Kit Malthouse should reconsider his opinion on an inquiry over Orgreave - The Yorkshire Post says

However that principle is currently under threat in this country.

Recent examples of the Rotherham sexual abuse scandal and the murder of Sarah Everard at the hands of a serving Metropolitan police officer are just the latest in a series of scandals that call into question the competency of the police and the culture within the profession.

One area in which the sector could begin to restore trust involves a slightly more historic scandal. For some time now campaigners and MPs have been calling for an independent inquiry into the policing of the miners’ strikes of the 1980s. They want to see an independent examination of the incident at Orgreave, where 95 miners were arrested for offences related to violence but who were later exonerated after police evidence was discredited, as well as other incidents around the strikes.

This could have represented an opportunity for policing minister Kit Malthouse to begin to restore the trust that is lacking with the public when it comes to policing.

Events stretching back to the Mangrove Nine, the Hillsborough disaster and the murder of Stephen Lawrence, running through to more recent scandals, show there is a wider problem that needs addressing. However, according to Mr Malthouse “an inquiry is unlikely to result in relevant lessons for today’s system”.

This view is shortsighted. He should reconsider his position.