Thursday 13 September 2012

It's The Least David Cameron Can Do


It's taken 23 years for the real story of the Hillborough disaster and it's horrendous reading.  The corrosive corruption revealed by the momumental cover-up undertaken by senior police and politicians has finally been proven but will the Hillsborough Independent Panel's assessment bring peace to those families who have fought long and hard for justice?  In time perhaps but they have much more to do to ensure the guilty are put on trial.

Some police officers involved in the corruption are still serving yet not one had the courage to come forward and tell the truth.

The present South Yorkshire Chief Superintendent said his present day force is much changed from the 80s and now encourages all officers to come forward if they suspect corruption within the force.  Maybe it has changed but not for the better.  It's been known for years (since the Taylor report) that the then Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield created a 'blunder of the first magnitude'.

However, it's not just the police who have blatantly lied or withheld the truth all these years. The ambulance service, the FA (for not checking if the ground had a valid safety certificate, which it did not) and politicians who knew the truth but refused to release the documentation.

Sadly, the exposure of this corruption within the authorities doesn't surprise me.  Neither does the tenacity with which the families did their utmost to expose the rot at the heart of it. As a society we have become much less altruistic than when I was a child.

Margaret Aspinall, whose son James, then 18, died that day complained that while the families had to find the money to pay their own costs through years of legal processes, the South Yorkshire police force, individual officers and other public bodies had theirs paid by the taxpayer.

Far too often in this country those who wish justice - and have good evidence - are denied it because they cannot afford legal fees and other expenses.  The legal aid system has been so badly abused in the past it no longer helps those for which it was originally intended.

David Cameron apologised to the families in the House of Commons yesterday.  The least he could do now is to order repayment of expenses to all the families involved.  Unscrupulous sections of the media should also contribute.

The truth can be costly and the pain those families suffered can never be calculated in financial terms, but as a society we must ensure none of those who fought endlessly for the truth suffer more financial hardship.  The lead must come from David Cameron and he should insist the Treasury refunds the families. That would be small recompense for the loss of loved ones, but one which we all should be insisting is done.

source

11 comments:

JRB said...

There is so much I wish to say – but the sheer magnitude of this scandal – the extent to which public and political bodies are complicit – they way in which subsequent administrations and judicial reports turned a blind eye to the truth – all leave me so horrified as to be speechless.

To the families of the victims, the Liverpool supporters and those few who have stood steadfastly with them in their twenty-three year search for the truth, I offer my prayers – but above all I offer them my sincere thanks. Thanks for revealing the truth of what actually happened and for opening my eyes to the depraved depths that those placed in a position of trust by society, in order to protect that society, can sink.

Whilst events, at the moment, rightly concentrate on the tragic circumstances surrounding Hillsborough, it exposes a terrifying mind-set amongst many in power and authority – that, when that power and authority is challenged, the lives of a few citizens count for naught.

subrosa said...

How eloquently put JRB and I agree - the murky depths of the powerful shows only too vividly in a case such as this.

I'm sure many suspected many in power abuse it and now their suspicions are justified.

Well done the families for exposing the rotten core in our police and other public services involved in this tragedy.

William said...

I don't see what new information has emerged. Everyone already knew the police panicked and misjudged the situation. Liverpool fans - and English fans in general - were involved in a lot of trouble at the time of Hillsborough. Liverpool fans had killed 33 Juventus fans at Heysel just four years earlier (justice for them?). This is why they, and other English clubs, were banned from Europe at the time. The police clearly thought it was simply another hooligan incident - drink and fighting - and were reluctant to act. The fact that some people tried to cover themselves afterwards is simply human nature when faced with careers and pensions disappearing because of one incident.

The Liverpool fans will never admit that the culture they had created at Heysel might have contributed to it or that large numbers of ticketless supporters from Liverpool led to overcrowding.

RMcGeddon said...

Good try William but you've been found out. Go and read the report please.

subrosa said...

I disagree William. This report shows corruption which has never been previously exposed.

Crinkly & Ragged Arsed Philosophers said...

This report is a damning indictment of the British establishment and its constitutional hypocrisy in the democratic values it supposedly practices through governance and justice.

It's also and indictment on the Media, who toadied the establishment line and ignored truth opting instead for the spoon of authorities propaganda.

Yesterday -The ITV political correspondent stated - "of course this was 23 years ago. I doubt if the same manipulation could happen now?" (this may not be verbatim, but near enough) Was he being naive or merely continuing the toady cult?

Does anybody believe we're being told the unvarnished truth on the financial crises and the rules and regulations of the banks. Do we get the truth from the corporate cartels on their prices and the profits they gain from them. Do we get the truth when the police murder a man carrying a table leg, or sitting in a tube carriage, or merely walking home from his paper stall?

Perhaps the only truth is we very rarely get it; and when we do it's chorused by platitudes before being quickly gagged, wrapped up and smothered by the same people and protocols who first distorted and denied it.

Yes, in this instance the truth has come out, but will it change the pipers or merely the tune?

call me ishmael said...

The BBC, now tut-tutting about all this, has, for decades, given a platform to the vile Kelvim McFilth, whilst paying him thousands of pounds of our money - Question Time, Newsnight, Any Questions and so on have all permitted him to peddle his filth whilst knowing, - for all the rest of us certainly knew, that he was the author of the most cruelk and outrageous fiction about these events. And that's not to mention the noncing of young Charlotte Church an dthe sexualisation of generations of British children.

"Gagged, wrapped up and smothered" that is surely what will happen because nearly everyone in the Shithouse of Power has their dirty fingers all over this. Next time you see, for instance, David Dimbleby, Jack Straw, William Hague, Archbishop Beardie, just remind yourself that they would all rather sit on a platform with Kelvin McFilth, than talk to you or I.

JuliaM said...

"Was he being naive or merely continuing the toady cult?"


No, merely realistic, with today's Twitter & camera phones and instant upload to YouTube.

Of course, if a time traveller were to go back with such equipment, all he'd capture would be sober sensible law-abiding full ticket holders herded to their deaths by evil cackling policemen, egged on by the establishment, I'm sure...

subrosa said...

I heard that on ITV Crinkly. Stupid man he is.

I think a little of both, however the senior police officer involved at the time - and is still serving - refuses to quit.

subrosa said...

Well said ishmael.

subrosa said...

I'm not sure if such an incident couldn't happen again Julia regardless of modern communications.

I'm also not sure anyone would take responsibility for any cover-up. That happens today and far too often.

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