BrianH
At the Start
MacKenzie 'reignites Hillsborough row'
Tara Conlan
Friday December 1, 2006
MediaGuardian.co.uk
A law firm has been bombarded with angry emails from Liverpudlians after it hosted a lunch at which Kelvin MacKenzie is alleged to have reopened the row over the Sun's coverage of the Hillsborough disaster.
Yesterday, the former Sun editor spoke to guests at an annual business event organised by Mincoffs LLP, the Newcastle law company confirmed.
During the private lunch, Mr MacKenzie is understood to have been asked if he went to Liverpool much following the Sun's infamous coverage of the football disaster.
The emails from furious Liverpool fans were prompted by a report in the Liverpool Daily Post which alleged he said, at the Mincoffs event, that he was "not sorry then and I'm not sorry now" over the Sun's reporting of the Hillsborough tragedy in 1989, in which 96 people died.
The Daily Post claims a source told them Mr MacKenzie had said: "All I did wrong was tell the truth."
The source also alleged Mr MacKenzie said: "I went on The World at One the next day and apologised. I only did that because Rupert Murdoch told me to. I wasn't sorry then and I'm not sorry now because we told the truth."
Mackenzie is also alleged to have said: "All I did wrong there was tell the truth. There was a surge of Liverpool fans who had been drinking and that is what caused the disaster. The only thing different we did was put it under the headlines 'The Truth'".
Mr MacKenzie appears to have been told the lunch was off the record as the Daily Post's source said: "He said if the things he had said today got out, he was sure the whole thing would blow up again."
The former Sun editor's reported prediction appears to have come true as today Mincoffs was inundated with emails from Liverpudlians.
After The Sun ran the story in 1989, in which it accused Liverpool fans of stealing from bodies caught in the crush at Hillsborough and of urinating on the dead, it caused a furore in the city.
Sales of the Sun in the area dropped by almost 40% and some newsagents refused to sell the paper.
In July 2004, the Sun printed a full-page apology describing its coverage of the disaster as "the most terrible mistake in its history", but it is estimated that the paper still sells 50,000 fewer copies of the paper as a result of Hillsborough.
Mincoffs today declined to confirm or deny Mr MacKenzie had made the Hillsborough comments.
However, Mincoffs partner Richard Arnot said: "We do not condone anything that causes upset to the people of Liverpool."
It is understood Mr MacKenzie was not paid for his appearance as he is an acquaintance of Mincoffs' chairman, but asked for a donation to be made to a hospice.
It is not the first time Mincoffs has had a controversial speaker at its annual lunch, with previous guests including former New Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell.
Mr MacKenzie had not responded to MediaGuardian.co.uk's calls at the time of publication.
Although the Liverpool Daily Post's story is understood to have raised eyebrows at Wapping it is thought the Sun itself - where MacKenzie is a columnist - has not received many calls or emails.
However, the newspaper has released a statement to the Merseyside press, saying only: "The Sun has already apologised for what happened and we stand by that apology."
· To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 7239 9857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 7278 2332.
Tara Conlan
Friday December 1, 2006
MediaGuardian.co.uk
A law firm has been bombarded with angry emails from Liverpudlians after it hosted a lunch at which Kelvin MacKenzie is alleged to have reopened the row over the Sun's coverage of the Hillsborough disaster.
Yesterday, the former Sun editor spoke to guests at an annual business event organised by Mincoffs LLP, the Newcastle law company confirmed.
During the private lunch, Mr MacKenzie is understood to have been asked if he went to Liverpool much following the Sun's infamous coverage of the football disaster.
The emails from furious Liverpool fans were prompted by a report in the Liverpool Daily Post which alleged he said, at the Mincoffs event, that he was "not sorry then and I'm not sorry now" over the Sun's reporting of the Hillsborough tragedy in 1989, in which 96 people died.
The Daily Post claims a source told them Mr MacKenzie had said: "All I did wrong was tell the truth."
The source also alleged Mr MacKenzie said: "I went on The World at One the next day and apologised. I only did that because Rupert Murdoch told me to. I wasn't sorry then and I'm not sorry now because we told the truth."
Mackenzie is also alleged to have said: "All I did wrong there was tell the truth. There was a surge of Liverpool fans who had been drinking and that is what caused the disaster. The only thing different we did was put it under the headlines 'The Truth'".
Mr MacKenzie appears to have been told the lunch was off the record as the Daily Post's source said: "He said if the things he had said today got out, he was sure the whole thing would blow up again."
The former Sun editor's reported prediction appears to have come true as today Mincoffs was inundated with emails from Liverpudlians.
After The Sun ran the story in 1989, in which it accused Liverpool fans of stealing from bodies caught in the crush at Hillsborough and of urinating on the dead, it caused a furore in the city.
Sales of the Sun in the area dropped by almost 40% and some newsagents refused to sell the paper.
In July 2004, the Sun printed a full-page apology describing its coverage of the disaster as "the most terrible mistake in its history", but it is estimated that the paper still sells 50,000 fewer copies of the paper as a result of Hillsborough.
Mincoffs today declined to confirm or deny Mr MacKenzie had made the Hillsborough comments.
However, Mincoffs partner Richard Arnot said: "We do not condone anything that causes upset to the people of Liverpool."
It is understood Mr MacKenzie was not paid for his appearance as he is an acquaintance of Mincoffs' chairman, but asked for a donation to be made to a hospice.
It is not the first time Mincoffs has had a controversial speaker at its annual lunch, with previous guests including former New Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell.
Mr MacKenzie had not responded to MediaGuardian.co.uk's calls at the time of publication.
Although the Liverpool Daily Post's story is understood to have raised eyebrows at Wapping it is thought the Sun itself - where MacKenzie is a columnist - has not received many calls or emails.
However, the newspaper has released a statement to the Merseyside press, saying only: "The Sun has already apologised for what happened and we stand by that apology."
· To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 7239 9857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 7278 2332.
