by Julian Mann, Anglican Ink
As the Bishop of Sheffield gears up this autumn to chair the public inquiry into the ‘Battle of Orgreave’ in South Yorkshire during the 1984 miners’ strike, the view onto his own diocesan backyard is not particularly pretty. This raises a serious question about whether Church of England bishops should be taking on time-consuming civic roles.
The Labour Government announced in July that it had appointed Dr Pete Wilcox to chair the statutory inquiry into ‘the violent confrontation between police, picketers and subsequent protesters at Orgreave 41 years ago’.
The Government announcement said: ‘The inquiry, expected to launch in the autumn, will investigate the events surrounding clashes at the Orgreave Coking Plant in 1984, causing 120 injuries. In total, 95 picketers were arrested and initially charged with riot and violent disorder, but all charges were later dropped after evidence was discredited. The inquiry will be statutory, with the appropriate powers to compel people to provide information where necessary.’
It is not clear what the time commitment will be for Bishop Wilcox. The Independent Panel reviewing the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster, which the Labour Government in 2009 appointed the then serving Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones, to lead, took two years to produce its report. So, given the complexity of the task ahead, the Orgreave Inquiry is likely to take up a considerable amount of Bishop Wilcox’s time.