Orgreave Inquiry. Read indexed debates, questions, statements and early day motions, with links to the original parliamentary records.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to hold a public inquiry into the police operation at Orgreave on 18 June 1984.
There are no plans to review the Government’s decision of 31 October 2016 not to establish a public inquiry into the policing of the events at the Orgreave coking plant on 18 June 1984.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the implications are for his policy on conducting an inquiry into police action in England and Wales during the 1984 miners' strike of the decision by the Scottish Justice Secretary to order an i
There are no plans to review the Government’s decision of 31 October 2016 not to establish a public inquiry into the policing of the events at the Orgreave coking plant on 18 June 1984.
That this House remembers the start of the miners' strike in March 1984 when five pits were announced for closure as part of the Government's restructuring of the coal industry; acknowledges the hardship and struggle endured by the miners and their families who faced losing their livelihoods; notes that the decline of the British coal industry had a devastating impact on mining communities, including those of the West Fife villages, in particular the closure of the Valleyfield Pit which made ...
Commons Chamber
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has located the plan for the police operation at Orgreave on 18 June 1984.
Following the announcement on 31 October 2016 of the Home Secretary’s decision not to establish an inquiry into the events at Orgreave, the Home Office reviewed all 33 files it held relating to the Miner’s Strike of 1984/85 and committed to transfer all of them to The National Archives (TNA). This commitment was fulfilled on 27 June 2017 with the transfer of 15 remaining files to TNA, following the 18 files that were transferred on 18 February 2017. The 1984 plan for police operations at Orgreave was not found in the Home Office papers as such matters are for the respective police force(s) involved and it is not common practice for these plans to be submitted to the Home Office or other Government departments.
The transferred files were subject to a small number of limited redactions for personal data and other sensitivity reasons following established government record review processes, including oversight by the independent Advisory Council on National Records and Archives.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many documents relating to Orgreave are awaiting review prior to release; and when it is anticipated that the review will be completed.
Following the announcement on 31 October 2016 of the Home Secretary’s decision not to establish an inquiry into the events at Orgreave, the Home Office reviewed all 33 files it held relating to the Miner’s Strike of 1984/85 and committed to transfer all of them to The National Archives (TNA). This commitment was fulfilled on 27 June 2017 with the transfer of 15 remaining files to TNA, following the 18 files that were transferred on 18 February 2017. The 1984 plan for police operations at Orgreave was not found in the Home Office papers as such matters are for the respective police force(s) involved and it is not common practice for these plans to be submitted to the Home Office or other Government departments.
The transferred files were subject to a small number of limited redactions for personal data and other sensitivity reasons following established government record review processes, including oversight by the independent Advisory Council on National Records and Archives.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what grounds documents relating to Orgreave were redacted before release; and what the procedure was for approving such redactions.
Following the announcement on 31 October 2016 of the Home Secretary’s decision not to establish an inquiry into the events at Orgreave, the Home Office reviewed all 33 files it held relating to the Miner’s Strike of 1984/85 and committed to transfer all of them to The National Archives (TNA). This commitment was fulfilled on 27 June 2017 with the transfer of 15 remaining files to TNA, following the 18 files that were transferred on 18 February 2017. The 1984 plan for police operations at Orgreave was not found in the Home Office papers as such matters are for the respective police force(s) involved and it is not common practice for these plans to be submitted to the Home Office or other Government departments.
The transferred files were subject to a small number of limited redactions for personal data and other sensitivity reasons following established government record review processes, including oversight by the independent Advisory Council on National Records and Archives.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to commitment to the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee in her letter dated 28 November 2016, whether all of her Department's files relating to Orgreave have been released.
Following the announcement on 31 October 2016 of the Home Secretary’s decision not to establish an inquiry into the events at Orgreave, the Home Office reviewed all 33 files it held relating to the Miner’s Strike of 1984/85 and committed to transfer all of them to The National Archives (TNA). This commitment was fulfilled on 27 June 2017 with the transfer of 15 remaining files to TNA, following the 18 files that were transferred on 18 February 2017. The 1984 plan for police operations at Orgreave was not found in the Home Office papers as such matters are for the respective police force(s) involved and it is not common practice for these plans to be submitted to the Home Office or other Government departments.
