Battle of Orgreave rally: Scores join call for inquiry

About 200 people have taken part in a rally calling again for an inquiry into the actions of police during the so-called Battle of Orgreave in 1984.

Scores of miners were arrested during the violence with many injured, although all charges were dropped.

Saturday's rally, which included some of those miners, heard how policing during the clashes needed re-examining.

In October 2016 then Home Secretary Amber Rudd said there would be no inquiry but the campaign has continued.

The rally - held at Orgreave, between Rotherham and Sheffield - marked the 34th anniversary of the violence at the coking plant in South Yorkshire.

The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC) said it had been encouraged by a decision by the Scottish Government to hold an independent review into the impact of policing during the miners' strike in Scotland.

Chris Hockney, who chairs the OTJC, said: "Striking miners were brutalised by the police all over Britain."

"The announcement in the Scottish Parliament gives us real hope that an inquiry will be conducted into police brutality at Orgreave and the miners and our communities will get justice," he added.

Craig Mansell, a miner arrested at Orgreave, said: "Ex-home secretary Amber Rudd had an opportunity to authorise an inquiry and chose not to."

"The new Home Secretary Sajid Javid should now have the decency to acknowledge Amber Rudd's miscalculation and implement an inquiry that is well overdue."

Thousands of pickets and police officers clashed at Orgreave in some of the most violent confrontations during the year-long miners' strike.

A total of 95 people were charged with riot and violent disorders.