A public inquiry to uncover the truth of what happened during violent clashes between police and striking miners in Orgreave is set to begin in the autumn, the government has announced.
The statutory inquiry, promised in Labour’s election manifesto, will get to the bottom of one of the “most controversial episodes in policing history”.
It comes more than 40 years after 120 people were injured during skirmishes between police and miners in the Battle of Orgreave at a coking plant in South Yorkshire on 18 June 1984.
In total, 95 picketers were arrested and initially charged with riot and violent disorder, but all charges were later dropped after evidence was discredited.
Announcing the inquiry, home secretary Yvette Cooper admitted 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.”
The inquiry, which will have the powers to compel people to provide evidence, will be chaired by the Rt Rev Dr Pete Wilcox, the Bishop of Sheffield.
It follows years of campaigning from the Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign (OTJC), which welcomed the news, saying: “We have waited a long time for this day.”
Campaigners said they are determined to find out 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”.
They also want to find out why “other evidence had been destroyed or embargoed until 2066 and 2071”, after it emerged Northumbria Police had destroyed two boxes of documents relating to the strike in April last year.
OTJC secretary, Kate Flannery, said: “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.”
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) general secretary, Chris Kitchen, said the inquiry was “hugely welcome”.
Mr Kitchen added: “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.”
Kevin Horne, a miner arrested at Orgreave, said: “It is now over 41 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.”
South Yorkshire’s mayor, Oliver Coppard, described the events at Orgreave as one of the most controversial in policing history.
“The violent clashes, the arrest of 95 miners, the collapse of the subsequent trial after revelations about police conduct, and the absence of any investigation or accountability scarred those involved, and people across our entire community,” he said, adding that the inquiry is a “landmark moment for justice and accountability”.
“It’s a step towards setting the historical record straight, ensuring lessons are learned, and restoring public trust,” he continued.
“We owe it to the miners, their families, and our communities to ensure that the events of Orgreave are finally understood.”
The Home Office said formal consultation between the home secretary and the Rt Rev Wilcox on the inquiry’s terms of reference has begun.
The Rt Rev Wilcox, who is working with the government to identify experts to support him on an independent panel, said he did not “underestimate the weight of expectation or the significance of the task”.
He added: “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.”
