Lord God Jose Mourinho wrote:
The police deserve a large proportion of the blame for the disaster ...
Indeed.
Lord God Jose Mourinho wrote:
... whether The Sun's "Truth" was completely true or completely false...
There are a number of different components to the entire business. The reaction of police – and others – at the time, during the disaster itself, is one.
The cover up is another.
The role of some of the media and politicians is linked with that.
Lord God Jose Mourinho wrote:
So basically, an MP saying "I have been told by two Police Constables that they witnessed PC's being attacked by supporters and rifling through the pockets of the dead and dying." after PC's made those comments directly to him should mean he deserves to be stripped of his knighthood?
He chose to accept, without question, those comments – even though they were claims of utterly vile behaviour.
There has been no suggestion that he thought: 'Hang on – this is one massive set of accusations you're tarring all these people with: does something smell even remotely fishy?'
He appears to have taken them utterly at face value – and his own apology suggest nothing to suggest that that was not the case.
It's worth remembering that it's generally the political right that accuses the left of blaming victims for what has happened to them: this was exactly what happened here, but for a very specific reason.
The concerns and actions of Margaret Thatcher in demanding the lessening of the criticisms of the police illustrate a political nature to that cover up.
What happened was, in the first instance, a massive cock up. There are all sorts of reasons – one of which appears to be general attitudes toward football fans/the working class, which meant that the senior police officer did not allow in more than one ambulance.
It was followed by a massive cover up, which had a political aspect/context to it. And when it came to 'choosing sides', it is quite clear who the PM of the day chose to side with. It is hard to imagine that other senior politicians of the day did not maintain a similar attitude.