Hillsborough disaster to be on Wirral schools curriculum

Oct 17 2012 by Liam Murphy, Heswall News

SCHOOLCHILDREN in Wirral will learn about the Hillsborough disaster “so future generations know the truth about what happened on that day”.

Political parties came together during a meeting of Wirral’s full council at Wallasey town hall to condemn the cover-up which followed the deaths of 96 Liverpool football supporters – including 12 from Wirral – in April 1989.

The notice of motion by Wallasey councillor Paul Hayes welcomed the apology from the Prime Minister David Cameron after the publication of the report by the Hillsborough Independent Panel.

The motion added: “Council believes that after truth justice must follow” and called on the authority’s chief executive Graham Burgess to write to the Hillsborough Families Support Group, the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and Hope for Hillsborough to “express our continued support for them”.

Cllr Hayes told the meeting the campaign by families of the 96 victims “have shown us that justice is not just an abstract notion”.

He said the Independent Panel’s report revealed “what all of Merseyside has known for the last 23 years” and that negligence and incompetence had been followed by “a web of deceit”.

He said it had been “one of the most shocking conspiracies to evade justice in English history”.

Leader of the council Phil Davies, whose group also supported the motion, said the last 23 years had been “a picture not just of tragedy but of a gross injustice”.

He said “all Governments, including my own party, bear their part in the failure to get to the truth” and welcomed the prospect of new inquests.

While Tory leader Jeff Green added: “The fact it was covered up so long is appalling.”

But he praised the councillors for coming together saying: “This is the sort of resolution which brings the best out of our council.”

The motion, which received unanimous support, called on the council to follow the example of Liverpool schools and work with headteachers to include Hillsborough on the curriculum.