Shame on Tories for the silent treatment

A MOTHER who lost her son at Hillsborough once told me she felt like she was continually being kicked down the road like an old can.

That was 20 years ago. Today, almost three-and-ahalf decades after 97 fans were unlawfully killed in a football stadium, the can is still getting kicked.

The police have finally said “sorry” that their failings caused those deaths, but might that be because all legal action has ended and no officer can be held accountable?

They have pledged to never again “defend the indefensible”, but how were they ever allowed to, bringing torture to the bereaved and survivors.

They vow to introduce a “duty of candour” for all officers, but shouldn’t that be a given?

JUSTICE

At least the police have responded to Bishop James’ report into the failures of Hillsborough. Five years after he handed it in, the government that commissioned it is still to comment.

Back in 2012, the then-pm David Cameron vowed in the Commons to get to the bottom of this gross miscarriage of justice, but clearly there is no stomach for doing so among his successors.

Imagine if, instead of the 97 being mostly workingclass Scousers, the majority of the victims had come from Home Counties Tory constituencies?

Imagine if Britain’s worst-ever sporting disaster had happened at the Henley Regatta? Justice would have been delivered and concrete steps taken to ensure disasters and cover-ups like Hillsborough never happened again.

But then, the families of the 97 don’t really count. They never have. They were always a can to be kicked down the road. And as this Tory government shows with its insulting silence over a report they sanctioned, they are still getting kicked today.

It’s utterly shameful but not in the least surprising.