Miners’ strike violence ‘organized by No 10’

The bloodiest day of the 1984 miners’ strike was organized in Downing Street, the Welsh government’s senior legal adviser has said.

General counsel for Wales Mick Antoniw has called on the new British Labor government to promise an inquiry into the violence in Orgreave as soon as possible.

The BBC has brought miners back to a South Yorkshire town to relive their most “scary” day yet.

But Robert Griffiths, a former policeman from Denbigh who volunteered to work in Orgreave, has accused the miners of attacking a police horse.

The Battle of Orgeave, as it came to be known, was a pivotal moment in the year-long miners’ strike and one of the most violent episodes in British industrial history.

Terrified coal miners from all over England descended on the coking plant to try and disrupt deliveries – they were met in force by thousands of police.

Miners threw stones at the police line, and installed officers accused of picketers, followed by specialized units known as “snatch squads”.

At least 120 miners and police officers were injured in the violence.

“A massacre. That was the scariest day of my life and I brought people out of the ground who died.”

Ron Stoate, 74, is vice-chairman of Penallta Lodge in the Rhymney Valley and was in Orgreave on the day of the violence.

“We went to well planned and well orchestrated attacks from the police.”

Orgreave’s coking works are long gone now, but standing on the hill overlooking the town Ron says the “pain and anger” he feels is as strong today as it was four decades ago.

Ron has called on the new Labor government to deliver on its promises as soon as possible.

“I will never forget.”

There have been calls for an inquiry for the past 40 years, led by the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign.

Ninety-five miners were arrested that day and 55 were charged with rioting, which at the time was punishable by life imprisonment.

Another 40 miners were charged with unlawful assembly, but the trial collapsed when police evidence was deemed unreliable.

Labor committed to an “investigation or investigation” into events at Orgreave in the party’s manifesto.

BBC Wales asked the UK government when it could start and how it would be implemented and was told: “Information will be established but there is no detailed information to share yet.”

Lord Heseltine, who was a minister in prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet at the time, declined to be interviewed.

Now Mr Antoniw, who is a young lawyer representing the miners arrested at Orgreave, has called on the new Labor government in Westminster to launch an inquiry.

He said: “I am sure that the decision came from Downing Street, from the top of the government.

“This is a political decision to directly intervene in the strikes of the miners and basically to give good miners, to teach them, to make an example of a long prison sentence.”

He believes there are parallels between Orgreave and the Hillsborough disasterwhich is also policed ​​by the South Yorkshire force.

Mr. Antoniw believes that, if the powers of justice have been devolved to Wales, the miners prosecuted during the strike will now be pardoned, as in Scotland, where the minister in charge of justice.

Police officer Mr Griffiths said he feared for his life and there was violence on both sides.

“Missiles started raining on us – ball bearings, bricks and pieces of metal”, he said.

“I asked my colleague, Stan, and I remember saying: ‘I think we’re going to die here’.

He said he remembered several miners targeting police horses, including one that “snapped a police horse in the face”.

He said that when his friend pulled the reins and the horse’s head “ran right at the miner”, the striker asked: “What are you going to do?”

The official replied: “It’s nothing, you deserve it.”

He added: “The war with the miners must be won. I am one of Maggie’s boys, I know that I am a tool used by the government to defeat the miners.”

Mr Griffiths does not think there should be any question as “it is history, and I believe it should be left as history”.

Photographer Roger Tiley, 64, was perhaps closer to the action than any other photographer when he was among the miners.

He called it “the worst day of my life” and believed the event was staged for the media.

“There are television cameras strategically placed on one building and press photographers on the side.

“The police are just crazy, they seem to only want to hurt the miners and anyone who disturbs them.

“I must have lost the film from my bag, so I came back with nothing, I was so embarrassed.”

He said he didn’t tell anyone he was at Orgreave for “10 or 20 years”.

Like Ron, Roger believes there should be questions as soon as possible: “I was witness to something that I hope will never happen again, that was horrible, that was a nightmare.”

Alan “Tal” Jones, 66, was a surface worker at Cynheidre Colliery in Carmarthenshire when he traveled to Orgreave.

He said he was brought in to respect the police, but that all changed after Orgreave.

“It hurt a bit to be honest with you, I’ll never forget it.”

Like many others, he now wants the Labor government to carry out a full inquiry.

“There should be – no police were sent for the actions that took place that day – it’s time for the truth.”

Ron Stoate said it was not the only job that was taken from him when the pit closed.

“I ended up in a lot of rubbish jobs, making rubbish money and struggling to keep my spirits up.

“People will never understand the bitterness I feel about what happened that year, and especially on that day, coming back will wake everyone up.

“I just feel gutted – there needs to be an investigation – someone needs to be held accountable.”

South Yorkshire Police said in a statement: “It is inappropriate for South Yorkshire Police to now seek to explain or defend the actions of the force in 1984 as all those involved in policing the miners’ strike have long since retired and that information. we continue to be undervalued.”