The transferred files were subject to a small number of limited redactions for personal data and other sensitivity reasons following established government record review processes, including oversight by the independent Advisory Council on National Records and Archives.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her letter to the Home Affairs Select Committee on evidence pertaining to Orgreave, for what reasons it will take up to six months to release the 30 remaining Home Office files to th
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will list the documents that her Department considered prior to her decision not to pursue an inquiry into alleged South Yorkshire police malpractice at Orgreave in 1984.
The Home Secretary’s decision not to establish an inquiry or independent review into the events at Orgreave Coking Plant was based on a number of factors, including consideration of the key purposes of an inquiry and whether these were met in the case of Orgreave. As part of this consideration, the Home Secretary reviewed a range of relevant documentation.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department assessed the evidence held by South Yorkshire Police on its operations at Orgreave during the Miners' Strike in 1984 before making a decision on whether to hold an inquiry into
The Home Office did not review files or assess evidence held by South Yorkshire Police.
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will release all Cabinet papers relating to events at Orgreave in 1984.
All Cabinet papers from this period, including all minutes of Cabinet meetings and all papers discussed by the Cabinet, were transferred to the National Archives in 2014 under the normal process for historic records. They can be downloaded from their website.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which files and documents she reviewed before making her decision not to proceed with an inquiry into the events at Orgreave in 1984.
The Home Secretary’s decision not to establish an inquiry or independent review into the events at Orgreave Coking Plant was based on a number of factors, including consideration of the key purposes of an inquiry and whether these were met in the case of Orgreave.
As part of this consideration, the Home Secretary reviewed a range of relevant documentation.
That this House believes that the Home Secretary is wrong not to set up an inquiry into events at Orgreave in 1984; is aware of the numerous and well documented reports that striking miners were beaten by police batons, charged by police horses, and then falsely accused of riot; is concerned by reports that South Yorkshire police had decided in advance to charge arrested strikers with riot, which carried a life sentence; notes that the Independent Police Complaints Commission found evidence o...
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to her Answer of 31 October 2016, Official Report, columns 645-6, when the operational order of the day will be released.
The Home Office does not hold the information which you have requested. Decisions on operational policing matters are a matter for the respective police force(s) involved and it is not common practice for their operational orders to be submitted to the Home Office or other Government departments.
As the Home Secretary told the House on 31 October, the Police & Crime Commissioner for South Yorkshire and South Yorkshire Police is considering how the force’s papers relating to Orgreave should be released.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will release all Cabinet papers relating to events at Orgreave in 1984.
Cabinet Papers are a matter for the Cabinet Office.
Commons Chamber
The Government has been considering a submission from the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign on the need for an Inquiry or independent review into the events that occurred at Orgreave Coking Plant on 18 June 1984, and subsequently. This has been a difficult decision to make, and one which I have thought about very carefully. I have now concluded that there is not a sufficient basis for me to instigate either a statutory inquiry or an independent review. I know that this decision will come as...
The Government has been considering a submission from the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign on the need for an Inquiry or independent review into the events that occurred at Orgreave Coking Plant on 18 June 1984, and subsequently.
This has been a difficult decision to make, and one which I have thought about very carefully. I have now concluded that there is not a sufficient basis for me to instigate either a statutory inquiry or an independent review. I know that this decision will come as a significant disappointment to the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign and its supporters and I have set out in a letter to them today the detailed reasons for my decision which include the following points.
Despite the forceful accounts and arguments provided by the campaigners and former miners who were present that day, about the effect that these events have had on them, ultimately there were no deaths or wrongful convictions.
The Campaigners say that had the consequences of the events at Orgreave been addressed properly at the time, the tragic events at Hillsborough would never have happened five years later. That is not a conclusion which I believe can be reached with any certainty.
It was absolutely right that the Government established the Hillsborough Independent Panel. Significantly the Panel’s report led to the High Court quashing the original inquests verdicts and the opening of the fresh inquests. The jury’s determinations and findings were unequivocal and clear: 96 victims were unlawfully killed. The criminal investigations should now be allowed to proceed unimpeded. The IPCC is working with the CPS to assess whether material related to the policing at Orgreave is relevant to the Hillsborough criminal investigations. The intention is that criminal investigations in respect of Hillsborough will provide files to the CPS by the turn of the year following which the CPS will make decisions about whether any criminal proceedings will be brought as a result.
