The 2016 inquest into the 1989 Hillsborough disaster has identified that 96 people were unlawfully killed and has identified a catalogue of failings by the police. This has brought about new concerns over the policing and accountability of the government over the battle of Orgreave during the miner’s strike of 1984 / 5. Diane Abbot a London MP, suggested that there is no reason to re-visit this incident as policing in this country has moved on a great deal since she suggests that there is nothing new to learn. She continued to claim that as there were no deaths during the battle at Orgreave there was no need for an inquest to point blame at any one side.
As we stood there in the line a continuous stream of missiles come from the pickets into the police line.
This statement was used by 31 officers from 4 different forces, the question of credibility and justice has to be examined from this incident that saw 95 men arrested for Riot. The Justice for Orgreave campaign aims to bring accountability of the actions by the Police that saw these men arrested and beaten. Prime minister Margret Thatcher was determined to end this strike and on the 18th of June, she broke the camels back. During the Miners strike of 1984 / 5, miners gathered at the site of the coking plant near Rotherham to demonstrate their disapproval of the closure of pits around the country. At this point, miners had been on strike for over 100 days and to them, this was just another day on the picket line. What they faced that day on was a sea of Met Police, The Army and other police forces that were told to deal with the situation in ways that were suggested by some reports as ‘what is necessary’.
I have to ask at this point, was it the intention of the police to fabricate the whole event and continue Thatcher’s ideology of making these miners the enemy of the nation? For over 60 years, there had been no instance of arrest for Riot, yet here, at Orgreave 95 men were arrested on this charge. Was this heavy-handed approach justified by the prospect of condemning people to a life in prison, just to make an example out of them? To prove a point that the police and government could not be dictated to by the masses, by the unity of the working class.
Yorkshire has been home to coal mining for generations before 1984 there were over 60 collieries at the centre of communities providing work for all generations. This employment was at the centre of most small villages around South Yorkshire, the collieries not only employed men to work on the coal face but electricians, nurses, office workers and engineers. The colliery was the central hub, working men’s clubs would be the unity of each community and people would come together and show their brotherhood loyalty. These men trusted each other with their lives, would work long hard hours underground, some miners as to be like no other have described this comradery. During times of austerity the working men’s clubs would be, the meeting place for the unions, there is still a strong tradition of these clubs in Yorkshire that provides a place for locals to enjoy a sense of community. Workers were rewarded with affordable housing, pensions and a sense of longevity in the profession. After the strike of 1972 miners believed that their defeat of the police and government had secured their jobs and conditions should continue to improve. Arthur Scargill, the head of the miners union had a sense of empowerment, workers trusted him and after his successes, he had begun to show signs of being a great leader that would not back down in the face of any government.
The election of 1979 saw the return of a Conservative government, Margret Thatcher ruled with an iron fist and was set out to make an example, she saw the defeat of previous elections by the Labour government humiliating and believed that the country should be run by a strong government, not one dictated to by unions of workers. She set out plans to reform Great Britain and to do this she believed that imported goods would be the future of the economy. Thatcher believed that people should also own their own homes; people were encouraged to take out mortgages and move away from a rented property. Her time as prime minister brought about big changed to the economy and social landscape. Her plans started with the threat of closing down the Collieries of Yorkshire and Wales, these plans were brought about to improve the economy and refine the expenditure of the country. She wanted to reform the industry. Arthur Scargill and the National Coal Miners Union (NUM) rose up in protest to these plans, the union took a majority vote to take strike action. Their focus was to protect workers jobs and pay, hoping that Thatcher would stand down just as a previous government had in the strike of 1972, Scargill and the NCM were in for the long haul.
Before the strike begun in 1984 incentivisation was introduced, productivity was rewarded. This pitched colliery against colliery, miner against miner, Scargill had warned the miners against this as he knew that segregation was to be the only way to bring down the unity of the working class. Nottingham miners were given this opportunity to earn a bigger paycheck through the scheme; it was Thatcher’s intention to stockpile the coal in preparation for the inevitable strike action that would come. Thatcher wanted to prevent the actions of previous strikes, she did not wish to bring back a 3-day working week that in 1972 was implemented to save power, she also saw this as an opportunity to divide the union. Miners in this area were able to earn up to £100 a week, while they knew the risks of not taking strike action, the loss of such earning would be a hard pill to swallow. Nottingham miners would stay in work and form a breakaway union that supported their rights and was against the strike of the NUM. This certainly pitched miner against miner and created a divide amongst the collieries, it ultimately created a bigger divide between working-class communities and the police and most certainly the government.
