Source: Liverpool_Echo
Fury as sports secretary Jeremy Hunt links Hillsborough with hooliganism
Jeremy Hunt[LNB]***'I am deeply, deeply sorry' - blundering Sports Secretary writes an open letter to the Liverpool ECHO***[LNB]BLUNDERING Tory MP Jeremy Hunt was today called upon to make a formal public apology in the House of Commons for his shocking Hillsborough disaster comments.[LNB]The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport was still reeling this morning after wrongly blaming the 1989 tragedy on hooliganism.[LNB]Politicians and Liverpudlians lined up to lambast the South West Surrey MP describing his faux pas as 'appalling' and 'a disgrace'.[LNB] The Latin dancing 43-year-old made the mistake on live TV during an interview about England's exit from the World Cup yesterday.[LNB]He said: 'I was incredibly encouraged by the example set by the England fans, I mean, not a single arrest for a football related offensive and the terrible problems that we had in Heysel and Hillsborough in the 1980s seem now to be behind us.'[LNB]As shock at Hunt's comments rose, the ECHO were told how:[LNB]Garston MP Maria Eagle was set to write to the Speaker of the House of Commons to request a 'clear-the-air' Parliament debate about the truth behind disaster.[LNB]One Hillsborough mum who lost her 18-year-old son in Sheffield demanded to urgently meet Hunt and put a copy the Taylor Report in front of him.[LNB]The public school educated minister would be encouraged to stand and give an official explanation at Westminster for his error.[LNB]The head boy and Oxford graduate was worryingly unable to give guarantees that the newly-formed Hillsborough independent panel's funding would not be cut.[LNB]Instead, he muttered to Mrs Eagle about 'Whitehall matters that needed sorting out', when pressed about the panel's future.[LNB]Today, Hunt refused to be interviewed by the Liverpool ECHO, but his spin doctors issued a statement which read: 'I know that fan unrest played no part in the terrible events of April 1989. I apologise to Liverpool fans and the families of those killed and injured in the Hillsborough disaster if my comments caused any offence.'[LNB]But his quickly-penned contriteness failed to wash with many observers, with some calling for him to resign.[LNB]Garston MP Maria Eagle said: 'He knows he got it wrong. He called me up to apologise. How could he possibly utter the word Hillsborough in the context of hooliganism and bad behaviour?[LNB]'It speaks volumes - he doesn't understand or care what happened.[LNB]'At every turn, from the police trying to blame fans, to various establishment figures trying to pin it on the fans, now the Secretary of State is saying it 21 years later. Typing 110 characters on Twitter is not an apology either.'
