Hunt in Hillsborough gaffe
By Ian Dunt
The new sports secretary has committed a major gaffe, suggesting the Hillsborough disaster was the fault of hooliganism.
Jeremy Hunt made the comment during an appearance on Sky News in which he compared past British football records with generally good behaviour at the 2010 World Cup.
“The terrible problems that we had in Heysel and in Hillsborough in the 1980s seem now to be behind us,” he said.
The comments are likely to prompt enormous anger among football fans and particularly among Liverpudlians.
Even now, the Sun’s circulation in the area remains low after it suggested the disaster, which took place on April 15th 1989, was the fault of hooligans.
The prime minister expressed his confidence in Mr Hunt, who quickly apologised on his blog.
“I know that fan unrest played no part in the terrible events of April 1989 and I apologise to Liverpool fans and the families of those killed and injured in the Hillsborough disaster if my comments caused any offence,” he wrote.
But questions will now be asked about the sport secretary’s judgement, his opinion of the disaster and his knowledge of important historic events surrounding his brief.
Mr Hunt also referred to Heysel in his comment, where a disaster took place in 1985.
Labour’s Andy Burnham said: “It is depressing to hear a Cabinet minister echo old slurs about the Hillsborough disaster.
“It shows a casual ignorance of the facts behind one of this country’s biggest ever man-made disasters. It is right that he has apologised to the families for any hurt these comments have caused.”
The official Taylor Report into the Hillsborough disaster did not find any evidence for a link to hooliganism but instead described a police control failure.
The use of all-seater stadiums and the removal of barriers at the front of the stands were both results of the disaster.
