TODAY marks the 30th anniversary of the day of a bloody clash between nearly 10,000 miners and 5,000 police officers outside a coking plant near Rotherham, in what has since become known as the battle of Orgreave. 

The events of that day and the farcical trials of innocent miners which occurred in the months that followed remain firmly ingrained in the memories of all those affected as well as the wider movement who stand together in solidarity with them.

The 30th anniversary provides us with an ideal opportunity to reflect on Orgreave and consider its relevance to the battles we face as a labour movement today. 

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) had organised the mass picket three months into the nationwide strikes over Thatcher’s devastating pit closures. 

Miners from across the country joined one another to blockade the British Steel coking plant in Orgreave, South Yorkshire, and force its temporary closure.

Aware of the plans, South Yorkshire Police organised counter-measures to the completely legal protest and deployed 5,000 officers, including many from other forces around the country. Most of the officers present had little or no experience in dealing with such events. 

To the surprise of the miners arriving at the picket, the police made no attempt to stop people from attending. 

Rather, in what was one of their most unusual and conniving tactics, the police invited miners in and cleverly marshalled them in a carefully designed trap from which there was no escape.

Miners were surrounded by police blocking access to the arriving coke lorries. 

Despite access to the factory being clear, miners were aggressively charged by police mounted on horses and wielding batons. 

In the terrifying panic that ensued, innocent miners were brutally assaulted by police and hundreds were arrested. 

A total of 95 were charged with “riotous assembly” — a serious charge which carried a maximum life sentence.

Thompsons represented six of those NUM members, who, if found guilty, faced spending the rest of their life behind bars simply for exercising their right to legal protest against ruthless policies that were devastating their lives and communities. 

It quickly became apparent to everybody involved that the evidence presented against our clients was, by and large, false. 

I know from discussing the cases with my former colleague, Mick Antoniw AM who was part of the Thompsons legal team which represented some of the charged members, that the evidence had been clearly fabricated to fit the charges against the miners. 

Some of the evidence presented was utterly laughable causing much mirth among the jury, to the embarrassment of the prosecution. 

It emerged in the trials that evidence had been written up a long time after the event, often by detectives, rather than those who had been present at Orgreave. The trials collapsed after 10 weeks.

There is no doubt in my mind that the tactics used by the police from the arrival of miners on the picket to the farcical court cases that followed amounted to a deliberate and highly politicised attempt to teach what Thatcher famously viewed as “the enemy within” a lesson, while maliciously concealing any wrongdoing on their own part. 

We now know that we are talking about the very same police force which just five years later in 1989 attempted to deflect its own culpability onto the innocent victims of the Hillsborough disaster in which 96 Liverpool Football Club fans died. 

Despite widespread allegations of improper conduct on the part of South Yorkshire police at, and following, the events at Orgreave, action has never been taken against them. 

Instead, it took a BBC documentary in 2012 detailing examples of misconduct for the force to refer itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. 

But the progress of this investigation appears to be moving at an extremely slow pace, and it is becoming increasingly doubtful that any police officers will ever be charged with assault, perjury, misconduct of public office and perverting the course of justice arising out of Orgreave.

This is precisely the reason why only a full and robust public inquiry into South Yorkshire Police is required. 

This is how we can ensure that no stone is left unturned. This is the how those falsely incriminated miners, whose freedom was almost ended as a result of sickening police corruption, will feel any sense of justice. 

The 30th anniversary of the battle of Orgreave serves as a timely reminder of how the labour movement must continue to stand together in the face of continued attempts to oppress the rights of workers. 

We are now faced with new battles against the exploitation of zero-hours contracts, the shameless watering down of vital health and safety regulations and the denial of justice for workers through increased tribunal fees. 

Since its foundation in 1921, Thompsons has been fiercely committed to the trade union movement and its members.

The experience of defending victims of Orgreave is woven into the firm’s memory and will never be forgotten as we continue to stand up for working people everywhere.

Stephen Cavalier is chief executive of Thompsons Solicitors.