Thatcher wanted to streamline the economy and saw the coal mining industry as one that was becoming costly. Some collieries were receiving subsidies to keep them open; this cost outweighed the price of the coal that was being mined. An example of this was the colliery at Herrington; it has been receiving subsidies up to the value of two million pounds. Harsh economic decisions had to be made to bring this country into a state of growth and prosperity. Thatcher’s government saw these closures as one way to do this. It would seem that logic and a sense of humanity was lost during these decisions. Up to 700 men and their families would stand to lose their way of life that had been in safe hands for the past 100 years. The Coal mining Board, who suggested the closures of these pits, argued that the men wishing to continue to work could do so and would be found work in neighbouring towns. For some families, this was not good enough, and their way of life and communities were being torn apart at the very idea of this.
On the 18th, the picket line was marched into the site at Orgreave by police, ushered into place and surrounded. Miners were faced with a sea of officers in riot shields and mounted patrols. The day was orchestrated by one man; Anthony Clement he was the chief officer of the South Yorkshire police. As groups of miners made their way to the site they were stopped, searched and warned to turn their cars around. Once at the site it had been reported that there was certainly tension in their air and that something was about to happen. Miners turned up other topless or in t-shirts, while officers in full riot gear face them. Pickets had been in place for a number of weeks at the Orgreave coke plant near Rotherham, tensions had begun to rise and ultimately come to a head on the 18th of June. Reports from the miners were that the introduction of officers from other forces such as the MET and the army was the straw that broke the camels back. There have been numbers thrown around in various reports of those in attendance that day, some suggest that around ten thousand miners were in attendance, more than there had been in previous weeks but as before it was a peaceful picket line. There had been the usual push and shove of the police line as there had been in days before but no violence had broken out in this time. This was backed up by police interviews years later.
Police reports detail the account of the day, stating that the picket line was becoming increasingly irritated by the number of lorries entering the plant, miners were prevented by police from talking to the drivers and encouraging them to turn around with the hope of forcing the plant into closure, just as they had done at Scatter gate in ‘72. With around ten thousand miners feeling trapped, frustrated and voiceless it was inevitable that trouble would break out. The police presence provoked some individuals to respond by throwing stones into the crowd of officers. With a signal from Anthony Clement the horses were deployed and charged into the crowd of miners, a military-style plan of attack had been implemented. Short shield riot officers would follow; taking anyone they could on the route. Arrests were made during this time, two officers to one miner. Individuals were arrested on the grounds of riot, an offence that holds the threat of life in prison. It is argued that throwing a stone into a crowd or at a police officer is regarded as a public order offence and would carry no more than a fine. It has to be asked, why were the police instructed to use this law that had previously been unused for sixty years?
The violence and intimidation we have seen should never have happened. It is the work of extremists. It is the enemy within. Thatcher TV Interview for BBC2 Newsnight (27 July 1984)
Police reports at the time maintain the level of force used was out of necessity to gain control of the situation. The horses and short shield riot police were used to separate and disperse the crowd. Miners retaliated by throwing stones and missiles, aiming to stop or prevent the charge of officers. Further Police reports and media coverage of the events that day state that the miners were to blame and that the violent attacks were unjust. Other media reports supported the police and identified them as the heroes of the day, arresting these thugs and rioters, condemning the behaviour of the miners. Thatcher called the Miners the enemy within; she argued that anyone who is against the government and the progress of the country is an enemy. At this point, there is a nature of blame and that has been firmly pointed towards the Miners. Government and police were determined to identify these men as being out of order thugs who were preventing the further development of the country.
In an interview with the BBC in 2015, ex-police officer Bob Bird did not wish to concede this battle with the pickets, he believed that the actions in 1972 needed to be corrected and he saw it as an insult to the profession that those officers were broken down by the union. He stated that the ethos of the day was not to allow the Miners into the plant, to stay strong and win. Individual reports from miners document the incident in a very different light. Ex-miner Stef Wysocki gives his account in the same BBC documentary; highlighting the brutal attack from police officers he received that day. He states that while stood in the middle of a field, surrounded by his comrades, he noticed the police charging towards him. Who are they after he thought, he looked around. Oh me, he exclaimed. Wysocki was arrested by two officers and was dragged, beaten and thrown into the back of a van. Photographers of the day document this account, in court the jury heard these details and the images show Wysocki being arrested at the bottom of the hill and as he reaches the top, he is dripping with blood and being dragged. Through the Justice for Orgreave campaign I was able to talk with ex-miners, Kevin Horne described his clash with the police:
When we were walking over the old pit tip, we saw about 4 or 5 thousand police just marching up and down in a field, it made me stop dead in my tracks as these were only on standby not even on the frontline. My mate said they are soldiers, he had come to mining from the Army a couple of years before. I was arrested on that day 18th June 1984. I was walking up a field and joined Highfield lane further up having nipped through the police lines. A copper stopped me and asked l would help to clear the road of some stone blocks from a dry stone wall because Ambulances were trying to get through with injured pickets. Naively I helped only for horses to come galloping through chasing us back down the field. When I got to Catcliffe playing field and got my breath back, I turned around and the wagons were coming and as I turned and went back to the front line I got a shove in the back into the police hands and was arrested. In the police cells in Sheffield, I could hear other pickets moaning etc. When we were taken later to Rotherham we saw the blood, snot and urine awash in the other cells. When we arrived in Rotherham, we were put in a compound with the other pickets where men were being treated by other pickets with the use of T-shirts and Jumpers to cover wounds ie broken Skulls, Arms, Legs and many Head wounds. The police gave no medical care until our solicitors arrived from London. Later well after midnight, we were taken to the magistrate’s court to be charged with Unlawful Assembly and Riot. Some were taken to Armley prison.
