Is Andy Burnham right to accuse Amber Rudd of a 'stitch-up' over Orgreave ?

[Lanchester]

Is Andy Burnham right to accuse Amber Rudd of a 'stitch-up' over Orgreave ?

There should definitely be an enquiry. The use of the police as what people called Maggie's private army, which culminated at Orgreave with mounted police riding down trapped miners, was hugely corrupting to the work of the police and its effects have, as others have pointed out, lasted to the present day. Hatred is still felt in some communities, and I can understand why.

We have policing by consent here, and it's immensely valuable. Anything that damages that bond between public and police should be seen as important. A senior copper I know was bussed up with 100s of others to break up the strikers during those years and told me he and fellow officers were outraged by the orders, and that violence wasn't a proper role for the police. His main concern was the damage done to the relationship between the police and ordinary working people.

I have seen suggestions that military police were engaged during the battle of Orgreave and would be very interested to know if this is true. Hell of a scandal if it is.

"Why didn't Labour hold an inquiry in their 13 years?

As Andy Burnham said, they had no legal basis to do so. They got the ball rolling on Hillsborough by setting up the panel, and that led to the inquiry which revealed corruption in South Yorks Police and a history of collusion with the government.

It's important to hold an inquiry into this because it is very very likely that SYP used the same methods at Hillsborough that they did at Orgreave. If they had learned from the mistakes at Orgreave, 96 people might not have died at Hillsborough.

The reason the Tories don't want an inquiry is because it will show just how awful Thatcher really was.

Say what you want about Labour, but they did let the Iraq inquiry go ahead and started the ball rolling on Hillsborough as well.

The reason the Tories don't want an inquiry is because it will show just how awful Thatcher really was.

Couldn't put it better, BowieFan. Those who still idolize Thatcher will go to great lengths to preserve her image. An enquiry examining her personal determination to teach the miners a lesson, which lead to military tactics, horses and dogs being used against members of the public, would reveal corruption even diehard fans would find hard to ignore.

What happened at Orgreave was shameful, and what happened after was at least as bad. 95 miners were charged with offences including riot, which carries a life sentence. But as the police evidence was produced it became clear that there was extensive perjury, with statements of individual officers identical. Police collusion was blatant and the trial collapsed. All credit to the judge. Later damages were paid to some of the defendants on the grounds, among others, of malicious prosecution.

Human rights lawyers say the issues around police conduct at Orgreave resonate to this day, and insist an enquiry is essential to examine policy at the time, and since. What happened at Hillsborough would not have happened without the corrupting effect of the use of police and subsequent perjury during the miners' strike.

Gosh, that's a screed! It's not like I'm passionate about it or anything.

TLDR: The police were used as a political tool at Orgreave, and 100s were ordered to commit perjury. Its legacy of contempt for civilians created the "us and them" climate that resulted in the events at Hillsborough.