The Bishop of Sheffield, the Rt Rev Dr Pete Wilcox, has been selected to chair a statutory inquiry into a historical clash between striking coal miners and police in South Yorkshire in 1984.
The so-called 'Battle of Orgreave' took place in June 1984 and was a dramatic moment in the ongoing miners' strike, with picketers engaging the police in combat. It is considered to be one of the most violent incidents in British industrial relations history.
While no one was killed during the battle, well over a hundred people were injured and 95 people were arrested, although all charges were later dropped due to discredited evidence.
The Labour government has said that it is holding an inquiry into the incident as part of a manifesto commitment to “uncover the truth”.
As a statutory inquiry, it will have the legal power to force people to provide the information it requests.
The government said it hoped to “rebuild public confidence in policing” through the inquiry.
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, said, “Every community should have confidence in their police, but we know what happened at Orgreave cast a shadow over communities in Yorkshire and other mining areas.
“The violent scenes and subsequent prosecutions raised concerns that have been left unanswered for decades, and we must now establish what happened.”
Bishop Wilcox said he expected work to begin in the autumn and acknowledged the “weight of expectation” surrounding the inquiry.
“I look forward to engaging with stakeholders in the coming weeks over the draft terms of reference, and to working with the government to identify experts to support me on the independent panel," he said.
Representatives of the National Union of Mineworkers and the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign welcomed the news.
Kate Flannery, of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign Secretary, said, “We have waited a long time for this day and this is really positive news.
"All these years of hard work by the OTJC and our many supporters has helped to influence this constructive announcement.
"We appreciate the Home Secretary’s commitment to holding some kind of Orgreave inquiry.”
