Dalglish leads Hillsborough support - 7M sport

Dalglish leads Hillsborough support



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Posted Tuesday, October 18, 2011 by ESPN

Dalglish leads Hillsborough support

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish sent messages of support as families of fans who died in the Hillsborough disaster saw their quest for justice move a step closer.

In an emotional debate in the House of Commons lasting over four hours Home Secretary Theresa May insisted the Government was committed to disclosing the full facts surrounding the 1989 tragedy which claimed 96 lives.

Liverpool Walton MP Steve Rotheram, whose tireless campaigning work resulted in an online petition garnering over 140,000 names to prompt a parliamentary debate, kicked off proceedings with a speech in which he individually named every victim.

By the time the session drew to a close at 10pm Rotheram said he had already received messages of support from Dalglish, who was manager of Liverpool at the time of the disaster and who invested a vast amount of personal time in the aftermath comforting the bereaved, and Bootle-born Carragher.

Rotheram also name-checked QPR midfielder Joey Barton, from Huyton in the city, who threw his weight behind the cause as families fought for full disclosure of all documents relating to the disaster.

They achieved their aim as a motion calling for the documents to be released was passed unopposed, without a Commons vote.

Addressing a sombre House of Commons May said she was "sorry" for the anxiety caused to the victims of the families by the way the Government responded to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request seeking the release of official papers.

She said all government documents - including cabinet minutes - had now been handed over to the independent panel set up by the former Labour government to review the papers for public release.

May added that once the panel had completed its work all the documents would be made public with only "minimal redactions" covering details such as the names of junior officials and private information relating to the victims.

"As Home Secretary, I will do everything in my power to ensure that the families and the public get the truth," she said.

"No government papers will be withheld from the panel, no attempts to suppress publication will be made, no stone will be left unturned.

"The principle underlying the process is that of maximum possible disclosure and disclosure to the families first and then to the wider public."

The campaign was energised by involvement in social media and it was fitting that a number of players took to Twitter to voice their support.

Barton, who attended the debate in person, wrote: "A lot of people shocked by the facts read out tonight, public perception has changed and will change, once the truth is out fully.

"The whole house was in tears when Steve Rotheram read out each and every human life that was lost that fateful day, wheels of justice are now in motion.

"Football fans united behind a just cause tonight, the game, the nation should be very proud of football fans.

"I've actually just started crying listening to Steve Rotheram. I tried to hold it together, its been an emotional day.

"How Steve held it together, I'll never know. Fair play to the man, honoured to know him."

Although the tragedy occurred at Liverpool's FA Cup semi-final with Nottingham Forest its effects have been felt across the city in the last two decades.

Everton midfielder Tim Cahill wrote on Twitter: "Blue or Red the city of Liverpool unite when it counts always - and also everyone that has supported justice for the people of Liverpool.

"Inspirational the work Steve Rotheram has done to help bring justice to the people of 96."

Rotheram, a former lord mayor of Liverpool and now Labour MP, attacked the "smears" and "establishment cover-up" which led to fans initially being blamed for the disaster.

He said Prime Minister David Cameron had delivered a Commons apology to the victims of Bloody Sunday in Londonderry and requested he do the same for those affected by Hillsborough.

"I call on the Prime Minister to make a statement in this House and apologise for the mistakes that were made and the mishandling of this whole tragedy on behalf of a previous government," he said.

The families particularly want to see the minutes of a meeting between the then prime minister Margaret Thatcher and South Yorkshire Police, which they believe was the source of "scurrilous" newspaper reports that the fans were to blame.

"Misdirection, obfuscation and damn lies were all used as smokescreens to deflect attention away from the guilty," Rotheram added.

He also tore into The Sun newspaper, reviled on Merseyside, over its infamous 'The Truth' headline and story which alleged drunken and criminal behaviour by Liverpool fans.

"This was one of the cruellest blows," he said, branding the paper's then editor Kelvin MacKenzie a "pariah".

Labour's St Helens North MP Dave Watts called for media organisations not to use Kelvin MacKenzie for freelance work until he apologised.

And his colleague Alison McGovern, representing Wirral South, received an unprecedented round of applause from the public gallery after fighting back the tears in an highly-emotional speech.



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