You Think The Hillsborough Law Is About Us? That Ship Sailed Long Ago. It's About You, Dickheads
The duty of candour concerns everyone in this country. If you can't see that, you're a moron. Or someone in a powerful position who enjoys avoiding responsibility
There was a period, from when the Hillsborough Independent Panel’s report was published 11 years ago until after the inquests returned a verdict of unlawful killing in 2016, when people stopped telling me to “get over it.” They asked why we didn't "let it go.'
'It' is the unlawful killing of 97 people at a football match in 1989. For a short while, there was a respite from this sort of passive aggressive questioning.
Then it began to creep in again. Trolls online mock our experiences. Strangers in pubs offer sage advice to “move on.” Even individuals I thought I’d come to know and like have suggested it’s time to “stop banging on about it.”
If you’re wondering why we carry on – the families, the survivors, the campaigners – I’ll tell you the same response I give to the questioners.
For you, dickhead. For your family. For everyone in this shitty, broken country, where the powerful lap up the benefits of their high-powered jobs and status but refuse to accept the responsibilities that should come with them.
For those who wave their loved ones off to a public event and expect the authorities to be prepared for the crowds and all potential eventualities. For any unfortunates who get caught up in a catastrophe not of their making and expect transparency and justice.
One thing is for sure, those affected by Hillsborough will never get justice. Any chance of it has long gone. It was rubbed in our noses when two senior policemen and a solicitor were cleared of perverting the course of justice even though they admitted changing the statements of junior officers to deflect blame away from the South Yorkshire force before submitting them to Lord Justice Taylor’s inquiry. Because the evidence was not given under oath, they were allowed to lie.
Let’s just walk through this again. Policemen lying to a public inquiry. Not. A. Crime.
And, after the Government published its response to the report of James Jones, the former Bishop of Liverpool – it’s only taken six years – it is clear there is little appetite for change in the corridors of power.
There were plenty of apologies from Rishi Sunak and the rest. Well, stick it up your Tory arse. We’ve had enough of apologies and no bloody action. What we need – and that ‘we’ means everyone, not just those involved in the Hillsborough campaign – is a duty of candour.
All public officials – not just police – should be compelled to tell the truth. If they lie about their conduct, or the behaviour of their colleagues, it should be a crime. Cover-ups should be anathema to the entire public.
The so-called ‘Hillsborough Charter’ is a fool’s charter. Organisations can “commit” to openness and transparency all they like under the charter, but let’s see what happens when the livelihoods of individuals are on the line. Peer pressure is a huge factor in cover-ups so the truth frequently gets fudged.
The charter allows too much wriggle room. We are more likely to find the truth if the person being questioned knows that their lies constitute a crime.
Perhaps the term ‘Hillsborough Law’ carries too many negative connotations for too many people. They think it’s about football; about Liverpool; more whinging from whinging Scousers. The reality is we have “moved on” more than you’d ever think.
We’ve moved on from any idea that we will see resolution. We understand we will never get justice. We are way beyond hoping that the guilty men of 1989 will face their responsibilities and be held accountable.
But we fight on. Why? For you. For the next generation. For anyone who goes to a public event and expects to be safe. For the hopeless idea that people in power will somehow develop a sense of decency. That won’t happen.
So we need to compel the authorities to be decent. That is why a duty of candour is crucial. The Government didn’t sell us short today. We expected it. We’ve had 34 years of it.
They sold you and your children short. You who had nothing to do with Hillsborough and don’t care about it. You who might one day lose a relative to a medical error.
A wide range of people, from those who suffered in the infected blood scandal, to the veterans exposed to atomic tests, to the residents of Grenfell, have suffered from the lying and dissembling of the authorities. The sad truth is we cannot trust the people we are supposed to trust.
I can’t let that go. If you can, you’re letting yourself down as well as everyone you love.