Orgreave Anniversary March and Rally 2026 highlights start of Orgreave Inquiry
Media Release
Orgreave Anniversary March and Rally 2026 highlights start of Orgreave Inquiry
ORGREAVE INQUIRY
Now that the Government has finally announced and launched an Orgreave Inquiry we are relieved that work has begun to establish the truth about the Tory government involvement and police conduct at Orgreave on 18th June 1984 during the 1984/5 miners’ strike. This is a victory after years of campaigning but it is a scandal that this has taken 42 years to happen and we now need to make sure the inquiry delivers the truth and justice so long overdue.
95 striking miners were arrested at Orgreave on 18 June 1984 after police in full riot gear with shields, truncheons, dogs and charging horses, brutally attacked the miners gathering at a National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) picket at the Orgreave coking plant. The miners were later charged with either riot or unlawful assembly with threats of a life prison sentence. Almost a year later when the cases went to trial in May 1985, it became clear that the police had lied in their evidence and that they had perjured themselves in court. The trial collapsed after 48 days of hearings, the Prosecution abandoned the case when it was obvious that many officers had large parts of their statements dictated to them.
Kevin Horne, miner arrested at Orgreave said:
“42 years ago we were striking to defend our jobs and communities and for all our futures. We were attacked and arrested by a militarised police force for being on strike. Many miners have since died and those of us left, our families and the public need to know what the Conservative government planned, what the police did to us and how the media, security services and the judiciary colluded with them. The miners never got their chance in court to say what really happened and no one in the police or government has ever been held to account”
Kate Flannery, Secretary of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC) said:
“Our recent OTJC report distributed to politicians and throughout Britain, describes how the Conservative Government was politically involved in the 1984/5 miners’ strike and how they lied to parliament and used the courts, violent policing and the media to give the police confidence to act violently and tell lies with impunity. The 1985 Orgreave trial revealed police lies and abusive conduct. The prosecution had no option but to abandon the trial and all the 95 miners arrested were acquitted. The Orgreave Inquiry should be exposing all this and much more.”
John Dunn, miner attacked by the police and arrested during the strike said:
“Police on many picket lines throughout the strike were completely out of control, leaving many of us still traumatised by what they did to us. The mass media colluded with the Tories by lying in their headlines and reports about what was really happening, or not reporting it at all. We want to thank all our supporters during and since the strike, throughout Britain and throughout the world for standing with us and the amazing solidarity we received, then and now. After 42 years we need this Orgreave Inquiry to be conducted sensitively, quickly and be accessible for us all.”
ORGREAVE MARCH AND RALLY
The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC) are inviting supporters to come and join us in Sheffield at our Annual Orgreave Anniversary March and Rally:
Saturday 13th June 2026
Assemble 12:30pm for 1:00pm start
City Hall, Barkers Pool, Sheffield, S1 2JA
We are commemorating the 42nd anniversary of the police riot at Orgreave and celebrating the great Miners’ Strike of 1984/5 against the Conservative Government’s plans for mass pit closures.
Ex miners and activists attending the event will bring along banners, placards, family, comrades and friends and march through Sheffield to reinforce that the Orgreave inquiry is for truth and justice for striking miners brutalised by the state at the Orgreave Coking plant on 18th June 1984.
The Anniversary event will as always provide a wonderful atmosphere of support and togetherness and an opportunity for people to gather to meet old friends and create new connections and friendships. There will be an opportunity to listen to some important speeches from a number of trade unionists, campaigners and activists and experience some wonderful music.
SPEAKERS:
- Donna McLean – SpyCops Survivor, Writer and Activist (Police Spies Out Of Lives)
- Pete Weatherby KC – Justice Campaigner
- Andrea Egan – UNISON General Secretary
- Gaz Jackson – RMT Regional Organiser, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
- Sarah Choonara – Grassroots Footballer and Community Activist
- John Dunn – ex-miner, Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign
MUSIC
Joe Solo – Musician, Writer, Activist
UNITE Brass Band – 2025 Yorkshire Regional Champions
PCS Samba Band – Drumming up support
COMPÈRES
Chris Peace and Joe Rollin
Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
For media enquiries:
Email: orgreavejustice@hotmail.com
Orgreave Inquiry Call for Evidence
https://www.orgreave.public-inquiry.uk/call-for-evidence/
Orgreave Report
https://otjc.org.uk/orgreave-truth-and-justice-40-years-on-the-case-for-an-inquiry/
What we expect from an Orgreave inquiry
https://otjc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/ORGREAVE_Leaflet_2022.pdf
Orgreave March and Rally 13th June 2026
https://otjc.org.uk/orgreave-anniversary-march-and-rally-2026/
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