Hillsborough verdict a damning indictment of the British establishment
|
Version 0 of 1. I was living in Sheffield in 1989, and bought a copy of the Sheffield Star’s special edition on the tragedy, published the following day, on Sunday 16 April, which I still have (After 27 years, justice, 27 April). Reading it again, in the context of the inquest verdicts, it is striking to note that the paper’s account of the disaster, written by local reporters in the hours following it, and based on eyewitness accounts, is virtually identical in its conclusions to that of the jury’s verdicts 27 years later. The front page explicitly states that “Liverpool fans were not to blame, but the victims.” It also describes the decision of Duckenfield (not named at that stage) to open the gate as “a moment of madness”, which “backfired in a catastrophe which brought about the biggest soccer tragedy in the history of the British game”. Harry Livermore, the lawyer who represented the Heysel stadium defendants, and who was at the game in a different stand, is quoted as saying that the tragedy “was entirely due to the inefficiency of Sheffield Wednesday FC for their lack of proper organisation, and the inefficiency of the Sheffield police. It may be hard luck that they are held responsible – but this again is a tragedy that should never have happened”. It was crystal clear from the very outset what had happened and who was to blame. This makes the subsequent lies and cover-up, and the extent to which they were believed, even more damning. The perpetrators of those lies should be held to account just as surely as should those whose negligence and stupidity caused the disaster in the first place.Isabella StoneMatlock, Derbyshire • The mendacious police response to the Hillsborough disaster has to be seen in the context of the general style of policing back in the 1980s. At that time the service was being deliberately used by Margaret Thatcher as the principal arm of a repressive state through which she sought to destroy the hated “left”, against which she had fulminated ever since becoming Conservative leader. Police actions against miners at Saltley and in South Yorkshire itself are good examples. Truth was not a particular virtue. She made sure that the police were handsomely paid, and some barely competent, but loyal to her, chief constables were appointed, some afterwards knighted for their services to the state. With the emergence of new able cadres of chief constable those bad days are happily over. But in the light of what we now know about both Hillsborough and her general determination to do Liverpool down, Thatcher’s presence in 1989 at the official Hillsborough memorial service in Liverpool cathedral (which I attended) seems, in retrospect, macabre.Robin WendtChester • Your leader (The unlawful killing verdict is a triumph for truth and solidarity, 27 February) was simply spot on, not least its reference to the triumph of “unfashionable virtues of solidarity, a shared identity and collective endeavour”. The outcome of the Hillsborough inquest and the struggles of the families made me, for once, proud to be British. Proud because the process demonstrated some “British values” really worth fighting for, like struggling, however hard and painful, for justice and truth; or challenging the insolence of high office, the myopia of establishments or the stereotypes of tabloids. Of the importance of solidarity, cussedness and courage forged in forgotten, even disparaged, parts of our industrial historyProfessor Linden WestCanterbury Christ Church University • My eight-year-old son and I attended the doomed semi-final, as Forest fans. On taking our seats in the South stand, we were amazed that our supporters had been given the Kop (east) stand, capacity 11,000, while Liverpool fans were in the smallest (6,000 capacity) Leppings Lane end. As the chaos developed, with fans taking control, running past stationary police with advertising boards used as stretchers, desperately seeking help, I thought it best to take my son away from the awful mayhem. We left as the first ambulance drove on to the ground (the only one to do so, as it turned out), just before the Tannoy announced that people should stay in their seats. As we walked the empty streets back to our car, we passed lines of ambulances. Days later I responded to the call for witness statements. It was the days when one could hear a keyboard being pressed, and I heard the recorder type my details into her database. After that, I heard nothing: nothing when I mentioned the ground allocations; nothing when I mentioned the police indolence; nothing when I mentioned the ambulances; nothing when I praised the fans – Liverpool ones running over to the Forest end, asking for, and receiving help with ripping down hoardings. The recorder had her own agenda. I was asked questions on the behaviour of fans outside the ground, and when I replied with nothing but complimentary observations, the keyboard remained silent. Mine, along with many others, was a voice left unheard.Bill TaylorMatlock, Derbyshire • I noticed with interest the words of PM David Cameron, who paid tribute to the “extraordinary courage” of Hillsborough campaigners in their “long search for the truth”. I found this quite confusing, as in October 2011 a gentleman also called David Cameron said: “The families of the Hillsborough tragedy are a blind man, in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn’t there.” This cannot surely be the same person, can it?Alex OrrEdinburgh • Can we spare a thought for David Duckenfield, who is after all only human. Recognising that in all tragedies there must be the sense that there but for the grace of God…Ruth GoodallNorwich • A measured and sympathetic piece by David Conn on Wednesday, even so reducing me to tears. A deserved tribute to those who perished and their loved ones. Guardian journalism at its best.David ShannonWoore, Shropshire • It was sobering to read Paul Mason’s column (G2, 26 April) which once again raised the disturbing issues of policing surrounding the “Battle” of Orgreave in 1984. The Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign deserve the highest praise for their determined efforts (as with the Hillsborough families) to gain belated justice for those involved. I’ve written to the home secretary urging a full public inquiry, but with no reply. I urge all Guardian readers to do likewise so that the truth of the events at Orgreave might at last be revealed.Ken GamblesKnaresborough, North Yorkshire • Time to revise Margaret Thatcher’s description of who precisely was “the enemy within”?Mike SeymourBonn, Germany • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com |