This was one of many confrontations, though by far the largest, between striking coal miners and their trade union supporters and the forces of law and order drafted in by far-right Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.
This ‘battle’ was different from all other confrontations because of a number of factors not least the attitudes of the police. Prior to events the police were relatively friendly giving directions where the coaches ferrying pickets should park. All this changed once the picket lines had been set up and a much more aggressive position was taken by the police. Many police on duty that day and, allegedly, at other confrontational locations particularly in Nottinghamshire were considered by many pickets to be military personnel in police uniforms. Many supposed police officers had no identification numbers on their lapels but these ‘officers’ were kept in reserve: they were not the policemen who welcomed the coaches carrying the pickets!
On arriving at the Coking Plant for picket duties, instead of the police trying to turn back the coaches carrying pickets, they showed the drivers where to park up and they gave the miners directions to the field where, unbeknown to the miners, the battle was to take place. It was almost surreal as if they were all on the same side! Of course, this was an illusion well laid by Thatcher and her senior henchman, David Hart, a man of much wealth and extreme right-wing views with CIA and MI5 connections, a close confide and advisor of Thatcher’s. Hart was the man who financed the split within the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the formation of the ‘scab’ union; the Union of Democratic Mineworkers (UDM). The UDM formed in December 1985 eight months after the strike ended and was of great assistance to Thatcher, aided by Hart, in closing the Nottinghamshire coalfield when it suited. Roy Lynk, the “ultra-dim” UDM President, protested by sitting down Silverhill Colliery where he had once mined coal not believing how he had been betrayed by Thatcher, he was in tears saying; “we did all you asked” and you do this, why? The traitor should have known better! The moral to this story is; ‘if you drink soup with the Devil use a long spoon’. David Hart was a leading Draftsman in planning the ‘Battle of Orgreave’ for Thatcher.
The event which will go down as one of the most violent confrontations in British trade union history resulted in seventy-one pickets charged with riot (punishable by life imprisonment at the time) and a further twenty-four miners were charged with violent disorder. This was described by Michael Mansfield, QC, as “the worst example of a mass frame-up in this country this century” as the case against the ninety-five miners collapsed. Michael Mansfield discredited the police case bit by bit proving some of their most damning evidence to be false.
The event which will go down as one of the most violent confrontations in British trade union history resulted in seventy-one pickets charged with riot (punishable by life imprisonment at the time) and a further twenty-four miners were charged with violent disorder. This was described by Michael Mansfield, QC, as “the worst example of a mass frame-up in this country this century” as the case against the ninety-five miners collapsed. Michael Mansfield discredited the police case bit by bit proving some of their most damning evidence to be false.
Solicitor, Garteth Peirce, (who later represented the Birmingham six and Guilford four) described Orgreave as a “war zone” and went on to claim; “the police were acting under government direction to break the strike, not just to maintain order.” The Solicitor also noted the importance of legal aid for the miners on trial without which they would have difficulties “navigating the legal system” and appealing the charges which, if found guilty, would have resulted in long terms of imprisonment. The police forces involved in this well-planned attack on the miners at Orgreave that day came from far and wide, London Metropolitan Police, Leicestershire Police, Derbyshire Police and the local South Yorkshire Police (later in 1989 the force responsible for policing at the FA Cup Semi-Final at Hillsborough between Liverpool and Nottingham Forrest resulting in 97 Liverpool fans losing their lives). Eighteen forces in all from across Britain were deployed. Now, after forty-one years, the British Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, has announced a ‘Statutory Inquiry’ will take place into the events which occurred that day at the Coking plant. This is, for once, in line with the British Labour Party’s election manifesto commitments.
The inquiry has been welcomed by the NUM, Unite the Union, and the trade union movement in Britain generally. Such an inquiry is long overdue. The previous Conservative and Unionist Governments under various Prime Ministers constantly refused demands for an inquiry presumably to cover up possible illegalities by Thatcher. Police and, possibly, members of the armed forces overall tactics that day using ‘cavalry charges funnelling’ pickets into residential areas thus allowing them to level charges of ‘riot’ against seventy-one miners will presumably be scrutinised! This was purposely done by mounted police to ‘funnel’ miners into areas they had no intention of going and certainly did not go out that day to disrupt the everyday lives of residents. Forty-one years after that day many miners are still bitter with just cause about their treatment on the ‘picket line’ and how they have been treated after leaving the coal industry. One former miner, Paul Winter, has many questions he wants answeried:
The inquiry has been welcomed by the NUM, Unite the Union, and the trade union movement in Britain generally. Such an inquiry is long overdue. The previous Conservative and Unionist Governments under various Prime Ministers constantly refused demands for an inquiry presumably to cover up possible illegalities by Thatcher. Police and, possibly, members of the armed forces overall tactics that day using ‘cavalry charges funnelling’ pickets into residential areas thus allowing them to level charges of ‘riot’ against seventy-one miners will presumably be scrutinised! This was purposely done by mounted police to ‘funnel’ miners into areas they had no intention of going and certainly did not go out that day to disrupt the everyday lives of residents. Forty-one years after that day many miners are still bitter with just cause about their treatment on the ‘picket line’ and how they have been treated after leaving the coal industry. One former miner, Paul Winter, has many questions he wants answeried:
Prior to June 18th, in contrast to this, Arthur Scargill spoke at a rally and asked everyone available to go to Orgreave that day. Given that they had around 6,000 policemen at their disposal and miners were travelling from across the country, why were there no roadblocks that day?
In the first weeks of the strike I was able to travel on hired coaches to pits in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Upon arrival our branch officials were allowed on to colliery premises to speak to the workforces. This resulted in early successes for us flying pickets, as men were prepared to join us when peacefully picketed. This quickly came to an end when police began to set up road blocks preventing pickets travelling to other counties.Was this a directive of the Prime Minister and Home Secretary who both claimed the dispute was between us and the coal board?Why were we told where to park and directed to the field where the ensuing battle commenced?
Why were horses and dogs deployed that day when I hadn’t seen them on previous picket lines. Why were the police carrying long and short riot shields and long batons, not previously seen?
Why were police identity numbers missing from their shoulder straps?
Policemen cannot generally march correctly in groups or even turn in the right direction all at once due to their lack of military-style training.How then did they manage to part in such an organised fashion for three cavalry charges I witnessed? What military training and military assistance were given during that strike?How much were spy-cops used to infiltrate mining communities and the union?
Why were police statements regarding the 95 arrests partially dictated, as with Hillsborough some years later, so they all sounded similar? (Source Labour Hub 22nd July 2025).
Paul was arrested at Orgreave, and describes what happened to him after leaving the coal industry in 1993:
I took on varying jobs in education all requiring a DBS check. In 1994, 2007, 2017 and 2020 all the checks came back with my arrest (my only ever arrest) on them. It’s only when I asked for my arrest details to be sent by Nottinghamshire Police as a Freedom of Information request (done on behalf of Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign) that they miraculously disappeared from my last DBS check.
Paul wants to know; “Was this a deliberate government plot to try and scupper post mining employment”? (Source Labour Hub 22nd July 2025).
DBS (Disclosure and Barring Services checks) were issued to miners, the legality of which were questionable barring them from certain NCB properties while on strike. To support Paul's suspicions that military personnel were used to police Orgreave another miner speaking of numerous other miner picket lines and when police chased flying pickets over fields said; “policemen cannot run like these blokes did. They seemed to me like they’re used to running fifty miles a day in full kit” suggesting strongly that these were soldiers dressed in police uniforms.
At the trial of the ninety-four miners the police claimed the “air was black with missiles” producing an edited and sanitised BBC report to substantiate their claims. Using the police’s own footage, non-sanitised (because the police had no intentions of using them), these claims were discredited by Michael Mansfield KC (then QC) as not a missile could be seen! The police case fell apart as Mansfield bit by bit exposed the police case as fraudulent and no doubt pre-determined by the government? The previous month at another mass picketing of Orgreave Aurthur Scargill, NUM President, was himself arrested. The senor police officer who arrested him, Chief Superintendent John Nesbit, eight years later said; “Arthur was right, I hope he wins the next time”!
The common denominator, Ian MacGregor, was the Chairman of the NCB and former head of the British Steel Corporation (BSC) during the company’s dispute with the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC) led by Bill Sirs. Similar tactics, though less extreme, were used in the ISTC fourteen-week long strike in January 1980 against BSC plans to reduce the workforce. MacGregor’s job was to begin the closure of the coal industry in Britain. NUM President, Arthur Scargill, presented a list of pit closures about which Thatcher lied and denied such a list existed. Not for the first time she made out any falsehoods came from ‘Mr Scargill and the National Union of Mineworkers’. Lie after lie came from the British Prime Minister's mouth as she tried to criminalise the striking miners. The ‘inquiry’ into events at Orgreave with the RT. Revd Dr Pete Wilcox, Bishop of Sheffield, appointed as chair is expected to be launched in the autumn. “The inquiry will be statuary, with the appropriate powers to compel people to provide information where necessary”.
At the trial of the ninety-four miners the police claimed the “air was black with missiles” producing an edited and sanitised BBC report to substantiate their claims. Using the police’s own footage, non-sanitised (because the police had no intentions of using them), these claims were discredited by Michael Mansfield KC (then QC) as not a missile could be seen! The police case fell apart as Mansfield bit by bit exposed the police case as fraudulent and no doubt pre-determined by the government? The previous month at another mass picketing of Orgreave Aurthur Scargill, NUM President, was himself arrested. The senor police officer who arrested him, Chief Superintendent John Nesbit, eight years later said; “Arthur was right, I hope he wins the next time”!
The common denominator, Ian MacGregor, was the Chairman of the NCB and former head of the British Steel Corporation (BSC) during the company’s dispute with the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC) led by Bill Sirs. Similar tactics, though less extreme, were used in the ISTC fourteen-week long strike in January 1980 against BSC plans to reduce the workforce. MacGregor’s job was to begin the closure of the coal industry in Britain. NUM President, Arthur Scargill, presented a list of pit closures about which Thatcher lied and denied such a list existed. Not for the first time she made out any falsehoods came from ‘Mr Scargill and the National Union of Mineworkers’. Lie after lie came from the British Prime Minister's mouth as she tried to criminalise the striking miners. The ‘inquiry’ into events at Orgreave with the RT. Revd Dr Pete Wilcox, Bishop of Sheffield, appointed as chair is expected to be launched in the autumn. “The inquiry will be statuary, with the appropriate powers to compel people to provide information where necessary”.
 |
| Caoimhin O’Muraile is Independent Socialist Republican and Marxist. |
No comments