H’boro families hail ‘huge step forward’

Oct 19 2011 by Luke Traynor, Heswall News

FAMILIES who lost their loved ones at the Hillsborough disaster hailed a ‘historic’ debate in Parliament as a huge step forward in their fight for justice.

Speaking after the four hour discussion at Westminster on Monday relatives said they were increasingly optimistic about the Government’s commitment to find out what really happened at the Sheffield tragedy and its aftermath.

Cross-party support saw MPs vote unanimously to disclose ALL the secret Hillsborough files, including potentially-explosive Cabinet documents from the Thatcher government.

The three family groups – the Hillsborough Family Support Group, Hillsborough Justice Campaign and Hope for Hillsborough – were universal in their praise of the debate.

Walton MP Steve Rotheram, who led the debate with a powerful and emotional speech, used the occasion to read out the names of all 96 victims of the tragedy in Parliament for the first time.

Wirral MP’s also spoke during the debate.

Labour MP Frank Field (Birkenhead) said the last time he could remember senior ministers listening throughout a debate was during the Falklands War.

He added: “My plea to the Home Secretary is to make sure that all the evidence is made available, that no piece of paper is withheld from the inquiry panel, that no one can whip up any debate that we don’t really know even now what took place.”

Labour’s Wirral South MP Alison McGovern struggled to hold back tears as she recalled watching the game on TV with her dad.

She said: “I can still see the look on his face now, because he knew what was happening. Football fans all over Britain knew – they were watching on TV, listening on radios from other football grounds.

She added: “Parliament has spoken with one voice. What we want now is that the whole truth of what happened that day will become clear.”

Wirral West Conservative Esther McVey recalled how her cousin was at the tragedy and was one of those fans who stepped forward and was asked to help the injured.

She said: “It was that help that was so cruelly and inaccurately misrepresented in tabloids.”

She added: “I want to be part of a Parliament and a government which does right by the families who have carried so much pain for so long. It is a time for words to come to an end, it is a time for action. It is time to release all those documents in its entirety.”

Labour MP Angela Eagle (Wallasey) spoke at an earlier parliamentary debate.