Union leader accuses Jack Straw of failing Hillsborough victims
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Version 0 of 1. Len McCluskey, the union leader who witnessed first-hand the Hillsborough tragedy 27 years ago, has accused Jack Straw of letting down the victims by failing to order a proper inquiry in 1997. The general secretary of Unite said the former home secretary should “hang his head in shame” for overseeing a discredited review when Tony Blair came to power. Earlier this week inquests into the disaster gave their verdict, after two years, that the 96 victims were unlawfully killed. For years there were claims from police and other authorities that Liverpool fans were to blame. McCluskey, a lifelong Liverpool supporter, was at the match on 15 April 1989. He said he was haunted by the scenes he witnessed as he searched for his son around the Leppings Lane end of the stadium. McCluskey said that if Straw had listened to the families, the truth could have been uncovered 19 years earlier. In the meantime many family members and victims had died, he said. “Labour came to power in 1997, eight years after the event. Did they do what they should have done? No they did not. Jack Straw, the home secretary, was too busy placating the establishment. “But I understand that all of the cabinet minutes of the time will be made available. We will see how far the cover-up went,” he said. As a new home secretary in 1997, Straw was under pressure from the families of the victims and Labour MPs to reopen an inquiry. He was sceptical about the possibility of new evidence and wrote to the then attorney general, John Morris, saying: “Public concern will not be allayed with a reassurance from the Home Office that there is no new evidence. I therefore propose that there should be an independent examination of the alleged new evidence by a senior legal figure.” In June 1997, Straw appointed Lord Justice Stuart-Smith to lead the review of the Hillsborough evidence. Before the review began, Straw told the judge that his officials had already looked at the case and concluded that there was not sufficient evidence to justify a new inquiry. Straw’s doubts over new evidence were not expressed to the House of Commons at the time. He told MPs: “I am determined to go as far as I can to ensure that no matter of significance is overlooked and that we do not reach a final conclusion without a full and independent examination of the evidence.” The Stuart-Smith review lasted seven months and concluded that there was no case for a new inquiry. In 2012, the review was criticised by the Hillsborough Independent Panel report for failing to fully investigate evidence that police statements from the day had been substantially rewritten. Speaking to the Guardian, Straw said he was “profoundly sorry” that the actions that he took failed to get to the bottom of the cover-up. He said he was busy setting up a separate inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence and had asked Stuart-Smith to examine whether there was any new evidence in good faith. “He [Stuart-Smith] held the inquiry, he looked at the altered witness statements but decided not to make a point about those and concluded there weren’t any grounds for reopening an inquiry,” Straw said. “I greatly regret what happened, but given what Stuart-Smith said, I could only go along with his conclusions.” McCluskey said he was sitting in another stand when he saw the crush developing behind Liverpool’s goalposts. It dawned upon him that his son, who had gone to the game with friends, might be among the victims. Instinctively, he made his way towards the pitch and saw a line of dead bodies upon the turf with their faces covered. In a traumatised daze, he checked the face of each one to make sure they were not his son. Eventually, he made his way out of the ground and discovered that his son was safe. McCluskey, a former docker, said he had known some of the victims’ families throughout the 27 years and praised Labour MP Andy Burnham for being at the forefront of the campaign for justice. “It is about solidarity. There are a lot of cities where people have a strong bond with one another but I cannot think of many where people would have stuck together for that long and through so much,” he said. McCluskey called for South Yorkshire police and West Midlands police, which were at the heart of the cover-up, to be merged with neighbouring forces. He said the families deserved to see people exposed for taking part in the cover-up and that some should face criminal trials. “Terrible mistakes can be made, we know that. But what happened after that – the perjury and lies and perverting the course of justice among senior elements of the police force and senior elements of the government – it should all come out in the open,” he said. |