Episode 13

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:00:00. > :00:15.Hello and welcome to Derbyshire. It is 12 months since this programme

:00:16. > :00:20.investigated working practices inside Sports Direct. So, what

:00:21. > :00:25.happened next? Do you think your company has outgrown your ability to

:00:26. > :00:34.manage it? Probably, a long time ago. The man in charge as promised

:00:35. > :00:43.MPs big changes. If he is under pressure he will change. We cannot

:00:44. > :00:53.forget. Also tonight, what really happened at the bottle of Orgreave.

:00:54. > :00:59.They bounced me of the riot shields. They basically not ten bells out of

:01:00. > :01:12.me. The programmes that matter closer to home.

:01:13. > :01:21.A year ago are special investigation revealed the harsh reality of life

:01:22. > :01:25.for thousands of agency workers at the company's warehouse in

:01:26. > :01:29.Derbyshire. The revelations of what was going on behind closed doors

:01:30. > :01:32.attracted attention at the heart of national government. 12 months on,

:01:33. > :01:44.we have been examining what has changed. The Long walk to

:01:45. > :01:50.Westminster to face the UK's lawmakers. Mike Ashley, founder of

:01:51. > :01:55.Sports Direct, finally giving his side of the story about treatment of

:01:56. > :02:02.his warehouse workers. Exposed by inside out. It feels like something

:02:03. > :02:10.out of Dickens. The old workhouse. They don't care. Nobody. One family

:02:11. > :02:21.who were on the minimum wage brave enough to speak out. And the

:02:22. > :02:27.billionaire with cash to splash. Facing MPs wanting the truth about

:02:28. > :02:32.life for 4000 warehouse workers. One day you have a tiny inflatable and

:02:33. > :02:37.you are in control. Wake up one morning and you are on an oil

:02:38. > :02:41.tanker. Whitney is our reporter for inside out. She was one of the

:02:42. > :02:56.reporters who broke the story about Sports Direct. As the journey been

:02:57. > :03:00.worth it? Last year we explained how an agency picture and Packer in

:03:01. > :03:06.Shire Brooke had a stroke in the warehouse canteen. His wife and

:03:07. > :03:09.daughter had also worked there in a culture of fear. He was frightened

:03:10. > :03:15.he would be given a penalty which could lead to losing his job because

:03:16. > :03:20.of an agency six strikes and you're out policy. We also discovered a

:03:21. > :03:27.large number of ambulance calls and reported accidents. I took part to

:03:28. > :03:33.speak with the right people to bring that all out at what has happened in

:03:34. > :03:39.Sports Direct. People who said, he never believed me, who said you are

:03:40. > :03:46.too small for Mike Ashley. We are not going to get nothing. Three

:03:47. > :03:53.months after the programme, Mike Ashley announces he will review the

:03:54. > :03:59.treatment of workers. MPs call him to Parliament. He refuses, but at

:04:00. > :04:03.the last minute, changes his mind. He doesn't know it, but the family

:04:04. > :04:09.are also on their way to the hearing. Eight months after telling

:04:10. > :04:19.their story to us, they are telling it to MPs, but in private. Finally,

:04:20. > :04:25.someone is listening to us. It was very emotional. It is like talking

:04:26. > :04:30.about a horror film. We are really grateful because they've put their

:04:31. > :04:35.necks on the line. It was incredibly brave. When somebody is looking at

:04:36. > :04:40.you in the face, crying and saying no one is listening to us, that made

:04:41. > :04:45.it even more imperative that we challenged and tried to produce

:04:46. > :04:46.solutions. We knew from looking in their eyes that they were telling

:04:47. > :05:03.the truth. First up in public, it is the union,

:05:04. > :05:06.Unite, campaigning for changes at Shire Brooke. This is not typical of

:05:07. > :05:10.a warehouse that it will become typical of a warehouse if we do not

:05:11. > :05:17.do something about the employment practices that are being deployed by

:05:18. > :05:20.Sports Direct. Next up, the two agencies with the ?50 million

:05:21. > :05:26.contract to supply and manage warehouse workers for Mike Ashley.

