Orgreave miners seeking Hillsborough-style probe have 'positive meeting' with Yvette Cooper

Miners seeking a Hillsborough-style inquiry into the Battle of Orgreave had an “extremely positive meeting” with Yvette Cooper, they said today.

Members of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign, including pitmen and family members of those arrested in the infamous clash between striking miners and police, visited the Home Office to talk about proposals for an official probe.

Campaigners have spent three decades demanding an inquiry into cops’ actions at the infamous clash at the height of the Miners’ Strike.

Violence flared between officers and pickets at the South Yorkshire coking plant on June 18, 1984.

Mounted police launched horseback charges and baton-wielding “snatch squads” as 6,000 officers tried to prevent striking colliers blocking deliveries to the plant.

South Yorkshire Police received heavy criticism over its conduct.

A total of 95 miners were charged with rioting.

Labour have pledged to hold an official investigation into the incident.

And today, more than 40 years on, miners and their supporters stressed the need for urgency in setting up the probe, so it can complete in their lifetime.

The Mirror revealed in 2021 that Senior Tories had blocked such an inquiry for years, fearing it could “tarnish” the memory of Margaret Thatcher.

Kevin Horne, a miner arrested at Orgreave said: “Much of the police conduct at Orgreave, and on picket lines throughout the strike, was out of control.

“This has taken a personal toll on many of us miners and our families. Many of us are still traumatised, many have died and are now elderly and ill and after 40 years it is important that an Inquiry is conducted quickly.”

He added: “It is in the public interest to hold an Orgreave inquiry. We thank all our supporters during and since the strike, throughout Britain and throughout the world for the wonderful solidarity we received, then and now"