Inquiry call at Battle of Orgreave anniversary march

Campaigners have continued to press for an inquiry into one of the most violent clashes of the miners' strike at an event to mark its 39th anniversary.

Scores of miners were arrested at the so-called Battle of Orgreave in South Yorkshire in June 1984, but all charges were dropped.

The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC) renewed its calls for an inquiry at a march in Sheffield on Saturday.

Former miner Kevin Horne said: "We were only striking for the right to work."

Police confronted pickets outside a coking plant in Orgreave, South Yorkshire, in what the miners said was a military-style operation to attack them.

Mr Horne, one of 95 miners arrested during the clashes, said: "Pardons by the Scottish government for Scottish miners arrested during the miners' strike, continuing anger in ex-mining communities, papers from the time of the strike embargoed from public release until at least 2066 and growing numbers who support this campaign for truth and justice, show it is in the public interest to hold an Orgreave inquiry to have a full and authoritative review of what happened and why we were treated so badly".

The OTJC said it has submitted evidence to the Home Office about why it believes there should be an inquiry.

An offer to set up an independent panel to review documents relating to the incident was rejected by the government in 2019.

Kate Flannery, secretary of the campaign, said their "powerful and detailed evidence seems to have been ignored" as she called for accountability.

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