Today is the 31st anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster: 15 April 1989. It is a date I will never forget. I was at a football game that day, at Rugby Park, watching Kilmarnock play against someone I can't recall. I still remember the shock as I heard the news as I was driving home.
As the years went on, I became more and more annoyed about the evidence of a massive cover up. A Prime Minister who believed it was more important to protect the police as an institution than it was to find out the truth. An establishment which looked down on football as a sport, and refused to accept that many innocent people died as a result of massive failings by many people and organisations. A tabloid media happy to blame football supporters. Various inquiries took place but failed to recognise the proper conclusion. A great city continued to mourn, with no-one prepared to listen. I read every report, beginning to end, and my frustration grew. Had it not been for an intervention by Andy Burnham, now Mayor of Manchester but then Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, I doubt the truth would ever have come out.
Thankfully, in April 2016, the truth did come out. The Hillsborough inquest concluded that the 96 supporters were unlawfully killed, and that the behaviour of Liverpool supporters had not contributed to the crush. The report heavily criticised the police operation, the stadium layout and design, and the local ambulance service. It is well worth reading the full report. Much of it will, or should, shock you. More shocking is the way in which the Establishment had denied the truth and covered it up for so long.
I accept mistakes happen. Sometimes people make mistakes in high pressure situations; I have sympathy for them and really don't like the 'complain about anything' culture that is so apparent in today's society. However people lacking integrity is a different thing. Putting institutions ahead of people is abhorrent; to protect an institution and harm individuals in the process is morally corrupt. As we remember the 96 people who didn't come home that day, we owe it to every family to remember this. All organisations, whether governments, companies, charities, sports governing bodies or anyone else, have a duty to act with integrity in the way they go about their business. That should be non negotiable for every organisation and everyone involved in their management.
