The establishment in Britain under Thatcher had long since decided the working class was not for them, not the miners, not football and certainly not Liverpool. Liverpool as a city was too much of a battle for the progressive Tories who wanted the good life. Spending in London was where the world would turn and they made it that way. 'Pumping water uphill' into a city facing economic meltdown was too much of a burden.
Liverpool was Thatcher's warzone and it was seemingly ready for a full on evacuation. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/30/thatcher-government-liverpool-riots-1981
A Militant council did nothing to improve the city's relations with Number 10 and when the events of Heysel became the symbol of British football violence, it was all too convenient for some to paint the city as something that resembled a rebel state at odds with the nation's leadership.
This is not a history lesson, but the context that the Hillsborough tragedy took place in cannot be ignored.
It took place following a decade's worth of drip-feeding the country that the working-class football fans from the north-west were best avoided and best forgotten.
The words of David Cameron today were as unbelievable as they were heartfelt. It is true to say that judges moral or otherwise look favourable on a guilty plea.
As the facts laid bare such devious and morally bankrupt values and decisions it just brought back all those bad memories of growing up in the north-west of England in the 1980s. Thatcher terrified me as a child. There was an inner-feeling of mistrust with her at odds with the idea that you could trust those in power to see you right. A culture of mistrust and fear, a society built to divide and rule never lives an easy existence.
Accidents and terrible events like this are often the result of a perfect storm that allows tragedy to unfold. It took poor policing, it took a poor stadium, it took poor decisions - but what happened afterwards was all about the political culture at the time.
To think a cover-up so seismic could be kept quiet for so long is testament to how the establishment was able to demonise the people they considered their enemies. Class War was a slogan often seen painted on walls and doors of disused buildings around that time.
Who would have thought war crimes could be covered up by successive governments in the age of information.
Politicians who did nothing to serve the truth and justice of this issue have had a fine summer. Take to the stage Boris Johnson and Colin Moynihan your roles in the Olympics should leave nobody fooled about your particular legacy.
Today was all about truth and let it be the first step to healing. Surely now the justice has to take care of itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment