Rotherham Council backs Orgreave inquiry after emotional debate

The inquiry, announced by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper in July, will begin in the autumn and be chaired by the Bishop of Sheffield, Rt Revd Dr Pete Wilcox. It will have full legal powers to compel evidence and testimony.

The council motion, brought by Coun Steele and seconded by Coun Clarke, commits the authority to supporting the inquiry and working with neighbouring councils to help affected residents.

Coun Steele told colleagues the motion was “for his three brothers who were at Orgreave”, one of whom has since died. He described the lasting trauma of the miners’ strike and the need for justice for families still affected.

Holding up a photograph of a reporter being struck by a police officer on horseback, he said: “The police didn’t just do what they did on that day. Somebody authorised the police to do what they did. The picture I showed you was a feature of a reporter being hit with a baton by police, charged on for just doing his job.”

He added that miners had been branded as “the enemy of the state” at the time, despite simply “fighting for their communities, their jobs and their livelihoods”.

“There should be an inquiry… to make sure that the miners on that day and their family members and their children really know what happened to their parents,” he said. “Justice is important.”

Coun Steele said he would continue to fight for the truth in memory of his younger brother. “They don’t know what’s happening, but I’m fighting, and will continue to fight.”

Councillor Zachary Collingham, leader of the Conservative group, also backed the inquiry, while expressing concerns about cost and the passage of time. “I don’t relish the millions that will be spent,” he said. “I see no reason not to welcome the inquiry and to speed it on its way.”

Liberal Democrat leader Adam Carter said the inquiry was “long overdue”.

The motion was accepted unanimously.