Learner drivers will be allowed on to motorways for the first time if new government plans are approved. Transport minister Andrew Jones says the move would help make British roads safer. The lessons will not be mandatory and driving instructors will decide when their students are ready. The Department for Transport is also looking at trialling a target number of hours of lessons to complete before learners take their test. Simon Thake reports for Sheffield Live!
Twelve months on from submitting a legal dossier to the Home Office, the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign have renewed their call for a full enquiry into the Battle of Orgreave. The campaign responded in December 2015 to a Home Office request for evidence concerning allegations of police brutality and wrongdoing against picketing miners at the Orgreave coking plant on 18 June 1984. The legal dossier included information relating to complaints of police fabrication of evidence, wrongful arrest, malicious prosecution and perjury. One year on members of the campaign made their way to London to protest current Home Secretary Amber Rudd’s decision not to hold a public inquiry into the events or Orgreave. The Home Office has said that it will additional files on the 1984 miners’ strike in early 2017, including information relating to Orgreave. Simon Thake reports for SheffieldLive!
Sheffield has risen above Leeds and Manchester in a list of the cities making best use of their heritage assets. Rising 23 places in the ‘core cities’ table of the Heritage Index, the city now ranks third among areas that are best at using heritage to create a distinctive identity and those which could do better. The table, put together by the RSA and the Heritage Lottery Fund, combines more than 120 factors, such as historic buildings and events and activities. First of the core cities this year was Bristol and second was Liverpool. Sheffield Live! reporter Azz Mohammed spoke to Jon Bradley, chair of Joined Up Sheffield.
Justice campaigners have reacted cautiously to the government announcement of the planned release in 2017 of previously secret files on the miners’ strike including documents relating to the Battle of Orgreave. In a letter to the Home Affairs Select Committee, Home Secretary Amber Rudd said thirty files relating to the UK miners’ strike would be sent to the National Archives. The subject titles show at least one file relates directly to Orgreave. In October the Home Secretary ruled out an inquiry into the 1984 clashes between miners and police at the Yorkshire coking site. Campaigners have said officers led by South Yorkshire Police were heavy-handed and manufactured statements. Sheffield Live! reporter Azz Mohammed spoke to Orgreave campaigner Craig Mansell and Councillor Chris Peace.
Sheffield’s public health unit is getting behind the national HIV Awareness Week to raise awareness of the disease and the benefits of getting tested. The week long campaign which runs up to 1st December, World AIDS Day will highlight the impact of HIV on people’s lives and promote access to the screening tests available. Sheffield Live! reporter Simon Thake spoke to Greg Fell, director of public health at Sheffield City Council.
Green party co-leader Jonathan Bartley joined anti-austerity campaigners at a rally outside Sheffield Town Hall to condemn the autumn budget statement. Meanwhile Labour have said the government was “unprepared and ill-equipped” for Brexit. In the first financial statement since the Brexit vote in July, Chancellor Philip Hammond said government borrowing will increase by £122 billion over the next six years while UK growth predictions have been severely cut. Hammond vowed to ensure the UK economy was “resilient” and unveiled a fuel duty freeze and more cash for housing, transport and digital infrastructure. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
The Liberal Democrats have criticised the governments National Flood Resilience Review and called for more natural measures to prevent flooding. Former Lib Dem leader and Hallamshire MP Nick Clegg called on Sheffield Council to review Sheffield’s flood defence system including risks to areas in Rivelin Valley and Gillyfield Wood in Totley. Sheffield Live! reporter Simon Thake spoke to Councillor Shaffaq Mohammed, leader of the Liberal Democrats on Sheffield City Council.
Ex-miner Paul Darlow was nineteen years old in 1984 and at the picket line on the day of the Orgreave confrontation. In an interview for Sheffield Live! he spoke to reporter Azz Mohammed.
The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign are to seek a judicial review of the decision not to hold an enquiry into the events of 1984. Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced that the government would not open a new investigation into the Battle of Orgreave. The Orgreave campaign, which has been seeking a Hillsborough style enquiry, held a press conference at the National Union Of Mineworkers headquarters in Barnsley. Sheffield Live! reporter Azz Mohammed spoke to Orgreave campaign press officer Granville Williams.
Police and Crime Commissioner Dr Alan Billings spoke exclusively on Sheffield Live! this week on the prospects and scope of a new Orgreave enquiry. The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign has reiterated the need for a full and thorough inquiry this week while Home Secretary Amber Rudd is expected to announce her intentions by the end of this month. Billings, appearing on Talking Sheffield with Sheffield Live! presenter Nigel Slack explained that he is full supportive of a new inquiry but also stressed the need to learn lessons from the Hillsborough inquiry and therefore for any new investigation to be kept relatively short.