Home Secretary rules out inquiry into Battle of Orgreave

In a written statement, Mrs Rudd said it had been a "difficult decision" but she did not believe establishing "any kind of inquiry is required to allay public concerns".

She acknowledged the news will be a "significant disappointment" to campaigners, but said the focus should be on improving policing standards through measures such as the Policing and Crime Bill.

The decision follows months of campaigning by families and communities affected by the 1984 clashes, which resulted in 71 picketers being charged with riot and 24 with violent disorder.

MPs and campaigners have been calling for a full Hillsborough-style inquiry into the incident, to investigate claims that police action on the day was excessively heavy handed and statements were manufactured to discredit those involved.

In her statements, Mrs Rudd said she had concluded "there is not a sufficient basis for me to instigate either a statutory inquiry or an independent review".

"I know that this decision will come as a significant disappointment to the Orgreave Truth And Justice Campaign and its supporters and I have set out in a letter to them today the detailed reasons for my decision which include the following points," she said.

"Despite the forceful accounts and arguments provided by the campaigners and former miners who were present that day, about the effect that these events have had on them, ultimately there were no deaths or wrongful convictions.

"The campaigners say that had the consequences of the events at Orgreave been addressed properly at the time, the tragic events at Hillsborough would never have happened five years later.

"That is not a conclusion which I believe can be reached with any certainty.

"The policing landscape has changed fundamentally since 1984 – at the political, legislative and operational levels. The same is true also for the wider criminal justice system.

"There would therefore be very few lessons for the policing system today to be learned from any review of the events and practices of three decades ago. This is a very important consideration when looking at the necessity for an inquiry or independent review and the public interest to be derived from holding one.

"Taking these considerations into account, I do not believe that establishing any kind of inquiry is required to allay public concerns or for any other reason."