Setting the record straight on Hillsborough disaster papers

I WISH to correct two inaccuracies in a piece by your columnist Tom Richmond on the Hillsborough disaster (Yorkshire Post, August 27).

First, Mr Richmond claims that I had it within my power as Culture Secretary to release all public documents on the disaster. Second, he says that I accused the Prime Minister of a cover-up.

Neither of these claims is true. I have been moved to write to you to correct them as no single issue matters more to me.

On the first claim, it might help if I set out the background. There are many thousands of public records relating to the tragedy held by a number of government departments and public bodies.

No individual Cabinet Minister has the power to order departments and bodies for which he or she is not responsible to release documents.In addition, as the papers concerned relate to a previous administration. Consent for release is required from Ministers involved at the time in the late 1980s.

So your columnist is wrong to say that I had the power to release documents. What I tried to do was what I considered to be the next best thing.

In advance of the 20th anniversary of Hillsborough, I made the first public call for full disclosure with Maria Eagle MP. Subsequently, I brought this issue back to Cabinet for the first time in years and asked all Ministers to sign up to a disclosure process. With the then Prime Minister’s support, the Hillsborough Independent Panel was established to oversee this. It has been going about its task ever since.

This brings me to the second claim. After the election, I was encouraged when the coalition Government pledged its support for the panel’s work. However, then came the Information Commissioner’s ruling on the disclosure of Cabinet papers.

I believe the Government mishandled its response to this. By fighting it, and failing to make an unequivocal commitment to full disclosure, it sent the wrong signal.

Together with 10 other Merseyside MPs, I sent a letter to the Prime Minister suggesting a way forward where we would be able to offer support to the Government. At all times, I gave the benefit of the doubt to the Government; this issue transcends party politics.

I have encountered institutional resistance to disclosure. However, I have never believed it is shared by the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister or indeed any member of the current Cabinet. We drew a parallel with the Saville Inquiry and we praised Mr Cameron’s courage in dealing with it. We urged him to show the same for the people of our city.

It did not help that the Government took a number of days to respond. However, when they eventually did, we gave a cautious welcome to their commitment to full disclosure.

We will use the forthcoming Commons debate, triggered by the e-petition, to hold the Government to account. That is not about party politics or point-scoring; it is about fulfilling our moral responsibility to the Hillsborough families. I made a promise to the Hillsborough families that they would have the full truth and I will not stop until they do.