TAW has learned that the BBC have seen confidential documents that reveal Margaret Thatcher was informed that a senior Merseyside police officer blamed “drunken Liverpool fans” for causing the disaster.
The briefings, written in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, include cabinet minutes and letters to and from No.10 Downing Street.
The most controversial issue in the papers the BBC has seen relates to what Mrs Thatcher was being told about the views of some senior members of the Merseyside Police Force.
One letter, written four days after the disaster, reveals what Mrs Thatcher had told about the views of senior members of Merseyside Police Force, after a meeting with Downing Street advisors and the Kenneth Oxford, then the Chief Constable of Merseyside Police force, alongside some other senior MPF colleagues.
In the letter, the Merseyside Chief Constable states:
“A key factor in causing the disaster was the fact that large numbers of Liverpool fans had turned up without tickets. This was getting lost sight of in attempts to blame the police, the football authorities etc”.
The Prime Minister was informed that a senior member of the Merseyside Police Force directly blamed supporters:
“One officer [unnamed], born and bred in Liverpool, said that he was deeply ashamed to say that it was drunken Liverpool fans who had caused this disaster, just as they had caused the deaths at Heysel”.
The missives also reveal how the Chief Constable was uneasy with how the disaster was reported:
“He deplored the Press’s morbid concentration on pictures of bodies. He was also uneasy about the way in which Anfield was being turned into a shrine”.
Other documents also reveal how determined the Conservative Government was to push through the Football Supporters Act despite resistance from Lord Justice Taylor, whose report but the blame for the disaster at the feet of South Yorkshire Police.
The documents, obtained by the BBC via The Hillsborough Independent Panel despite some opposition only provide a merest glimpse of what may or may not come to light over the next few months given the volume of material to be considered.
Further details on what was being discussed and told behind the scenes and will be made public today on BBC Radio 4’sThe World at One.
What has been revealed so far while sickening is not surprising authorities blaming the victims.
Imo that headlines misleading as fuck, making out te tores were ” misinfored” they fucking knew what went down.
Was Kenneth Oxford at Hillsborough ?? I don’t think he was.. therefore why is he offering an opinion on what caused the disaster..
He was the Chief Constable of Merseyside Police at the time, that’s why he was offering an opinion, plus he seemed to be a rather opinionated jerk!
Presumably he was briefed by his colleague and old chum, the Chief Inspector of the South Yorkshire police … who in turn was briefed by some of his senior officers who were there on the day … who were subsequently found to have been responsible … and were therefore probably “covering their arses” when they were giving their briefings.
One officer ( unnamed )?. This is equivalent to the enlightening ‘sources close to the club’ and other vague ‘identities’ which are used by the press and other agencies to put across an opinion which they prefer not to be known as their own. Was the officer ( unnamed ) one of those senior police officers who fed ‘information’ to the Sun? I can still recall watching a police sergeant from Sheffield on a TV programme, made shortly after the tragedy, talking quite candidly about his experiences that day. He was very critical of his seniors and was oblivious to the impact his appearance would have on his career. He showed a lot of bottle, unlike the senior officer ‘born and bred on Merseyside’.
Well that’s it then! We all know where we stand now! Why release any more documents? We drunken Scousers murdered our own.It’s there in black and white!
“Hey Doris!Come and see this on Teletext.It’s official! Those drunken,murdering Scousers killed their own supporters.I told you that’s what happened.”
And that’s the way it is.A”leaked ” report quotes a Senior Merseyside Police Officer.No evidence; no signed documentation;a suggestion of email;in 1989? But 99% of people reading that won’t go any further.
The very wording of that report disturbs me.The headline suggesting fact.The reference to a leaked report.Who leaked it?why was it leaked?Why does the report read as fact?How come this is released ahead of the official disclosure?Why don’t journalists have the balls to question these things in their holier than thou reporting? Have they got a pair between them?
This stuff sickens me! Do you think if I called them and said Adolf Hitler was innocent of everything because a mate of mine told me he was, they would report it as fact with banner headlines? No way!
I was at Hillsborough and every anniversary I sink into a deep depression thinking about that day.So many things still haunt me.The feeling that something wasn’t right.The chaos.The roadworks and diversions.Entering Leppings Lane with a ticket clearly showing my gate and section and being herded into another gate and section.Police Officers saying the game had been put back and me screaming at them to get loud hailers to tell everybody then being swept back into the chaos.
We’ll never give up on this.I sense another attempt at whitewash.Releasing Government records?Do me a favour this is the closest thing you’ll get to a Police State.It’s about time some brave journos came out and sacrificed their free lunches!
What upsets me most about this is how long it has taken to get even this point.
Is this what a modern democracy is about ?
Would love to know what Thatcher thought of Duckenfield’s Lie that “The fans broke the gate down” When in fact HE gave to order to open the gates without anyone guiding supporters down into the tunnel area.