Northumbria Police expresses 'embarrassment' after destroying Miners' Strike files, says MP
Labour's Ian Lavery, MP for Blyth & Ashington, posted on social media on Monday (30 June) to say he had met with representatives of the force.
The meeting follows the revelation last week that Northumbria Police had disposed of two boxes containing data relating to its involvement in the year-long strike of 1984 and violence that erupted outside a coking plant in South Yorkshire.
Northumbria Police has confirmed it is investigating the circumstances surrounding its destruction.
Writing on X, Mr Lavery said" "On Friday afternoon I met with senior representatives of Northumbria Police having written to them following the discovery that files relating to the policing of Orgreave and the Miners' Strike had been destroyed last year.
"We spoke frankly about the mistrust that this will have caused many in mining communities up and down the country, including those here in South East Northumberland and about the need for the investigation into the matter to be transparent.
"The Police acknowledged this and expressed their professional embarrassment that these documents had been destroyed and assured me that an investigation had already begun to understand the decision making behind the actions.
"I look forward to further correspondence from them and in the meantime will continue to press the government for the inquiry into the policing of the full dispute that has been needed for so long."
A spokesperson for Northumbria Police said: "We can confirm there is an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the disposal of the material."
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