'I filmed cops clashing with miners at Orgreave - I can't believe no one died'
Two union officials who filmed the Battle of Orgreave during the 1984 Miners’ Strike have told how they feared someone would be killed.
National Union of Mineworkers officers Keith Brookes and Martin Harvey were tasked by boss Arthur Scargill with filming pickets and press conferences for a true record of events. A Channel 4 documentary series will use their footage of the confrontation on June 18 1984 at the coking works in Orgreave, South Yorkshire amidst allegations of heavy-handed policing.
Miners can be seen with blood pouring from their heads in the film which casts the day in a very different light from the way it was reported. TV media were all positioned behind police cordons which prevented them from being close to where batons were used on miners.
The footage shows miners injured in the clashKeith said: “It was absolutely crazy. Pandemonium. And my honest view of the day, which I said at the time, is I was surprised no one got killed. “Most of the miners I saw on the day that were injured had blood on the back of their heads.
“It was hairy. Watching the film brought back very harsh memories and the brutality of the police comes out very clearly. I think the public will be stunned when they see it.”
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Ahead of the three-part documentary The Miners’ Strike 1984: The Battle for Britain, the pair revealed one of their camcorders was broken when the police charged the miners on horseback. Luckily they had a spare camera which they retrieved from a car.
Martin said: “You carry on filming to the point where you realise ‘we’re going to get hurt’. And you can see the [police] charge on and we end up going down the embankment. It was extremely frightening. But we didn’t run away, we got the other camera because we knew this had to be recorded.”
The footage has piled pressure onto the government to launch a public inquiryThe series, which the Mirror exclusively revealed images from earlier this week, also features miners who were injured discussing what happened.
Miners were threatened with up to 25 years in prison but the cases collapsed and defence barrister Michael Mansfield called it “the biggest frame-up ever”.
Ernie Barber said he was reluctant to speak to the filmmakers because he “doesn’t trust anybody”. “Orgreave is the number one disaster in my brain,” he added. He was “cracked across the face” and insists the attack only stopped when an inspector told the policeman “pack it in or you’ll kill him”.
The film presents testimony that is sure to strengthen calls for a public inquiry. South Yorkshire Police told the programme: “It would not be appropriate for the South Yorkshire Police of today to seek to explain or defend the actions of the force in 1984.
Martin Harvey went to the strikes and filmed the violence“We believe the appropriate process to determine exactly what occurred, and why, would be an independent and objective assessment of materials and others available at the time.”
Asked about an inquiry, Keith said: “There is massive pressure but the Government rejected that in 2016 and my view is a Conservative government would reject it.”
Martin added: “My hope is as many people see this film as they can, it gives the miners some closure that their version is out there.”
The Miners’ Strike 1984: The Battle for Britain starts on Channel 4 on Thursday at 9pm.
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