I write to you because I am deeply offended by remarks made in your Spectator article, 'Bigley's fate'. On the 15th April 1989 I was a 16 year old boy at a football match at Hillsborough between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. The tragedy of that day scarred me and many other people deeply. On that day there were no 'drunken fans who tried to mindlessly fight their way into the ground' as you claim, and that was certainly not mentioned as a cause in Lord Justice Taylor's report on the tragedy. Perhaps you are suggesting that Lord Justice Taylor thought it would be easier to blame the police than a lot of 'mindless drunken fans'. Had you bothered to consult the report or seek the testimony of anyone who had been present on that day you would know that drunkeness played no part in the deaths of those 96 supporters, many of whom were children. The inadequate features of the stadium and incompetent policing were the reasons for the deaths of those people and for the ongoing pain of the survivors and families of the dead. I realise that little of what I say on this matter will get through to you and make any impression on your prejudiced view of people in Liverpool and so I will copy this email to the leader of your party and ask that he seeks a public apology and retraction from you. Michael Howard is, after all, a Liverpool supporter himself and may be interested to know why you have chosen to smear the population of one of the countries most great cities. I await your response, Graham Jones
