THE MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston has said it would be ‘completely inappropriate’ for fresh inquests into the victims of the Hillsborough disaster to be held in Sheffield.
Andrew Miller spoke during a parliamentary debate on the disaster, which happened during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on April 15, 1989.
James Delaney, 19, of Horstone Gardens, Great Sutton, James Hennessy, 29, of Northern Rise, and Christopher Edwards, 29, of Kings Road, Little Sutton, died in the crush.
Last month James Delaney and James Hennessy were revealed to be two of 41 victims who might have been saved had the response of the emergency services been more effective.
Mr Miller said: “I am hopeful that there will be a fresh coroner’s hearing, and I certainly think it would be totally inappropriate for that to be in Sheffield.
“I am open-minded as to where else it should be; somewhere else in the North West may be appropriate.
“There is a school of thought that says Liverpool may not be the best place to hold it, but somewhere else in the North West where the court would be accessible to the victims’ families might be considered as an appropriate venue.”
The MP targeted former editor of The Sun newspaper, and the author of its infamous ‘The Truth’ headline, Kelvin Mackenzie.
He added: “Kelvin MacKenzie has, apparently, asked South Yorkshire police to apologise to him for the ‘vilification’ he has received. That seems extraordinary because, as the Home Secretary said, after the apology comes the accountability and he was the accountable person in that newsroom. A police spokesman has said that ‘Mr MacKenzie was responsible for the particular headline he chose to run with’.
“After the apology comes accountability, so I hope that every outlet for Mr MacKenzie’s work reflects on that statement before hiring him again, because he has done a huge disservice to justice by reinforcing the mistakes made on that day.”
