1984.
Campaigners – who claim officers orchestrated violence and falsified evidence – reacted furiously to Miss Rudd’s ruling that there would be ‘very few lessons’ for police from the confrontation.
Demand for an inquiry has grown since April when the fresh inquest into the 1989 Hillsborough football disaster discredited officers from South Yorkshire Police.
In the Commons yesterday, the Government was accused of an ‘Establishment stitch-up’ and duping campaigners – allegations that were strongly denied.
The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign said the announcement was a ‘complete shock and a great disappointment’.
But Miss Rudd said she did not believe there was sufficient basis for a statutory inquiry or independent review.
In a written statement, she said: ‘Despite the forceful accounts and arguments provided by the campaigners and former miners who were present that day about the effect that these events have had on them, ultimately there were no deaths or wrongful convictions.’
Lord Tebbit – trade secretary during the strike led by miners’ union chief Arthur Scargill – said: ‘This is a sensible decision which underlines that the police behaved properly at Orgreave.
‘An inquiry could have been used as a stick with which to beat the Thatcher government. At Orgreave the police succeeded in maintaining the right of men to go to work against the violence of the Scargill pickets.’
Tory MP Sir Gerald Howarth, who represented coal miners in Staffordshire at the time of the strike, said: ‘Re-running Orgreave would do nothing to heal the wounds and do no service to the governing of the country.’
Miss Rudd also ruled out claims that the failure of Margaret Thatcher’s government to tackle South Yorkshire Police’s conduct led to the Hillsborough disaster in which 96 football fans died.
The Battle of Orgreave broke out on June 18, 1984, when police horses charged the crowd. Officers said they had been hit by rocks and bottles.
Some 123 people were injured and 95 pickets charged with riot offences – although all were later acquitted.
The Home Secretary had been pressed to hold a full public inquiry amid claims the police had used excessive force, manipulated court statements and given false evidence.
She said: ‘Over 30 years later, policing is very different and one of my key concerns… is to ensure there is a policing system which works effectively and fairly now.
‘The policing landscape has changed fundamentally since 1984. There would therefore be very few lessons for the policing system today to be learned from any review of the events and practices of three decades ago.
‘I do not believe that establishing any kind of inquiry is required to allay public concerns or for any other reason.’
But she was heckled loudly by Labour MPs in the Commons when she was quizzed on the decision during Home Office Questions.
Former shadow home secretary Andy Burnham said the Independent Police Complaints Commission had found evidence of perjury and perversion of the course of justice by police at Orgreave.
Mr Burnham said: ‘Given that in the last month new evidence has emerged from former police officers who were at Orgreave of orchestrated violence and the mass manufacture of police statements, are we right in concluding the Establishment stitch-up that she has just announced today is nothing more than a nakedly political act?’ Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh – who raised demands for an inquiry last year – said campaigners had been ‘led up the garden path’.
And Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he was ‘appalled that Government ruled out inquiry into Orgreave – denying truth and justice for victims and their families’.
Barbara Jackson, of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign, said the decision meant there would be ‘no transparency, no accountability, no truth and no justice’. She said: ‘It’s a complete and utter shock to us that we are getting nothing after campaigning for four years.
‘So it’s okay that you get beaten up and seriously injured, but so long as you don’t die the police don’t have to be held accountable.’
She said the group’s lawyers would be looking to see if they could launch a legal challenge.
South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings said he was ‘shocked and dismayed’ as former miners ‘deserve an explanation as to what happened on that day and where Orgreave fits in the wider story of the miners’ strike’.
No 10 said Theresa May fully supported Miss Rudd’s decision.
In 1991, South Yorkshire Police paid £425,000 to 39 miners who sued for assault, wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution. The force did not admit wrongdoing.
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