IT was the day Liverpool got its reputation back. For so long, the place had been sniggered at and derided, tagged “self-pity city” and supposedly populated by whingeing, conspiracy theorists.
Yesterday it turned out that Liverpool was right all along.
Attitudes had set hard in the 23 years since the Hillsborough disaster. For many people first impressions lasted longest. The smears by the South Yorkshire Police defined the event for many.
Numerous times I have been informed by people that they “know” what happened in Sheffield on April 15, 1989. On every occasion, they had been told by someone else. They repeated the slurs that were placed in the public domain with brutal, nasty insensitivity by Kelvin MacKenzie in The Sun.
My eye-witness version — with its broken and twisted limbs and young people dying in the sunshine — was discounted as Scouse revisionism. After these conversations I would often wake from gruesome nightmares and howl with rage.
I have been told repeatedly to “get over it” and “move on”. British justice can today thank the families of the 96 who died and all those who fought for the truth for not moving on. Liverpool’s trust in the Government was minimal, which made David Cameron’s unequivocal endorsement of the Hillsborough Independent Panel’s findings gratifying.
Those of us who knew what really happened could not comprehend the enormity of the emergency services’ failure or that the British public were blasé that this breakdown had been covered up with the crudest propaganda.
The panel’s report does not make easy reading. We had feared — deep down we knew — that many of the dead could have been saved. Yet it is still incredibly painful to see that as many as 41 could have been kept alive with prompt medical care.
There will be difficult days ahead, too. The 3.15pm cut-off for the time of death renders the original inquest meaningless. The Attorney-General must order a new one.
The actions of the police must come under severe scrutiny. It is one thing to make mistakes but quite another to go to such lengths to deflect blame. Those responsible for the errors in the stadium should be held to account but the men who organised the smear campaign against the victims are more insidious. Senior public servants served only themselves and inflicted pain on the bereaved and ignominy on the survivors.
A lot has changed since that spring day in 1989. The death toll continues to climb but away from the spotlight. Last year Stephen Whittle jumped in front of a train after telling a doctor he had sold a ticket to a friend who died in the Leppings Lane end.
Thousands of people witnessed unspeakable sights. Even now, suicides, breakdowns and alcoholism abound as people still struggle to cope with their experiences.
Liverpool got its reputation back and a host of apologies yesterday. But the price has been high. Nothing can bring back the 96. All we can do is restore honour to their memory. The Hillsborough Independent Panel did this yesterday. Now a public inquiry must ensure nothing like the disaster ever happens again.
* This piece first appeared on the front page of The Times and is used with permission.
Thanks Tony, a well summed up piece for the end of a difficult week.
It is indeed horrifying to know that, potentially, 41 people might have been saved. What needs to be remembered, and seems to be being forgotten, is that 96 should never have died in the first. Place.
without criminal convictions the findings of the report are a sticking plaster on a ruptured artery…there is still no justice
The thing is mate, we had to have the truth before justice. It’s the natural sequence of events.
I wasn’t there and have never met anybody who was. But I always thought something was badly wrong and after 23 years I still find the Sun logo nauseating.
Despite this I was still deeply shocked and disturbed by what emerged this week.
That the families of the bereaved finally got through and that people or organisations will now probably be found to heap blame on is small comfort. You really have to ask yourself, in the 20thC, an advanced Western democracy, how on earth can 96 people be slaughtered by idiots in plain daylight with 10s of thousands of witnesses and yet the majority of the general public non the wiser for 23 years ?
Rest assured my friends.Myself,like many others who were there that day felt that there was something wrong from start to finish.
Now,after 23 years,we have it all there.There was something wrong!We might not have known the full extent at the time but over the years we have heard stories and recollections from people who all felt the same way.Little bits about tickets not even being looked at.The absence of any police presence.The roadworks without any proper direction.The police appearing on the half-way line when they thought that there was a pitch invasion but made no attempt to help people trapped behind the fences.
I could go on and on.But on Thursday Divine intervention appeared!
Sir Norman Bettison,the senior police officer that day,made a statement.
And in that statement he revealed the arrogance and contempt he felt for supporters.In the face of everything he tried to claim that Liverpool supporters hindered the police operation.Despite all the evidence to the contrary this man attempted to put the blame back on Liverpool supporters.No attempt at regret or apology!
In so doing he underlined and endorsed everything has been revealed about the attitudes of his officers that day.
So,thank your God! If ever we needed the icing on the cake;this was it!
Today;he’s trying to save his arse by apologising.23 years too late!And with a little help from his PR and legal advisors.
So,thank you “sir” norman.WE couldn’t have asked for more!
What other conspiracies have the FA been complicit in for the last 23 years???? I think this might explain a lot of things, including their hostility towards this club over a long period now but particularly last year with the Suarez thing.
So the prick might lose his knighthood…well, that’s all right then. Is it any wonder Scousers despise the State and its enforcers?
Giving Norman Bettison a knighthood – it really sums up the state and the nasty characters who run it.
And I’m pleased you brought up the general public’s opinion about it also – for years, I’ve heard bullshit saying ‘Yeah I know the police were at fault BUT…..’ and it really hurt because, despite their ignorance, most of the public were willing to agree with some guy in a pub they’d heard the story from.
Well, the whole country is eating humble pie, and considering that the state covered it up, they essentially were puppetmasters to the whole of the country and the mass public were manipulated. Of course, those who were actually educated on the matter knew differently. But it’s worrying for democracy that such a vast number of people could be manipualted like that. So much for our self proclaimed ‘great’ democracy.
Superb piece, cheers Tony.