Sarah Champion MP and Bishop of Sheffield Meet with Home Secretary to Press Case for an Inquiry into Events at Orgreave

Sarah Champion, Member of Parliament for Rotherham, alongside the Rt Revd Dr Pete Wilcox, Bishop of Sheffield, met today with the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, to discuss an investigation into events at Orgreave on 18 June 1984. The site of the Orgreave Coking Works is in Sarah’s Rotherham constituency, and she has long campaigned for an inquiry. 

Labour’s General Election Manifesto committed the Party in Government to ‘ensure, through an investigation or inquiry, that the truth about the events at Orgreave on 18 June 1984 is brought to light.’

Following Labour’s victory in the General Election, Sarah and Bishop Pete jointly wrote to the Home Secretary, stressing the importance of delivering this commitment.

In their joint letter to the Home Secretary, Sarah and Bishop Pete said:

“In recent years, South Yorkshire Police has undergone a lengthy process of rebuilding relations following the Hillsborough Inquiry and revelations about the Force’s failure to tackle child sexual exploitation in Rotherham. Much progress has been made. But this cannot be complete whilst lingering distrust about events at Orgreave persists. South Yorkshire deserves to know the truth about its police force and the actions of state institutions.”

Following the meeting, Sarah said:

“The events at Orgreave during the Miners’ Strike have cast a long shadow. I know just how important Labour’s commitment to establishing the truth was to my constituents. Now we must see that through.’

‘Campaigners have been fighting for the truth for more than forty years. Many are now elderly, and I made it clear to the Home Secretary we simply cannot afford to wait any longer. They have been promised the truth before, only for the rug to be pulled from under them. What matters now is delivering on our commitment.’

‘I am pleased that the Home Secretary is engaging with members of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign, who have done so much to shine a light on events at Orgreave and hope that we will receive positive news soon.”

Bishop Pete said:

‘Events at Orgreave over 40 years ago remain a raw wound for many across South Yorkshire.  Only an Independent Inquiry is capable of bringing a measure of healing and I believe the time for that has come.  I sense that the Home Secretary understands this’.

ENDS

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