MP John Mann says Government '˜wrong' over Orgreave inquiry

The decision by Amber Rudd comes just months after the Prime Minister, in her previous role as the then Home Secretary, said she believed a new inquiry was needed to investigate the events that took place at Orgreave Coking Plant in 1984.

Mr Mann said: “Amber Rudd has made the wrong decision and has chosen to look after the senior leadership of South Yorkshire Police rather than the miners who were badly beaten.

“The people affected by the events on that day should have been given a chance to put their side of the story and ask the questions why the police behaved in the way that they did. The Home Secretary has missed a chance to stand up for the people who were let down by South Yorkshire Police.”

Ms Rudd said there would be “very few lessons for the policing system today to be learned from any review of the events and practices of three decades ago”.

The so-called Battle of Orgreave saw striking miners clash with riot police.