The Battle of Orgreave: 40 years on from one of 1984/85 Miners' Strike's most defining chapters

By June 1984, a miners’ strike had gripped the UK for three months. The National Union of Mineworkers walked out in March in protest against planned pit closures across the country, and they were up against a Conservative government determined to make an example of the union. 

Support for the strike was strong from the start, but it was always to some extent undermined by NUM leader Arthur Scargill’s decision not to hold a national ballot. As news of the planned pit closures broke, strikes spread across the country. Over the course of the bitter 12-month dispute, around three-quarters of the country’s 187,000 miners walked out of work. 

On June 18, 1984, miners flocked to the Orgreave coking plant in their thousands to stop coke being transported to furnaces in Scunthorpe’s steel furnaces - leading to clashes between miners and police in the fields surrounding the coking plant. Activity had been bubbling around the area for some days before, but everything came to a head on this day. 

The scenes that unfolded would become some of the most unsettling and iconic of the strike. Rows of police officers with shields and batons, cavalry units, and vans lined up in a fashion not dissimilar to the Roman Army against miners who had travelled from coalfields across the country. 

The media coverage of Orgreave

TV cameras and photographers captured the scenes at Orgreave. Much of the initial coverage suggested that the heavy-handedness of the police was self-defence against aggressive and militant miners. Yet media footage recorded by a BBC crew had in some instances been altered to change the chronological order, which made it look like the miners were attacking police. 

To other journalists, including Alistair Stewart (now of ITV), the Battle of Orgreave changed how industrial disputes played out in the UK. The Conservative government under Thatcher was intent on destroying the power held by the great trade unions, with the NUM firmly in its sights. Using a heavy hand with striking miners at Orgreave, the plan to make the NUM an example of how trade unions would be dealt with was broadcast to TV screens and newspaper pages around the country. 

Policing at Orgreave

South Yorkshire Police were the force responsible for overseeing Orgreave. New tactics were adopted throughout the strike and the police learned lessons from previous industrial action.

During the 1972 miners’ strike at Saltley Gate near Birmingham, police were massively outnumbered and ill-equipped when faced with around 30,000 pickets. This prompted the government to organise policing methods designed to tackle mass pickets and protests. 

The Legacy of Orgreave 

The events at Orgreave changed the way industrial disputes worked in the UK. It was an example of how the police could dictate how picket lines were dealt with, and showed trade unionists what they could be exposed to on the picket line.

Official reports outlined that 93 arrests were made and 51 pickets and 72 police officers were injured. Almost 100 pickets were charged with unlawful assembly and riot as well as other similar offences. 

All of the trials, however, collapsed and South Yorkshire Police were subject to several lawsuits. As a result, SYP paid out compensation to 39 pickets involved at Orgreave. 

The miners’ strike didn’t end after Orgreave, in fact it carried on for another eight months with many miners battling on until the bitter end. In March 1985, the NUM instructed members to return to work without a deal and the following months and years saw the calculated shutdown of Britain's coal mining industry accelerate. 

Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign 

The efforts to secure an official inquiry into the events of Orgreave, the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign was set up. In December 2015, the group asked then Home Secretary Theresa May to launch an inquiry, something she failed to do before becoming Prime Minister. 

In October 2016 Amber Rudd, Theresa May’s replacement, concluded that there would be no inquiry into Orgreave as it happened a long time ago and that it was not in the public interest. 

Orgreave and the future

Coal mining is an industry of the past in the UK, but many people who worked in it and experienced hardship during the 1984/85 miners’ strike are still here. They fought hard for their jobs, communities, and industry for almost a year. 

The Battle of Orgreave, even 40 years later, has significant lessons about policing, government and trade unionism that should be taken onboard. Future generations will move further away from knowing about coal mining, but learning the history behind an industry that shaped the UK is vital - with Orgreave being a key chapter of that history.