Cameron pledges Hillsborough disclosure

British Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to reveal secret Cabinet papers on the Hillsborough tragedy after Monday’s debate on the issue.

The subject of the 1989 stadium crush, and subsequent accusations of blame levelled at supporters rather than the authorities, will be brought before the House of Commons on Monday after an online petition gathered some 140,000 signatures.

The Hillsborough disaster, which claimed 96 lives, occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on 15 April 1989.

It is hoped the releasing of the papers will help shed fresh light on the tragedy and give closure to families still waiting to find out exactly how and why their loved ones died.

In a letter addressed to Labour MP Andy Burnham, Mr Cameron stated: “The Government is committed to full disclosure of the Hillsborough information it holds.”

“We have proposed that disclosure takes place to the families prior to wider publication.”

Mr Burnham says he is confident of an ‘overwhelming consensus’ in favour of a full disclosure when the debate begins this evening.

“The overwhelming consensus now is for the (Hillsborough Independent) Panel to finish the job,” he said.

“It has gone way beyond the realm of party politics. I am almost certain the House will unite behind this.”

“I’m told there are one or two voices who might stand up and oppose full disclosure, but I would be very disappointed if that’s anything more than a small minority.”

“I made a commitment on the twentieth anniversary to try to help get the truth for the families and I will never stop until that happens, so that the country can see the full scale of the injustice that happened at Hillsborough.”

Among the unreleased documents are thought to be hitherto unseen eyewitness testimonies and the accounts of members of the South Yorkshire Police force who were at the match, as well as details of the discussions of then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher with her Cabinet.

Margaret Aspinall, the chair of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign who lost her eldest son in the tragedy, believes nothing less than a full disclosure will help the families of the victims.

“It’s important that we get these Cabinet minutes,” she said. “You can’t have the whole truth of Hillsborough without them and we’ve been shouting to have them released for 22 years.”

“We hope all documents will be released with no censorship.”