Sometimes, you can be too close to a particular event to comprehend how anyone else can possibly have a different perspective. So it is with the Hillsborough disaster that occurred 20 years ago today. Those who were there and those who have since bothered to acquaint themselves with the facts of the day know what happened, but the gap between the actual truth and what is commonly understood to be the truth by your average (S*n-buying?) punter remains wide, although perhaps not as wide as it once was.
Now is not the time, however, to recount the mistakes, lies and distortions of the police, journalists and judges in the intervening 20 years – there are places you can visit to educate yourself should you wish to. Today, we remember the 96 direct victims: fathers, sisters, sons and daughters who set off to watch a football match but never returned in an era when it was deemed acceptable to treat fans of the one truly working-class, mass-participation sport worse than animals; today, we honour the resolve and dignity of the survivors and bereaved families as they are confronted by an establishment seemingly committed to the suppression of the truth; today, we grieve for our losses but recommit ourselves to a struggle for justice that will finally bring peace.
The history is not yet written and the fight goes on.
