Corbyn demands PM apology over Orgreave

LABOUR leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn demanded an apology from the Prime Minister for the way miners were treated at the Orgreave coking plant in Rotherham during the strike of the 1980s.

Mr Corbyn, in a speech in Leeds on Tuesday, said that David Cameron should apologise for the treatment of miners by the government of Margaret Thatcher during the dispute in 1984-85.

He also demanded an inquiry into the violent confrontation between police and strikers at the Orgreave plant in June 1984, which became known as the Battle of Orgreave.

Mr Corbyn, seen by many as the surprise front runner in the Labour leadership contest, said: “The government should make a formal apology for the actions of the previous Conservative government during the time of the strike and for misleading the public and set out all details of the interactions between the government and the police at the time of the strike.”

In the same speech, Mr Corbyn also called for the “re-industrialisation” of northern England.