Further to this, an account from this day was told, John Baldwin. John and his son Kevin along with two other colleagues attended Orgreave to fight for their jobs and livelihood. Kevin states that they were amongst the first 30 people there. They had been ushered into a field and were faced with police in all directions. Both Kevin and John recall a charge of police towards them, I would speculate that John had maybe shouted obscenities at the police but Kevin did not allude to this. John was then beaten with a baton, hit to the floor and his arm broken. He stood up, took a deep breath and head-butted the officer. A swarm of them jumped on your granddad and arrested him, dragged him away, Kevin recalls as he remembers the day.
Court trials that followed in 1985 had fallen through due to inconsistencies in the police reports. Of the 93 arrested for riot, none were convicted. Arguments over the arresting officer, time, and accountability of the events were all in question during these cases. Statements from Members of Parliament and Politicians state that Thatcher’s view of the Miners was that of yobbos and thugs. She had already branded them the enemy within and was determined to win this war. Returning to work Monday the 4th of March 1985, the silence as women escort their husbands, the bittersweet sense of relief. Returning to work, a source of income and all the while knowing that the previous year’s hardship was in vain. Having been defeated by the government and police, miners returned to work heartbroken, egos bruised but not down and out. For some people, the strike had highlighted the need to move on and find alternative employment. Electricians, Mechanics and Nurses would go on to develop their own businesses or find employment in the NHS. Some men would continue to work in the collieries, moving from pit to pit as they close. The industry would continue to take hits from financial cuts and be undercut by cheaper resources from overseas.
Thatcher had met with Arthur Scargill on a number of occasions to discuss the dispute, on one occasion Thatcher had agreed to meet 90% the demands that Scargill set out. Reports and anecdotes from those closest to him state that he was determined and focused on Thatcher surrendering to 100% of his demands. He did not want to be dictated to by her, just as she did not wish to be dictated to by him. His previous wins as leader of the NUM had given him a sense of megalomania, he could talk the talk and stir a crowd But was he able to win the war? There have been reports that Russian miners and their families had been sending food and money to help support the effort of the NUM, allegations of corruption on the side of Scargill saw him become ever richer, purchase bigger houses and pocket a lot of this aid. It would appear that he had no intention of ending this strike while he was receiving this financial support.
An investigation into the incidents on this day will fail to acknowledge specific blame and would culminate in miner’s further frustration. This was the first day of further brutal attacks on the miners that Thatcher had orchestrated.
This battle was ultimately between two people, Margret Thatcher and Arthur Scargill, each using their powers to bring down their opposition. Each did not see the sacrifice that was being made by the miners and their communities; the battle at Orgreave highlights the unjust behaviour of the police and the powers that governments hold. This power was abused on both sides; Thatcher had the police and army at her disposal to prove a point that neither she nor a conservative government can be taken down by the unions again. Scargill had his part to play in the day too, he had opportunity’s to end this and agree to terms that would see miners back in work. He chose to lead the miners down a path that would see them beaten and bruised, leaving scars for generations. The police brutality, corruption and cover-ups were rife in this era of policing but who will be held to account for these actions?
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The book will tell the story of police brutality and injustice towards the miners, there is a call to arms with the book, a selection of pull out protest posters that will go towards the promotion and its launch. A demonstration outside the houses of parliment calling for an inquest into this incident that has been pushed aside. The banners will be torn out of the book and used to create unity and consistancey of the message. Within the book I will also include pages of tracing paper with prints of police reports that contradict and provide a false account of the day.
(Images in the book are not credited at this point, I will source the originals and credit the author. )
Pixels and Serifs. 