NINETY-SIX football fans were unlawfully killed as a result of the Hillsborough disaster. After 32 years, the hope that justice and accountability would follow the truth was recently snatched away when a judge ruled there was “no case to answer” against the police and their solicitor.

Throughout this the Hillsborough survivors and families have been tormented and silenced by the British judicial system and media. We also learned that police notebooks from the disaster were discovered at South Yorkshire Police HQ in 2018 more than four years after the then Tory home secretary Theresa May had told police to disclose documents relating to the disaster previously unseen by investigators. How much more information is being hidden?

We will never have the full truth about Hillsborough until we get the truth about Orgreave.

It is in the public interest to know who instructed and was responsible for the police riot and lies at Orgreave during the 1984-85 miners’ strike, 37 years ago, when striking miners fighting to protect their jobs, industry and communities were beaten up, fitted up, locked up and demonised by a false narrative orchestrated by the Conservative government and perpetuated and sanctioned by the media.

No-one in government or the police has yet been held to account.

We are aware that documents relating to Orgreave are embargoed until 2066 and much information already in the public domain will only be meaningfully accessible with a thorough and authoritative review and inquiry.

The hampering of the inquiry into police corruption in the 34-year-long Daniel Morgan murder case with the Metropolitan Police delaying handing over vital documents to the independent panel, alongside Tory MPs voting down an amendment that would have implemented recommendations made by the inquiry into the recent Grenfell Tower disaster, leaves us in no doubt about the corrupt and shameful nature of the British state and legal system that attempts to stifle, hide and deny the truth needed to gain justice.

Many of us have witnessed many times the policing of demonstrations and gatherings. The British police need no more powers. Attempts to limit our rights to gather and protest is nothing new and has involved the use of police spies, force, violence, lies and cover-ups.

The Covert Human Intelligence Sources Act, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, plans to further restrict Legal Aid and other punitive legislation restricting social justice and human rights has been rushed through Parliament during the pandemic to limit the widespread public protests against racism, sexual assault, workers’ rights and the deepening climate catastrophe.

Draconian legislation continues to try and curtail our right to protest and new unnecessary legislation will mean that the government and the state are even less accountable.

Our campaign relies on the right to protest to get our message heard and to gather support.

The police powers used at Orgreave and throughout the miners’ strike were about policing people exercising their right to protest.

Democracy is not only about parliament and elected representatives. Protest and the right to assembly are a human right and have a fundamental role to play in a democratic society, to be part of the debate and influence and change the agenda.

Protests often challenge the status quo, encourage people and governments to think differently on fundamental issues and provide an essential voice for minority or marginalised groups.

The determination and success of the Shrewsbury 24 Campaign having their convictions overturned after 47 years and plans by the Scottish government to pardon miners convicted for matters relating to the ’84-5 strike reminds us that the freedom to campaign and protest in a democracy is essential.

Join us at our online Orgreave Annual Rally on Saturday June 19 at 1pm to show your support for our campaign for truth and justice and to defend our right to protest.

Kate Flannery is secretary of Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign, otjc.org.uk. You can join the rally online via Facebook.