The report on Amber Rudd not actually reading the evidence (11 November) held by South Yorkshire police on its operation at Orgreave during the 1984 miners’ strike, and the subsequent collapsed prosecutions, reflects the contempt and lack of respect that the government has had for the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign (OTJC). In her letter to the OTJC explaining her decision not to grant an independent public inquiry she states: “I am satisfied that policing today is now very different from how it was in 1984 ... I am of the view that in light of ... reforms and changes there would be very few, if any, lessons for the policing system today to be gleaned from reviewing the events and practices of 1984.” But the actual detailed evidence accumulated by the campaign surely points to the contrary. Furthermore, the acquittal of 10 of the Rotherham 12 (Report, 17 November), arrested by South Yorkshire police while defending their communities against racist attacks, shows that policing and police tactics have not changed at all. There is surely now an even more urgent need for an inquiry into Orgreave as well as policing in Rotherham.
David Etherington and Kate Flannery
Sheffield
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