Sick shadow of another cover up by the state

HEARING the Right Rev James Jones tell of people dying decades ago while in the care of the state brought a sickening sense of deja vu.

Back in 2012, I listened to him read the conclusions of the independent panel he chaired into the Hillsborough disaster and the parallels were painfully familiar. They include systemic neglect, institutionalised failings, lack of basic care, lost or incomplete records, unquestioned decisions, dereliction of duty, criticisms being ignored and families dismissed.

In both scandals the establishment closed ranks. They even appear to have hung out one, clearly culpable, individual to take the rap.

Something else uniting Hillsborough and Gosport is that both tragedies began in the 1980s when there was an ingrained belief that state could operate above the law.

There is also a parallel with another scandal – the Harold Shipman murders.

The GP was allowed to get away with killing his patients for so long because they were old and didn’t seem to matter. In both these cases hundreds of elderly people died and the authorities failed to notice.

But this scandal most resembles the Hillsborough cover-up and the only positive we can take from both is that no matter how far the establishment goes to hide, the truth will always out.

Justice though, as the families of the 96 are discovering, is another matter.