7. Will the Welsh Government consider making representations to the UK Government in support of calls by Welsh miners and the South Wales NUM for an inquiry into the events at Orgreave in June 1984? OAQ(5)0026(FM)

This is a matter, of course, for the UK Government, but I will consider writing to the Home Secretary to see if she has made a decision about the need for an inquiry.

Thank you for that answer, First Minister. I met with the Home Secretary as a member of the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign and, in fact, received a very positive meeting with her in the latter part of last year. Since then, very detailed submissions have been lodged. Of course, since then, there’s been the Hillsborough verdict and, of course, the direct link between events in Orgreave and the way in which evidence was used or abused—they’re very similar events, with the same constabulary, again, in Hillsborough—obviously establishes a very significant connection. Andy Burnham MP has given his support to an inquiry, and the assistant chief constable of South Yorkshire has welcomed one, and I understand now that the four Welsh police and crime commissioners are also supportive of the need for there to be an inquiry into this issue. Can I ask the First Minister that any representations made will be supportive of what is the need to have an inquiry into a long-outstanding injustice that still remains in the minds of many former miners from south Wales?

I have to say I believe that the case is strong for such an inquiry. We all saw what happened with Hillsborough, and the length of time it took for the truth to out. The same thing must happen, to my mind, with Orgreave. The 1980s were not a time of transparency, with a Government that did not believe in respecting people’s rights. Well, the truth must come out, and an inquiry is one way of doing that.

As the son of a miner who was at Orgreave during the strike, may I endorse Mick Antoniw’s demand for a full inquiry? Would the First Minister also agree that the remit needs to be as broad as possible, for example, to look at the claims about the use of the armed forces at the time, to look at the co-ordination of statements by police, as happened with Hillsborough, and of course the use of the media in order to mislead people as to what actually happened there, in the case of Hillsborough with ‘The Sun’, but in the case of Orgreave with the BBC of course?

That is right, of course; I know the story of what happened there. What’s exceptionally important is that we can see the truth, that there is an inquiry, that we understand what actually occurred, and therefore what did not occur. But, what is important is that the truth is brought before the people of Britain so that we can all understand what happened 30 years ago.