The passing years have not reduced the need for justice.If justice is not done, the lies and misunderstandings which are still spread regularly about Hillsborough will continue; the culture which allowed the serious cover-up which has never been fully investigated may not be addressed; the families may never get closure because fundamental aspects of the death of the victims remain unaddressed;  no-one will be held to account for their actions before, during or after the disaster itself.

Lies and misunderstandings deny justice

Lies and misunderstandings about the Hillsborough Disaster are spread regularly and maliciously. The most egregious are those which find fault with the supporters that day. The lies started immediately after the disaster: The policeman in charge of the operation who lied disgracefully (according to a Judge) when he said that supporters had forced open the gate; The Tory MP (who was not there) who said that the disaster was caused by aggressive fans; The Prime Minister’s spokesman who blamed drunk fans; The Sun who reported that fans attacked the emergency services; junior police officers who were ordered to change their statements. They continue to this day: In 2007, Eastenders claimed that Hillsborough was caused by rioting fans, the Politics Show who blamed on-rushing supporters in the same year.

It is important to repeat that there is no evidence that:

• there were on-rushing supporters
• late arrival of supporters contributed to the disaster
• ticketless fans contributed to the problem
• aggressive fans caused or exacerbated the problems or in any way hindered the treatment of victims
• drunkenness contributed to the disaster

Justice will be served, at least in part, when the lies stop and the truth is acknowledge. The game should not have been played at Hillsborough, Liverpool should not have been allocated the Leppings Lane end, the duty police were unqualified to manage the game; the management of the build up of fans caused the disaster and the subsequent reaction reduced the likelihood of victims surviving.

This is so important because many elements of the disaster were caused or exacerbated by prejudice. Police presumed fans were drunk. Police presumed fans were violent, Police presumed it was a crowd-handling issue rather than a disaster situation. The government attacked the fans, presuming that was the right and popular thing to do. These presumptions and prejudices prevented alleviation of the crush. They prevented injured people receiving treatment. They may have caused injured people to die.

Hillsborough cover-up needs full investigation

The cover-up in the aftermath of the disaster demands full official investigation.

1. Why was one CCTV camera’s record of the central pens between 2.30pm and 3.06pm wiped clear?
2. Who stole two CCTV tapes from the football ground’s Police Control Room and why?
3. Why were junior police officers told to change their statements, by whom and why?
4. Are the documents lodged by order of the government in the House of Lords library a complete archive of South Yorkshire police’s Hillsborough documents?
5. What was Det Supt Stanley Beechey, a former head of the  (disgraced) West Midlands serious crime squad, doing on the Hillsborough investigation while he had been placed on “non-operational duties”?

Until these issues are investigated fairly, openly and in full, justice will not be served.

Victims families have been denied closure

The families of the victims have been denied closure by the various acts of officialdom which have ranged from careless to cruel and negligent. There is evidence that fans who subsequently died, were still alive at 3.15pm. However, that evidence was suppressed by the coroner and with that action, it limited the liability of the police. This is the same coroner who ordered an investigation into the blood-alcohol level of all of the victims, even a 10-year old boy. The same ‘property of the coroner’ that denied grieving parents the chance to embrace their child. There is respected evidence that not all of the victims died of asphyxia.

The handling of the events after the disaster was awful. To get closure after a death requires some very basic, human answers to critical questions: How did they die? When did they die? Those involved in the Hillsborough Disaster have been denied these answers for 20 years.

No one has been held to account for the disaster

Personally, I don’t know whether there is much to be gained by prosecuting the senior police officers involved in the disaster. But families of the victims want it – and I understand why. The fans were blamed after the disaster. Victims were painted as criminals. Survivors who were the only people to act humanely and to the assistance of the injured and dying were branded criminals. The only people who have not been properly held to account were the senior police officers at the disaster. That is not right.

Today I will be writing to every MP I know to show my support for the truth, to disseminate the facts of the disaster and to call for an official investigation into the unanswered questions and justice for the victims, their families and the survivors.

Every person who watches football today has benefited from the response to the Hillsborough Disaster – the all-seater stadia (many publicly funded) the glamour, the sponsorship and TV money. It’s about time that the victims of the disaster were given justice.

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