Orgreave

Like hundreds, possibly thousands, of others, when the Hillsborough Inquest  confirmed the incompetance of the South Yorkshire police in their management of the Hillsborough disaster, and their duplicity in the subsequent cover-up, I wrote to the Home Secretary requesting a public enquiry into the "Battle" of Orgreave during the miners strike. There are many similarities between the two incidents. In particular in each the same police force, with some of the same senior officers, tried to place the blame for the disasters on the pickets or football fans they were supposed to be policing, and then used questionable measures to  divert any blame from themselves.

I have received a response from the Home Office saying that Mrs May is too busy to respond to me personally (accepted and understood), that on the 15th December she received a legal submission from the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign setting out their arguments for establishing a public enquiry  into those events, and is considering them.

So what's holding her up?  Just how long does it take to "consider" something so obvious?  Or is it just another cover-up - the "establishment" protecting itself?

In contrast, when some of our  "lower orders" rioted in 2011 over the shooting of Mark Duggan by the police,  courts were set up overnight to deal with the miscreants, and  one young lad was given six months' imprisonment for stealing a bottle of water worth £3.50.

It's also worth noting that , although proceedings are being taken to sack the present Chief Constable of South Yorkshire for his part in directing the force's tactics during the Hillsborough Inquest, his dismissal will not affect his pension (which, I suspect, will give him rather more than the equivalent of the minimum wage to ensure his comfort in retirement.  Actually I believe he's still quite young so will probably also get a well paid job with G4S or similar.)

There really is one law for the establishment and one for the rest. It is dichotomies such as these which, I believe, weaken trust in the democratic process and fuel determination to "give the establishment a black eye" as in the support for UKIP and Brexit.

For further and better particulars on the Orgreave incident follow the link above.

If you would like to add to the pressure on the Home Office to set up and enquiry, their Email address is;
Public.Enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk