HJC praise “overwhelming support” for disclosure of Hillsborough files
AN e-petition calling for “Full disclosure of all government documents relating to 1989 Hillsborough disaster” has received much publicity in recent days and at the time of writing had received over 77,000 signatures. If the petition reaches 100,000 signatures it becomes eligible for a debate in the House of Commons.
The e-petition – epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/2199 – was submitted after a decision by the Information Commissioner obliging the Cabinet Office to release the files. When the government announced, earlier this week, that they were going to appeal this decision the number of signatures on the petition grew from around 500 to the tens of thousands that it now contains.
The Hillsborough Justice Campaign today released this statement on behalf of bereaved families and survivors to express their gratitude for the support that has been shown and to confirm their opposition to the government’s appeal and their own backing for the petition.
HJC STATEMENT RE: EPETITION
The bereaved families and survivors of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign would like to publicly state their thanks and appreciation for the overwhelming support given for the release of Government information pertaining to the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 via epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/2199
We have been truly amazed at the level of commitment and support these past few days. It only reiterates what we have always known – the voices of people from all walks of life are just as loud as ever in their fight for justice and the truth.
Liverpool supporters both home and abroad, supporters of other clubs and sports, professional footballers, managers and other high-profile names, all have been instrumental in getting the epetition on the brink of its required 100,000 signatories.
To quote the professional footballer Joey Barton: “This is not about clubs, rivalries or cities. It’s about human beings and families losing loved ones”.
The petition was initiated in response to the Government’s decision to appeal the release of Government information relating to the Hillsborough Disaster. We oppose the appeal and believe that the information should be released immediately in line with the Freedom Of Information Act. We see no reason why we should wait until 2012 to view information which relates to us and which has already been viewed by the panel set up by the government.
Since we announced our backing of the petition on our Social Networking sites, we have received so many wonderful messages of support. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all. Together we will reach this goal, and each and every one of you who contributed should be extremely proud of yourselves – we are all so proud of you.
Kenny Derbyshire
Chair – Hillsborough Justice Campaign
* After signing the petition online you will receive an email at the email address you provided. This email contains a link which you must click in order for your signature to be added to the total. Please check your spam or junk folder. If you haven’t received this email within a couple of hours you may need to sign again, using a different email address – a free GMail, Yahoo or Hotmail account can be used – again check your spam or junk folder. And thank you for your support.