Hillsborough tragedy: the correct verdict, now it is time for justice to be done
Commenting on the verdict today (Tuesday) which confirmed that the 96 football fans who lost their lives at Hillsborough in 1989 were unlawfully killed, Len McCluskey, general secretary of the UK’s biggest union, Unite, said:
“I was at Hillsborough that day and the horror of what I saw will never leave me. Children, parents, friends – every one of them loved, every one of them who should have gone home that day but lost their lives in a tragedy that was entirely avoidable.
“Instead of being allowed to focus on grieving for their loved ones, these families then had to fight back against vile allegations of blame. They had to take on forces aligned against them, in the establishment, the police and the media, and prove that the culpability for these needless deaths lay elsewhere. These bereaved families should never, ever have been put in that position. But they took on these forces and have deservedly won.
“That this day has been too long in coming is undeniable, that it has come at all is because of the tenacity, dignity and solidarity these families have shown in their fight for today's verdict.
"The families were not just fighting for their loved ones, but for all football fans and for the City of Liverpool. The support from within Liverpool and beyond has always been magnificent and today's verdict is proof of people power.
“Now it is time for those responsible for the UK’s worst ever stadium disaster to be held accountable, and justice truly to be done.”
