Battle of Orgreave

Battle of Orgreave
Orgreave Coking Works (1989)
Date18 June 1984 (1984-06-18)
LocationOrgreave, South Yorkshire, England
Coordinates53°22′40″N 1°22′20″W / 53.3777°N 1.3722°W / 53.3777; -1.3722
TypeCivil disorder
Filmed by
Deaths0
Non-fatal injuries123
InquiriesIndependent Police Complaints Commission (June 2015)
Arrests95
Charges
  • Riot
  • Unlawful assembly
  • Violent disorder
VerdictAcquitted
LitigationArthur Critchlow and 38 Others v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police (1990)
Awards£425,000
Battle of Orgreave is located in South Yorkshire
Orgreave
Orgreave
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Orgreave shown within South Yorkshire

The Battle of Orgreave was a violent confrontation on 18 June 1984 between pickets and officers of the South Yorkshire Police (SYP) and other police forces, including the Metropolitan Police, at a British Steel Corporation (BSC) coking plant at Orgreave, in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England.[1] It was a pivotal event in the 1984–1985 UK miners' strike, and one of the most violent clashes in British industrial history.[2][3][4][5]

Journalist Alastair Stewart has characterised it as "a defining and ghastly moment" that "changed, forever, the conduct of industrial relations and how this country functions as an economy and as a democracy".[6] Most media reports at the time depicted it as "an act of self-defence by police who had come under attack". In 2015, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) reported that there was "evidence of excessive violence by police officers, a false narrative from police exaggerating violence by miners, perjury by officers giving evidence to prosecute the arrested men, and an apparent cover-up of that perjury by senior officers".[7]

Historian Tristram Hunt has described the confrontation as "almost medieval in its choreography ... at various stages a siege, a battle, a chase, a rout and, finally, a brutal example of legalised state violence".[8]

71 picketers were charged with riot and 24 with violent disorder.[9][10] At the time, riot was punishable by life imprisonment.[11] The trials collapsed when the evidence given by the police was deemed "unreliable".[12][13] Gareth Peirce, who acted as solicitor for some of the pickets, said that the charge of riot had been used "to make a public example of people, as a device to assist in breaking the strike", while Michael Mansfield called it "the worst example of a mass frame-up in this country this century".[14][15]

In June 1991, the SYP paid £425,000 in compensation to 39 miners for assault, wrongful arrest, unlawful detention and malicious prosecution.[12][16][17][18]

Following the 2016 inquest verdict into the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, previously censored documents suggesting links between the actions of senior SYP officers at both incidents were published. This led to renewed calls for a public inquiry to be held into the actions of the police at Orgreave.[19][20][21][22]

In October 2016, in an Oral Answer to a Question in the House of Commons,[23] a written ministerial statement to the House of Commons[24] and Lords,[25] and in a letter to the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC), Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced there would be no statutory inquiry or independent review.[26][27] In 2016, Alan Billings, the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, admitted that the SYP had been "dangerously close to being used as an instrument of state".[28][29]

  1. ^ Mansfield, Michael (June 2009). "Blood, Sweat and Tears: The Miners' Strike 1984–85". Socialist Lawyer (52): 16–18. ISSN 0954-3635. JSTOR 42950343.
  2. ^ Hendy, John (2009). "The Attack on the Miners Was a Turning Point". Socialist Lawyer (52): 20–23. ISSN 0954-3635. JSTOR 42950345.
  3. ^ Conn, David (22 November 2012). "Miners' strike: how the bloodiest battle became the 'biggest frame-up'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  4. ^ Conn, David (22 July 2015). "We were fed lies about the violence at Orgreave. Now we need the truth". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  5. ^ Philpott, Colin (28 December 2012). "The Battle of Orgreave: The story of an infamous confrontation between striking miners and police in Yorkshire". On:Yorkshire Magazine. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  6. ^ Stewart, Alastair (31 October 2016). "Battle of Orgreave: A bloody battle which transformed industrial relations". ITV News. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  7. ^ Conn, David (6 May 2016). "South Yorkshire interim police chief welcomes Orgreave inquiry". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  8. ^ Hunt, Tristram (4 September 2006). "Charge of the heavy brigade". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  9. ^ McColgan, Michael (13 September 2012). "South Yorkshire police learned a sense of impunity at Orgreave". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  10. ^ George, Mark (29 April 2016). "Like Hillsborough, Orgreave cries out for justice". The Justice Gap. Archived from the original on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  11. ^ Davenport, Peter (19 July 1985). "Pits riot charges in doubt after police 'frame-up'". The Times. No. 62194. London. p. 2.
  12. ^ a b "Orgreave Decision Finally Revealed to 'Interested Parties' – but It's Confidential". Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds. 13 April 2015. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  13. ^ Conn, David (14 November 2014). "Tell us the truth about the battle of Orgreave". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  14. ^ Seton, Craig (8 October 1985). "Miners' strike aftermath". The Times. No. 62263. London. p. 4.
  15. ^ "Charges review as pit trials fail". The Times. No. 62198. London. 24 July 1985. p. 2.
  16. ^ "The Toll of Orgreave". Hartlepool Mail. Hartlepool. 16 June 2015. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  17. ^ Davenport, Peter (21 June 1991). "Scargill demands investigation into police tactics at Orgreave". The Times. No. 64052. London. p. 2.
  18. ^ Milne, Seumas (20 June 1991). "Police to pay £425,000 to 39 arrested in miners' strike". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 12 October 2016 – via InfoTrac.
  19. ^ Parsons, Rob (3 May 2016). "The links between South Yorkshire Police Hillsborough and Orgreave 'cover-ups' five years apart". The Yorkshire Post. Leeds. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  20. ^ "Orgreave IPCC report echoes Hillsborough police cover-up". The Daily Telegraph. London. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  21. ^ Dodd, Vikram (4 May 2016). "Former chief constable calls for public inquiry into Orgreave clashes and beyond". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  22. ^ Capstick, Ken (5 May 2016). "The lies binding Hillsborough to the battle of Orgreave". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  23. ^ "Orgreave – Hansard Online". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  24. ^ "Policing:Written statement – HCWS227". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  25. ^ "Policing:Written statement – HLWS228". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  26. ^ "Battle of Orgreave inquiry ruled out". BBC News. 31 October 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  27. ^ Travis, Alan (31 October 2016). "Government rules out Orgreave inquiry". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  28. ^ Hudson, Nick (11 May 2016). "South Yorkshire PCC: We 'got it wrong' on Hillsborough while miners' strike 'politicised police force'". Police Professional. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  29. ^ Richmond, Tom (13 May 2016). "The confidential Cabinet papers – and how Thatcher interfered in policing of Miners' Strike". The Yorkshire Post. Leeds. Retrieved 14 May 2016.