HILLSBOROUGH: The search for the truth

[Neil]

Now I eagerly await the prosecutions.

[maggie]

Did you hear the findings on the 1 o'clock news?

Exactly April.... was it 164 altered statements...am watching 24 hour news about it. The truth is horrific...my thoughts are with the relatives and friends so many of those who died may have been saved....may they rest in peace.
 
The docs will be on line at 2pm. hard reading I should think.

[Neil]

http://hillsborough.independent.gov.uk/

[maggie]

http://hillsborough.independent.gov.uk/

Thanks Neil

[Patti]

164 statements were significantly amended. What it live: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19570810

[Patti]

Exactly April.... was it 164 altered statements...am watching 24 hour news about it. The truth is horrific...my thoughts are with the relatives and friends so many of those who died may have been saved....may they rest in peace.
 
The docs will be on line at 2pm. hard reading I should think.

Sorry maggie did not see you had already posted that....It must be a sombre day for all the families today and for all those that were there on that dreadful day.  It's just not heard of that you travel to see your favourite team play football and never return home.

Now that everything is in the open to me is not enough! Each and everyone that covered things up, should be made to, not only say sorry, but be made to serve a sentence fitting to their crime. 

 

[Jane]

Sorry maggie did not see you had already posted that....It must be a sombre day for all the families today and for all those that were there on that dreadful day.  It's just not heard of that you travel to see your favourite team play football and never return home.

Now that everything is in the open to me is not enough! Each and everyone that covered things up, should be made to, not only say sorry, but be made to serve a sentence fitting to their crime. 

 

Thanks, Patti. You've just exonerated me. I heard David Cameron's apology and felt anger on behalf of those poor families. They KNEW there'd been a cover up, some had been screaming it for years. Well meant and heart felt though I'm sure it was, it won't turn the clock back and the people who died are no LESS dead. I believe that those responsible for what happened should be made to answer. Only then might the apology really feel genuine. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel a bit more forgiving. What the families feel who were deprived of their loved ones is more important.

[Patti]

Thanks, Patti. You've just exonerated me. I heard David Cameron's apology and felt anger on behalf of those poor families. They KNEW there'd been a cover up, some had been screaming it for years. Well meant and heart felt though I'm sure it was, it won't turn the clock back and the people who died are no LESS dead. I believe that those responsible for what happened should be made to answer. Only then might the apology really feel genuine. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel a bit more forgiving. What the families feel who were deprived of their loved ones is more important.

Hi april

If they have a conscience, I hope it pricks them....that is as much as I can say...xxxx

[maggie]

Thanks, Patti. You've just exonerated me. I heard David Cameron's apology and felt anger on behalf of those poor families. They KNEW there'd been a cover up, some had been screaming it for years. Well meant and heart felt though I'm sure it was, it won't turn the clock back and the people who died are no LESS dead. I believe that those responsible for what happened should be made to answer. Only then might the apology really feel genuine. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel a bit more forgiving. What the families feel who were deprived of their loved ones is more important.

I think Boris Johnson should also apologise to the relatives and friends of the 96 and the people of Liverpool for his dreadfull article in the Spectator where he accused Liverpudlians of wallowing in grief and blaming police instead of taking responsibilty for the actions of drunken fans etc. .imo

[Jane]

I think Boris Johnson should also apologise to the relatives and friends of the 96 and the people of Liverpool for his dreadfull article in the Spectator where he accused Liverpudlians of wallowing in grief and blaming police instead of taking responsibilty for the actions of drunken fans etc. .imo

You're right, Maggie. He should apologize. Tact is not one of his strong points.

[Neil]

Kelvin MacKenzie's statement today makes for interesting reading.  Although it contains the word apology, it's tone and content suggests that it is anything but.
It is merely an attempt to justify his appalling decision, to print that story.  No wonder Mr Hicks has told him to poke his apology up his arse.

[guest154]

Kelvin MacKenzie, who was the editor of The Sun at the time of the Hillsborough tragedy and who wrote the headline, today offered his 'profuse apologies to the people of Liverpool for that headline'.

He added: 'It has taken more than two decades, 400,000 documents and a two-year inquiry to discover to my horror that it would have been far more accurate had I written the headline The Lies rather than The Truth. I published in good faith and I am sorry that it was so wrong.'


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I think I disagree, Neil.

[Neil]

Kelvin MacKenzie, who was the editor of The Sun at the time of the Hillsborough tragedy and who wrote the headline, today offered his 'profuse apologies to the people of Liverpool for that headline'.

