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Families fighting for answers over police handling of the 1984 Orgreave miners strike have been delivered a major blow as they are told police will not investigate South Yorkshire Police.

After two and a half years of deliberation The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has decided not to conduct an investigation into South Yorkshire Police’s handling of events at the Orgreave coking plant during the miners’ strike, and the subsequent prosecutions in 1984 and 1985.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper MP has today publicly condemned the decision stating the IPCC has ‘let down the ‘Orgreave families’. She now wants to see an independent inquiry set up that mirrors the model used in the Hillsborough panel.

Labour MP for Blaydon Dave Anderson, an ex-miner who was at the South Yorkshire coking plant when the ‘Battle of Orgreave’ broke out on June 18, 1984, described the decision not to carry out an investigation a ‘cover up’.

He said: “I’m not surprised by the outcome.

“It is yet another establishment cover up.”

The IPCC had been investigating whether officers accused of fitting up striking miners on riot charges, including two from the North East, had a case to answer.

Mr Anderson, said: “Innocent people were stitched up, beaten up and set up by the agents of the state and I have no doubt that this is the forces of darkness closing ranks to protect the powers that be that really run this country as opposed to us, who are democratically elected to do so.”

Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Vera Baird is among many in the North East with connections to Orgreave. She defended miners at the time as a solicitor and contributed to the pivotal BBC Inside Out programme in which she said police officer statements recounted incidents that she believed they couldn’t have possibly seen.

The Independent Police Complaint Commission said it made its decision after an extensive scoping exercise into the organisation’s remit to investigate allegations of police misconduct.

They say the passage of time means that allegations of assault and of misconduct could not be pursued. They also said their reasoning was because some matters were subject to complaints and civil proceedings at the time and detailed analysis has not revealed any other issues in relation to individual officers which could now be investigated.

Thousands of pages of documents, film, and photographic material from across the country were gathered, secured and analysed as a result of the scoping exercise following South Yorkshire Police’s referral in November 2012, which was triggered by revelations in a BBC Inside Out documentary.

New material continued to be identified and examined as late as December 2014.

IPCC deputy chairman Sarah Green said: “These are events from more than 30 years ago, and I have considered the impact such a passage of time could have on an IPCC investigation and possible outcomes.

“In addition, because the miners arrested at Orgreave were acquitted or no evidence offered, there are no miscarriages of justice due to alleged police failures for the IPCC to investigate. Allegations of offences amounting to minor assaults could not be prosecuted due to the passage of time; and as many of the police officers involved in events at Orgreave are retired, no disciplinary action could be pursued.

“I have therefore concluded that there should not be an IPCC led investigation.”

Yvette Cooper, who has been an outspoken critic of the time it has taken for the IPCC to compile their report, said today: “This decision lets down the Orgreave families and shows the weakness of the current system.

“It has taken the IPCC two and a half years to decide not to investigate the events at Orgreave and to conclude that the big questions weren’t within their remit or resources.

“If they are too limited to do the job then someone else needs to. For too long there have been serious allegations about the way the miners were treated at Orgreave, but we have never had the truth.

“The coalfield communities have had nothing more than this limited report - and even that includes redactions which will raise even more concern.

“Its time for an independent inquiry, potentially modelled on the Hillsborough panel, to open up everything.

“This is also fresh evidence of the need to fundamentally reform the police complaints system so there is an organisation powerful and strong enough to undertake many investigations at once.

“The events at Orgreave were amongst the most troubling of the entire 1984-85 Miners’ Strike. Those who were there have distressing stories of violence. Those who weren’t saw the TV images of blooded faces, charging horses, of kicks and punches. The aftermath threw up more questions than answers. It’s time for the truth.”