:05:27. > :05:33.On the left, two bosses from Trans line, the man on the right is from

:05:34. > :05:37.best connection. In our programme, Nina was told she had a strike, a

:05:38. > :05:44.penalty, for getting a drink of water when she was feeling ill.

:05:45. > :05:57.Sports Direct let her go. The supervisor from the agency gave a

:05:58. > :06:03.strike. Fast forward to June 20 16. You had a coughing fit. It is

:06:04. > :06:07.dreadful when that happens and I am glad you could get a glass of water.

:06:08. > :06:11.We have been told that if you asked for a glass of water outside of

:06:12. > :06:18.designated bricks, you would get a strike. Is that fair? I am not sure

:06:19. > :06:27.that is the case. I couldn't comment on an individual circumstance. I

:06:28. > :06:38.wouldn't say it is fair. There are now another 26 water coolers in the

:06:39. > :06:43.warehouse. The committee will answer questions. Finally, the man everyone

:06:44. > :06:46.has come to see. Mike Ashley has already increased pay over

:06:47. > :06:55.revelations over paying workers below the minimum wage. So, what

:06:56. > :06:59.does Mr Ashley have to say about the large number of calls for emergency

:07:00. > :07:04.ambulances revealed in the programme? Mostly for serious health

:07:05. > :07:13.issues, not accidents, including a stroke and a baby born in a toilet.

:07:14. > :07:18.Do you think that is excessive? Yes. What systems are you putting in

:07:19. > :07:24.place to address that? That is part of the review. I am told they were

:07:25. > :07:30.over quick to pick up the phone to call the Ambulance Service. I would

:07:31. > :07:44.suggest that someone giving birth in a toilet in the warehouse was not

:07:45. > :07:52.being overhasty. The company is now recruiting a nurse who will be

:07:53. > :07:57.on-site during the day. Do you think your company has outgrown your

:07:58. > :08:04.ability to manage it? Probably, a long time ago. I think he still

:08:05. > :08:10.doesn't understand how serious it is. You said you woke up one day and

:08:11. > :08:13.your little business was an oil tanker. Shouldn't you get someone

:08:14. > :08:21.who knows how to sail and tried an oil tanker? Possibly. He said his

:08:22. > :08:26.business grew and he didn't have a clue or he couldn't cope with how

:08:27. > :08:34.big it is. He didn't know what has happened there. Straight after the

:08:35. > :08:39.hearing, Trans line arranged a meeting with the family at Shire

:08:40. > :08:53.Brooke. They continue to be paid by the agency. Someone else appears.

:08:54. > :08:59.Mike Ashley turned up. I wasn't, he apologised, he apologised to my dad,

:09:00. > :09:04.to my mum and me for the hard time we had after my dad had a stroke. He

:09:05. > :09:16.promised he would be involved if we needed any support. One month later,

:09:17. > :09:20.the Parliamentary report is damning. MPs find it incredible Mike Ashley

:09:21. > :09:26.has no idea what is going on, but welcome his commitment to change. We

:09:27. > :09:31.said in our report that we felt that workers were being treated like

:09:32. > :09:35.cattle, but they were just commodities, rather than actual

:09:36. > :09:40.people. I do take him at face value and I think there is a willingness

:09:41. > :09:46.to change. Do you plan to drop in unannounced to check up? I think

:09:47. > :09:53.that is important. I will not say when that will be. The programme

:09:54. > :09:57.exposed almost 40 reported accidents in two years, some serious. The

:09:58. > :10:03.committee wants the Health and Safety Executive and the District

:10:04. > :10:07.Council to get more involved. That is without knowing that the company

:10:08. > :10:12.report shows an increase in warehouse accidents. With the new

:10:13. > :10:21.head of health and safety, the company will examine accident

:10:22. > :10:25.trends, just like we did. Now, the Council told me it is putting more

:10:26. > :10:30.resources into dealing with an increase in accidents and the HSE

:10:31. > :10:38.said it will support the council to make sure Sports Direct complies

:10:39. > :10:41.with health and safety procedures. It is September. Since the

:10:42. > :10:49.programme, the share price has more than half. Today is the company AGM.

:10:50. > :10:57.Unlike last year, I am allowed to attend. So, too is the news media,

:10:58. > :11:02.just a day after Sports Direct only report identified serious failures.

:11:03. > :11:06.Yesterday a report published which was commissioned by the company

:11:07. > :11:10.itself which identified serious shortcomings in working practices in

:11:11. > :11:23.the warehouse. The report recommends the notorious strike system should

:11:24. > :11:26.be suspended. Advisers to Mike Ashley steer him through a PR

:11:27. > :11:33.offensive, opening the warehouse doors to change. If the headline is

:11:34. > :11:41.sorry then so be it. He is the media tour guide here to state his case.

:11:42. > :11:52.The turnover is 500 million. It is incredibly Labour intensive and stop

:11:53. > :11:57.finally, I get the chance to as agency workers really want to know.

:11:58. > :12:03.As the strike system gone for good? Has the message got through? Do the

:12:04. > :12:13.agencies realise that? Yes, it is gone. I am told that as of today,

:12:14. > :12:21.there is no strike policy. As far as I am concerned, the strike policies,

:12:22. > :12:34.six strokes, is finished. No problem. I have got to go back. In

:12:35. > :12:39.London the next day and the contents of Mr Ashley's pockets have stolen

:12:40. > :12:45.the show. For the largest union in the country, it is not a laughing

:12:46. > :12:48.matter. You can outsource the responsibility for your warehouse

:12:49. > :12:55.operations simply by outsourcing the management of it. It is the name

:12:56. > :12:58.Sports Direct over the warehouse. It is his reputation and the reputation

:12:59. > :13:03.of that business which has taken a knock because of the consequences of

:13:04. > :13:13.the actions of the agencies. Unite says it is in constructive dialogue

:13:14. > :13:16.with senior management. Still under pressure, Sports Direct has agreed

:13:17. > :13:20.to an independent review as a trial some agency workers are being

:13:21. > :13:25.transferred to permanent jobs at Sports Direct. The chief executive

:13:26. > :13:33.has resigned. Mike Ashley has taken his place. A spokesman said Mr

:13:34. > :13:37.Ashley was therefore too busy to be interviewed. In a statement, the

:13:38. > :13:43.founder of Sports Direct told me we have had our problems in the past, I

:13:44. > :13:49.have said I'll fix it and I will. As a result of the work of inside out,

:13:50. > :13:59.thousands of lives, workers at Sports Direct, will now start seeing

:14:00. > :14:05.their conditions improve. I think it was really worth it to take part in

:14:06. > :14:11.the programme. We have to be brave. People in the street come and say to

:14:12. > :14:16.us, well done to you, to your doctor. We have had big changes in

:14:17. > :14:21.our house. Supervisors and team leaders talk differently with us.

:14:22. > :14:27.They don't shout at us any more. If he is going to be under pressure, he

:14:28. > :14:40.will change. He will change a lot. We can't forget. We can. And we will

:14:41. > :14:48.keep you posted on that story which, since our programme, he never seems

:14:49. > :14:52.to be out of the news. Now, the miners strike remains one of the

:14:53. > :14:57.most bitter industrial dispute in living memory. The so-called Battle

:14:58. > :15:02.for grief, violent clashes between police and striking miners happen in

:15:03. > :15:05.June 19 84. The Home Secretary is expected to announce an

:15:06. > :15:09.investigation into the conduct of police officers. However, some

:15:10. > :15:18.campaigners fear the truth will remain buried. Dan Johnson has the

:15:19. > :15:22.story. The miners strike. A year of picket line confrontation between

:15:23. > :15:28.police and striking miners. Of all the clashes, it was what happened at

:15:29. > :15:37.Orgreave in June 1984 that has never been forgotten. It is remembered as

:15:38. > :15:42.a battle. What made Orgreave different was its scale. Thousands

:15:43. > :15:45.of police officers faced even more striking miners. Police said they

:15:46. > :15:49.came under attack from writing pickets who were unlawfully trying

:15:50. > :15:53.to stop others getting to work. The miners said they were executing

:15:54. > :15:59.their lawful right to pick it when they were brutally attacked and

:16:00. > :16:03.falsely charged with rioting. A miner from Nottinghamshire was

:16:04. > :16:06.arrested that day. He was charged with right but cleared in quite a

:16:07. > :16:13.year later when the prosecution case collapsed. Police officers got me by

:16:14. > :16:18.the arm. They said I was under arrest and I said what are under

:16:19. > :16:22.arrest for? They said throwing stones at police officers. I said

:16:23. > :16:27.look at my hands, they are clean. I haven't thrown nothing. He said they

:16:28. > :16:35.all say that when they get caught. The Barnsley of riot shields, the

:16:36. > :16:41.long interlocking ones. They basically knocked ten bells out of

:16:42. > :16:46.me. It is not just brutality police are accused of. Many miners were

:16:47. > :16:51.charged with riot, Acer serious offence which could have meant long

:16:52. > :16:54.prison sentences. To prove that, police needed plenty of evidence.

:16:55. > :16:59.There are questions about the way that evidence was gathered. In the

:17:00. > :17:04.police lines at Orgreave officers from at least ten different forces.

:17:05. > :17:09.PC Bob Bird was among them, Boston from the West Midlands. He remains

:17:10. > :17:14.convinced that the violence from some of the miners meant they had to

:17:15. > :17:18.be arrested. I am only speaking as one of the grunts who was there with

:17:19. > :17:23.a shield. I didn't see or hear or have any part in people who, for no

:17:24. > :17:27.point at all, were arrested and were fitted up with charges that had

:17:28. > :17:32.nothing to do with their actions. Officers arrested people for

:17:33. > :17:37.illegitimate offences. The charging decisions that were made after that

:17:38. > :17:42.event had nothing to do with the veracity of why they were arrested

:17:43. > :17:46.in the first place. Four years ago inside out revealed documents from

:17:47. > :17:49.Orgreave. Police statements which showed dozens of officers had

:17:50. > :17:55.written the same passages, virtually word for word. It is obvious in the

:17:56. > :18:04.world grave cases that there was widespread collusion. There was a

:18:05. > :18:09.continual barrage of missiles. You can't get statements in the way they

:18:10. > :18:12.have been done here by police officers from different forces

:18:13. > :18:16.involved in different arrests and find such a degree of similarity

:18:17. > :18:22.without there being some degree of collusion. As a direct result of

:18:23. > :18:25.that programme, South Yorkshire Police called in the Independent

:18:26. > :18:30.police contains commission. For two and a half years it considered

:18:31. > :18:36.evidence to decide whether to launch an investigation. Nobody contacted

:18:37. > :18:40.staff. I'd never heard anything. Nobody investigated me, nobody said

:18:41. > :18:46.anything. Nothing happened at all. Why should there have been? They

:18:47. > :18:56.said they would investigate. I heard nothing at all. What do you think

:18:57. > :19:01.about that? It sounds like a cover-up, doesn't it? Ten months

:19:02. > :19:07.after South Yorkshire Police referred itself to the IPCC, myself

:19:08. > :19:11.and our editor or invited here to IPCC headquarters in London. We were

:19:12. > :19:16.surprised to be told they had not yet contacted all the forces who

:19:17. > :19:18.have officers at Orgreave and even South Yorkshire Police hadn't

:19:19. > :19:24.provided all the documents they had been asked for. The IPCC have told

:19:25. > :19:30.us that all forces have been asked for documents a peak weeks after our

:19:31. > :19:34.meeting and that they were provided. In June last year, the IPCC

:19:35. > :19:38.announced it would not be holding an enquiry. That immediately protocols

:19:39. > :19:42.for the government to take action. I have written to the Prime Minister

:19:43. > :19:46.this afternoon and asked him to consider setting up a public enquiry

