Public ePetition Secures Hillsborough Debate in Parliament
By Tom HamiltonI'm heartened to see that 'people power' appears to have won a significant battle after more than 100,000 people signed an online petition seeking the full publication of cabinet papers relating to the tragic Hillsborough disaster. Three hours of debate and a vote among MPs is now scheduled for October 17th and I for one hope MPs will line up to voice their support for this campaign.
The UK Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, has already insisted the relevant cabinet papers must be published so this latest development should rightly add further pressure on the government to abandon its stubborn refusal to publish on the grounds that cabinet papers must be treated as 'privileged information'.
While I and most reasonable readers will accept that some information has to be kept secret when sensitive issues are at stake, this matter relates to a tragedy that occured 22 years ago and family members will be going to their graves without knowing the full, unedited facts unless bravery and integrity from today's politicians can triumph over this disgraceful absurdity left by their predecessors.
In any other walk of UK life when would a boss, a parent or any responsible adult insist on keeping secrets that have zero impact on current security or safety in preference to revealing the full truth to fellow citizens about the circumstances of their loved ones death? Would any of us really give two hoots about the labelling of such knowledge as so called privileged information?
Whatever the ramifications, this campaign isn't simply about pointing fingers and embarassing people as some may claim, it's about removing the unwarranted veil of secrecy obstructing our view of the facts surrounding Hillsborough. Sadly, none of the 96 Liverpool football fans will come back from the grave if this information is released but many people can then go to theirs content that they know how their loved ones came to perish before them and what the people in power were told and said about it 22 years ago.
19.09.2011. 17:07
