The government has announced an independent statutory inquiry into the 1984 ‘Battle of Orgreave’, a key event in the year-long miners’ strike during which thousands of police and miners clashed, leaving 120 people injured.

In all, 95 pickets at the South Yorkshire coking plant were arrested and charged with riot and violent disorder. But all charges were dropped after evidence was discredited. There has since been a long campaign to seek an inquiry into the role played by the police and government.

The setting up of an inquiry fulfils a Labour Party manifesto commitment to tackle historic injustices that promised an ‘investigation or inquiry’ to ensure ‘that the truth about the events at Orgreave comes to light’.

Announcing the inquiry, home secretary Yvette Cooper said events at Orgreave had ‘cast a shadow over communities in Yorkshire and other mining areas’. She added: ‘The violent scenes and subsequent prosecutions raised concerns that have been left unanswered for decades, and we must now establish what happened.’

Although terms of reference have yet to be set, the Home Office has confirmed that the inquiry will have statutory powers and be led by Rt Rev Dr Pete Wilcox, the Bishop of Sheffield.

Chris Kitchen, general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, welcomed the inquiry. He said: ‘The events at Orgreave and throughout the strike destroyed the trust between the police and mining communities even now 41 years later. It is vital that this trust is won back and the NUM believe this inquiry will go some way to rebuilding that trust that will benefit everyone.’

The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC), set up in 2012, also welcomed the announcement, and said it looked forward to meeting the chair of the inquiry to discuss its terms of reference.

OTJC secretary Kate Flannery said: ‘We have waited a long time for this day and this is really positive news. All these years of hard work by the OTJC and our many supporters has helped to influence this constructive announcement.

‘We appreciate the Labour Party’s nine-year commitment to holding some kind of Orgreave inquiry. We now need to be satisfied that the inquiry is given the necessary powers to fully investigate all the aspects of the orchestrated policing at Orgreave, and have unrestricted access to all relevant information including government, police and media documents, photos and films’

She said that the inquiry should give clear answers to:

• who was responsible for organising and ordering the deployment of multiple police forces, including mounted police armed with truncheons, shields and dogs, against striking miners;
• who and how it was decided that striking miners should be attacked and arrested at Orgreave and charged with riot and unlawful assembly, which carried heavy prison sentences; and
• why the police operational order for police deployments that day has disappeared and other evidence been destroyed or embargoed until 2066 and 2071.

Kevin Horne, a miner arrested at Orgreave, said: ‘It is now over forty-one years since a paramilitary style police operation was planned at Orgreave and it is important to remember that some of the miners attacked and arrested there are now dead and many others are old and ill. We need a quick and thorough inquiry with a tight timescale so that surviving miners can at last obtain the truth and justice they have been waiting for. Plenty of information exists and has already been obtained to give an inquiry a substantial head start.’

In a statement on social media, the Home Office said: ‘On 18 June 1984, the violent clashes at Orgreave and the discredited evidence that followed left lasting scars on the community. This autumn, a public inquiry will begin to uncover the truth, holding those responsible to account and helping to restore confidence in policing.’

Inquiry chair Dr Wilcox said he did not ‘underestimate the weight of expectation or the significance of the task’.

He added: ‘I look forward to engaging with stakeholders in the coming weeks over the draft terms of reference, and to working with the government to identify experts to support me on the independent panel.

‘I expect the panel to begin its work in the autumn, and we will endeavour to deliver an inquiry which is thorough and fair, and which will uncover what happened at Orgreave as swiftly as possible.’

The Daily Mail reported that the Taxpayers’ Alliance had raised concerns about the cost of the inquiry, and quoted the late Conservative Cabinet Minister Norman Tebbit as having branded it a ‘sheer waste of money’.

Further information

Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign Media Release (20 July 2025).