He added: 'It has taken more than two decades, 400,000 documents and a two-year inquiry to discover to my horror that it would have been far more accurate had I written the headline The Lies rather than The Truth. I published in good faith and I am sorry that it was so wrong.'


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I think I disagree, Neil.

Today I offer my profuse apologies to the people of Liverpool for that headline.

I too was totally misled.

Twenty three ago I was handed a piece of copy from a reputable news agency in Sheffield in which a senior police officer and a senior local MP were making serious allegations against fans in the stadium.

I had absolutely no reason to believe that these authority figures would lie and deceive over such a disaster.

As the Prime Minister has made clear these allegations were wholly untrue and were part of a concerted plot by police officers to discredit the supporters thereby shifting the blame for the tragedy from themselves.

It has taken more than two decades, 400,000 documents and a two-year inquiry to discover to my horror that it would have been far more accurate had I written the headline The Lies rather than The Truth.

I published in good faith and I am sorry that it was so wrong.

Kelvin MacKenzie.

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Rather than apologising for his total lack of compassion and sensitivity in the aftermath of such an appalling tragedy, MacKenzie chooses to attempt to justify his reasons for running the story.
Even if what he was told was true, he still shouldn't have run the story.
Having heard and read MacKenzie, I can understand why he has waited until the last possible moment, to issue a apologyjustification.  It would have really pained him.

[gringo]

Today I offer my profuse apologies to the people of Liverpool for that headline.

I too was totally misled.

Twenty three ago I was handed a piece of copy from a reputable news agency in Sheffield in which a senior police officer and a senior local MP were making serious allegations against fans in the stadium.

I had absolutely no reason to believe that these authority figures would lie and deceive over such a disaster.

As the Prime Minister has made clear these allegations were wholly untrue and were part of a concerted plot by police officers to discredit the supporters thereby shifting the blame for the tragedy from themselves.

It has taken more than two decades, 400,000 documents and a two-year inquiry to discover to my horror that it would have been far more accurate had I written the headline The Lies rather than The Truth.

I published in good faith and I am sorry that it was so wrong.

Kelvin MacKenzie.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rather than apologising for his total lack of compassion and sensitivity in the aftermath of such an appalling tragedy, MacKenzie chooses to attempt to justify his reasons for running the story.
Even if what he was told was true, he still shouldn't have run the story.
Having heard and read MacKenzie, I can understand why he has waited until the last possible moment, to issue a apologyjustification.  It would have really pained him.

I agree Neil , MacKenzie's apology is anything but . It is self serving and basically amounts to "some big boys did it and ran away". Pathetic and a long way short of what the victims deserve .

[petey]

I have just finally returned home after an incredibly emotional day in Liverpool.

I attended the Anglican Cathedral where the families first heard the findings of the panel then later went to the reception outside St Georges Hall.

Whilst waiting outside the Anglican cathedral a group of us supporters were regularly interviewed by various news and media outlets. One of the main questions was "what is our reaction to the news today?"

Our overall response was "what news?" We as Liverpool fans and the families and the people of Liverpool have known for 23 years what happened on that fateful day. During this time we have been faced with disgraceful smear campaigns in the media full of lies and more lies. We have had to defend our club and the city of Liverpool against scandalous LIES and MISTRUTHS.

Todays report is a massive step in the right direction because the general public now know the truth about what happened. No longer is it "whining scousers" and why can't we "just get over it and move on."

We now know that:
Liverpool fans 100% were not to blame.
From day 1 there was a systematic cover up from South Yorkshire police to absolve themselves from blame.
The arbitrary 3.15 cut off point imposed by the coroner had no legal, medical or moral grounding. The most shocking thing i learnt today was that at least 41  (YES FORTYONE) people were alive after the 3.15 cut off point and COULD have been saved. That is sickening and what that must feel like to the families is indescribable.

It is utterly disgraceful that this has been covered up for over 23 years.

The truth is now known for everyone to see, but the fight goes on as the battle is only half won.
What we now need is JUSTICE.

The original inquest finding of accidental death must be set aside.
PUBLIC prosecutions MUST be brought against those in authority who caused the Hillsborough disaster and then tried to cover it up.

I want to hear apologies from every single person involved in the cover up, particularly David Duckenfield.

I wholeheartedly agree with Trevor Hicks that Kelvin Mckenzie's apology is FAR FAR TOO LITTLE FAR TOO LATE. He is trying to pass the buck. He will have known for years and years that the information he was told was in fact a LIE. Yet he waits 23 years to apologise. Simply not good enough im afraid and I too reject his apology.

From tomorrow the fight goes on and I hope and pray that the day JUSTICE is fully achieved has moved a significant step nearer.

JFT96