Hillsborough

Andy Burnham Excerpts

Wednesday 12th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

May I offer my condolences again to Mrs Williams and to all the family members affected by Kevin’s tragic death, which was one of the many that were originally dealt with in that single inquest? As I have said, now that the report is out, there is an opportunity for the Attorney-General to study the evidence and make that recommendation to the High Court, which many people, including Mrs Williams, will want to see.

[Andy Burnham (Leigh) (Lab)]

I thank the Prime Minister for every single word of his statement today—their value in Liverpool simply cannot be calculated.

The statement comes far too late for many, of course, but finally, the full horror of Hillsborough has been revealed: a catalogue of negligence, appalling failure and sheer mendacity; a tragedy that should have been prevented, lives that should have been saved; devastating truths made far worse, not better, by the passage of time; a crude 3.15 cut-off, with no legal, medical or moral justification; parents hearing only today what happened to their children, because people whose job it was to protect them turned against the victims and the bereaved to protect themselves; a monumental cover-up, and a sickening campaign of vilification against victims, grieving families, traumatised survivors and a city in shock.

Does the Prime Minister agree with me that today the names of the 96 and of the Liverpool supporters who were at Hillsborough have been emphatically cleared? In thanking him and the Home Secretary for supporting the disclosure process that I initiated, may I ask him to continue to work with us to right these wrongs and, at long last, to bring justice for the 96?

[The Prime Minister]

I absolutely will continue to work with the right hon. Gentleman on this issue. He is right that the names of the 96 have been cleared. Above all, I pay tribute to the work that he has put in with huge passion and dedication on this issue—it was a brave and right decision to set up the panel; it was not easy, as there have been previous inquiries, judicial reviews and the rest of it, but it was undoubtedly the right decision—and to what he has done to help people understand the nature of what I call this double injustice. There was an injustice about fact—about these dreadful things that happened that were not properly accounted for—but also an injustice of narrative and an inaccurate version put around which, as he put it quite rightly, means that the passage of time has made these things worse, not better.