A group of retired police officers has offered to give damning evidence to any inquiry into the tactics deployed at the 1984 Orgreave confrontation with striking miners. It was the start of the Thatcher government’s battle with striking miners – 95 were arrested and prosecuted, but the legal cases collapsed due to a lack of evidence. The Observer understands, however, that the home secretary, Amber Rudd, has now ruled out both a public inquiry and a major independent panel inquiry. “And no one has come back since I spoke out about this to contradict me,” the retired officer said. It has direct echoes of the Hillsborough cover-up and reinforces the case that there can be no truth about Hillsborough until there is truth about Orgreave.

Source: The Guardian October 01, 2016 21:00 UTC