The Campaign and their supporters explained to me when I met them that they want to get to the bottom of what happened on the 18 June 1984, and that only by doing so will their trust, and that of their community, be restored in the police.
However, there have been very significant changes in the oversight of policing since 1984, at every level, including major reforms to criminal procedure, changes to public order policing and practice, stronger external scrutiny and greater local accountability.
The operational delivery and practice of public order policing has moved on a great deal from the arrangements in 1984, and tactics have now been reviewed and altered several times both by the police and the courts.
Protections which were singularly lacking at the time of Orgreave now exist with the introduction in the mid-80s of the Police & Criminal Evidence Act which has vastly improved the way police investigations and powers operate.
The creation of the Crown Prosecution Service in 1986, with the introduction of independent CPS prosecutors, fundamentally altered the prosecution of offences. It ended the existence of ad hoc prosecution arrangements across the country whereby a mixture of police prosecutors and private firms of solicitors - hired by the police and acting for and on the instruction of the police – conducted prosecutions.
With regards to the external scrutiny of complaints against the police, this was strengthened by the creation, in 1985, of the Police Complaints Authority which was replaced in 2004 by the more effective Independent Police Complaints Commission and in turn will be replaced by the Office for Police Conduct in 2017. The exemplary standards of behaviour expected of everyone who works in policing were reinforced by the introduction of a statutory Code of Ethics, laid before this House in 2014.
Lastly, the introduction of directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners in 2012 has given the public a voice in shaping their local policing priorities and improved the accountability of police leadership.
Over 30 years later, policing is very different and one of my key concerns as Home Secretary is to ensure there is a policing system which works effectively and fairly now. The policing landscape has changed fundamentally since 1984 – at the political, legislative and operational levels. The same is true also for the wider criminal justice system.
There would therefore be very few lessons for the policing system today to be learned from any review of the events and practices of three decades ago. This is a very important consideration when looking at the necessity for an inquiry or independent review and the public interest to be derived from holding one.
Taking these considerations into account, I do not believe that establishing any kind of inquiry is required to allay public concerns or for any other reason.
I believe that we should focus on continuing to ensure that the policing system is the best it can be for the future, including through reforms before Parliament in the Policing and Crime Bill, so that we can have the best possible policing both in South Yorkshire and across the country.
Commons Chamber
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has plans to establish a public inquiry into events at Orgreave on 18 June 1984.
Following the request from the Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign for an Inquiry or independent review into the events that occurred at Orgreave Coking Plant on 18 June 1984, I have today issued a Written Ministerial Statement setting out my decision. I have concluded that there is no case for either a statutory inquiry or an independent review.
Commons Chamber
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with the Independent Police Complaints Commission on its decision not to make public the report into allegations of police misconduct at Orgreave in 1984.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) oversees the police complaints system in England and Wales. It is operationally independent of the police, government and complainants, and makes its decisions independently and free from political influence. The Home Office has therefore had no discussions with the IPCC concerning its decision not to make public the report into allegations of police misconduct at Orgreave in 1984.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Prime Minister will meet members of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign to discuss the Independent Police Complaints Commission's decision not to make public the report into allegations of police misconduct at Orgreave in 1984.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) oversees the police complaints system in England and Wales. It is operationally independent of the police, government and complainants, and makes its decisions independently and free from political influence. It would therefore be inappropriate for me to discuss the IPCC’s decision. The Home Secretary does though plan to meet members of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign immediately after the summer recess to discuss their case on the need for an inquiry into the events at Orgreave in 1984.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Prime Minister of 11 May 2016, Official Report, column 627, when she plans to decide whether to launch an independent panel hearing into the policing of
I am currently considering a submission from the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign on the need for an inquiry into the events at Orgreave and will set out the Government's position in due course.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a public inquiry related to the miners' strike and events at Orgreave in 1984.
I am currently considering a submission from the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign containing their extensive and detailed arguments for establishing a public inquiry into the events at Orgreave and will set out the Government’s position in the near future.