The Liverpool FC legend has always been on the right side of history with the way he stood by the families of the 97 people unlawfully killed at Hillsborough
A documentary on the life of Sir Kenny Dalglish will be released tomorrow
A documentary on the life of Sir Kenny Dalglish will be released tomorrow
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Sir Kenny Dalglish shut down Kelvin Mackenzie after the former S*n editor contacted the Liverpool FC icon. The Reds legend will always be on the right side of history with the way he stood by the families of the 97 people unlawfully killed in the Hillsborough disaster.
Merseyside has vehemently boycotted the S*n since it printed untrue allegations about the behaviour of Liverpool fans during the 1989 disaster. The tragic events of April 15, 1989 is explored in the new Kenny Dalglish documentary, which arrives on Prime Video tomorrow (November 4).
In the film, the 74-year-old revealed Mr Mackenzie contacted him for advice on how to end the boycott after the city rejected the newspaper. Dalglish told him to print a new frontpage with two words, "we lied", before he put the phone down.
Speaking to the ECHO at the premiere of the film last week, Dalglish said it was tough to revisit this traumatic period of his career for the new documentary. He said: "Reflecting on the football side was fine. The tough part obviously, and it would have been remiss not to have put it in, was Hillsborough, but what Asif has done is remarkable."
Today marks a historic day for campaign for justice as the Hillsborough has been debated in parliament. Campaigner Margaret Aspinall wrote in the ECHO today and said justice won't until The S*n newspaper is made to answer for its abuses. Margaret, whose son James died in the 1989 football disaster, has called for accountability on the historic day the Hillsborough Law is debated in parliament.
Writing exclusively in the ECHO, Margaret has called for The S*n, the newspaper which spread vile lies about the Hillsborough victims, to be held responsible again for its actions.
Today Hillsborough Law is finally debated in Parliament. But justice won’t be done until The S*n, too, is made to answer for its abuses.
It has been 36 years since the Hillsborough disaster, when 96 – now 97 – people were unlawfully killed due to the negligence of South Yorkshire Police. My son James was among them. All that he and so many others did was go to see a football match.
Every day since then, those of us who lost someone have stood together to fight tirelessly for justice. We have faced every kind of obstacle in that time, and overcome every single one. Today we can be proud of what we have achieved.
This law won’t bring back those we have lost. But it will mean that next time the state fails ordinary people, and the next time the authorities try to cover up for their mistakes and wrongdoing, the victims and the bereaved will have the law on their side.
The Hillsborough Law will help put an end to state cover-ups everywhere, by demanding honesty and candour of our public officials. It’s no secret that it has taken longer than we would have liked to get here. But for the prime minister, it is a promise kept.
So far as the police and public authorities are concerned, they will have nowhere to hide. But there is one piece of the jigsaw is remains missing. That is the last great power in this country which behaves as if it is above the law: parts of the press.
The S*n were South Yorkshire Police’s willing accomplices in the cover-up. They spread disgusting lies about the behaviour of the fans, and blamed those who died for the disaster. This was not only abusive and cowardly – attacking us while we grieved – but it also promoted the cover-up. It sold a lie to the public. It made our fight for justice harder and longer.
The S*n obviously thought we wouldn’t fight back. They were wrong about that. But while this law will finally end lies by the state, it can’t stop lies by parts of the press. People sometimes protest that The S*n have apologised. But they haven’t – not sincerely.
As I explained to the Leveson Inquiry in 2012, The S*n tried to bribe the families with an offer to build a new sports field in Liverpool if the families promised to publicly accept their apology. We rejected their grubby deal.
Then The S*n aggressively lobbied to shut down Leveson 2, which I was expected to give evidence at, and which would investigate how the newspaper conspired with the police to spread their lies and cover up the truth. It would investigate who was responsible, and hold them to account.
The people who run that newspaper don’t care about or have any remorse over what happened. They just didn’t expect the City of Liverpool to stand up for itself, and they are panicking because, for almost forty years now, our city won’t buy its newspaper and that has cost them a lot of money.
Today is an important milestone and nothing should take away from that. It is extraordinary how far we have come. But justice won’t be done until The S*n, too, is called to answer for its abuses, and its role in the cover-up.
The prime minister promised us that he would see this through. It is time for him to deliver that justice, and use this opportunity to build on today’s vital achievement to make Leveson 2 a reality, and ensure the media is held to account for its role in state failures and cover-ups.
You can read the ECHO's full interview with Sir Kenny Dalglish here.