Orgreave campaign group to meet Home Secretary

Members of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign have a meeting with Amber Rudd in London on Tuesday, where they will press the case for a public inquiry into the policing of pickets at the Orgreave coking plant on June 18, 1984 during the national Miners' Strike.

Thousands of miners and police officers clashed, with the day going down in history as the most violent during the year-long strike.

Police officers were drafted in from all over the country as huge crowds of pickets gathered to sop lorry loads of coke leaving for the steelworks. Police horses and dogs were used on the day.

A number of miners were charged with offences but the cases against them collapsed.

Kevin Horne, who was a picketing miner at Orgreave, said: "Expectations in the mining communities are that a public inquiry will finally mean justice for Orgreave.

"It is also essential that public trust in the police is rebuilt."

Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign Secretary, Barbara Jackson, said: "The previous Home Secretary and the current Home Secretary have had ample time to read through and consider our legal submission.

"A response was expected by March this year. We are therefore hopeful that an inquiry decision is imminent."