MP for Liverpool Walton Steve Rotheram has urged Prime Minister David Cameron to “change history” and co-operate in the quashing of the accidental death verdict delivered by the High Court into the Hillsborough disaster.
The Prime Minister today issued a “profound apology” on behalf of the Government to the families of the 96 victims of the tragedy for what he called the “double injustice” they had suffered.
At an inquest in 1990, Dr Stefan Popper enforced a 3:15pm cut-off point for evidence relating to the tragedy, ultimately resulting in a verdict of accidental death being reached for all the victims.
“We expect there to be fresh evidence that people were alive after the 3:15pm cut-off point, which I think was not just arbitrary, but sick,” he told talkSPORT.
“They were effectively saying ‘If you had injuries, you were going to die anyway’. It’s the equivalent of leaving people in the street.
“Once the document is out there, the families will push for the original inquest verdict to be quashed, because only then can you get a verdict of unlawful killing, which is what we all know happened.”
Mr Rotheram also expressed fresh disgust at the actions of the police, Government and media of the time of the disaster, which resulted in blame being laid at the feet of the Liverpool fans themselves – most notably in the now infamous Sun headline: ‘The Truth’.
“Imagine if 96 people had died at the Olympics? Would the Establishment have conducted itself in the same way now as it did 23 years ago?,” he asked.
“Would there be an orchestrated campaign to shift blame from those responsible onto the fans? Would the press have reacted in the same way? I think we all know the answer.”