:19:47. > :19:52.or at least the Pillsbury style panel. The Hillsborough panel was an

:19:53. > :19:58.independent research team which reviewed documents. It was led by an

:19:59. > :20:02.academic. The issue about Orgreave is a perfect test ground for the

:20:03. > :20:07.Hillsborough Independent panel model. It had never happened before

:20:08. > :20:15.when you had an independent panel brought in not too build a case, not

:20:16. > :20:20.to answer a case, but simply to review all the material pertaining

:20:21. > :20:24.to that case. Michael Mansfield defended the miners in the Orgreave

:20:25. > :20:29.trials. For three decades he has campaigned for an enquiry into how

:20:30. > :20:32.they were treated. Is it not best just left alone? They said that

:20:33. > :20:38.about Hillsborough. Then you get a jury saying wait a minute. Those

:20:39. > :20:41.products were important. Theresa May has recognised that in her speech to

:20:42. > :20:47.the Police Federation only this year. The toxicity committee stream

:20:48. > :20:56.of justice has to be taken out. Because historical enquiries are not

:20:57. > :21:01.archaeological excavations. They are not purely exercises in truth and

:21:02. > :21:11.reconciliation. They do not just pursue resolution, they are about

:21:12. > :21:16.ensuring justice. Justice. Let's step back and look at the people who

:21:17. > :21:20.have never been brought to account what made accountable publicly, the

:21:21. > :21:24.people who were behind the organisation. That is senior police

:21:25. > :21:28.officers in South Yorkshire Police, as well as people beyond that in the

:21:29. > :21:35.Home Office and in the Cabinet. That is why it has to be a public enquiry

:21:36. > :21:37.with full powers. The new Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, promised

:21:38. > :21:41.campaigners she would announce a decision by the end of this month. I

:21:42. > :21:47.have a feeling somebody wants to kick this into the long grass. Lord

:21:48. > :21:51.Tebbit was a member of the Cabinet with a reputation for opposing trade

:21:52. > :21:57.union power. What do you think of the calls for an enquiry? If there

:21:58. > :22:04.was an enquiry it would be a waste of time and money. The facts are

:22:05. > :22:13.absolutely clear. They are well known. We don't need to be hirsute.

:22:14. > :22:16.The legal profession will Nick Williams out of it, to what end

:22:17. > :22:19.question mark these events were 30 years ago. If I were put in charge

:22:20. > :22:25.of such an enquiry, we could finish it off in a couple of days and it

:22:26. > :22:29.would be done and dusted. There were people coming out of the past and we

:22:30. > :22:34.all know who they are saying this is a waste of money and time, we should

:22:35. > :22:40.not be doing this. I dare say if that individual had suffered in the

:22:41. > :22:46.same way they would want to know, they would want to know. You need to

:22:47. > :22:50.know in a vibrant democracy. The man who led the Hillsborough panel

:22:51. > :22:54.doesn't think he will be offered a similar job again. I think we

:22:55. > :23:01.asserted such great independence that the US that model in other

:23:02. > :23:05.circumstances would be considered difficult for the interests of

:23:06. > :23:10.government and civil service. There are police officers who will not

:23:11. > :23:13.talk about this. Not because of any wrongdoing, but from a deep-seated

:23:14. > :23:19.belief that they will only try and find some way in which to implicate

:23:20. > :23:25.you in something that with hindsight, is seen to be wrongdoing.

:23:26. > :23:33.If you did a cram 32 years ago, with police forget about it? They don't

:23:34. > :23:43.say it 32 years ago, I will let you go. They will still want answers.

:23:44. > :23:48.Same as what we still want answers. The place has been transformed with

:23:49. > :23:52.new businesses and new homes, even a new name. It is unrecognisable. But

:23:53. > :23:55.for the people who were here that day, especially for the miners,

:23:56. > :23:59.there is no forgetting what happened. That is it from us this

:24:00. > :24:34.week. Goodbye. Good evening. It has been a week of

:24:35. > :24:35.easterly winds begin. The high-pressure sat across Scandinavia

:24:36. > :24:36.blocking