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Orgreave – it’s time for truth and justice
It’s wrong that the government continues to reject calls for an independent review, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP
A reenactment of the battle of Orgreave
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ORGREAVE campaigners rightly described as a “real kick in the teeth” the government’s decision last week to turn down an offer by the Bishop of Sheffield to set up an independent panel to examine the 1984 clash between striking miners and police.
As Chris Hockney, chair of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign said, “We had high hopes that his approach would be seen as a real chance to get to the truth about what happened at Orgreave.”
In response to the decision, the Bishop of Sheffield has said he will continue to push for a review into what is often referred to as the Battle of Orgreave after the Home Office rejected his offer.
As the Rt Rev Dr Pete Wilcox said, there is real public support for such a move and it would be a “real public benefit” for such an independent review of documents relating to the events at the miners’ strike in Orgreave, in South Yorkshire, on June 18 1984.
On that date, at the height of the miners’ strike, huge lines of police clashed with striking miners as they tried to stop lorries carrying coke to fuel the Scunthorpe steel furnaces.
Violence erupted and at one stage police horses were sent to charge the crowd up the field as officers followed to make arrests.
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