Bernard under fire over his Hillsborough stance
Outspoken columnist Sir Bernard Ingham is under fire following the publication of The Hillsborough Independent Panel report.
A Facebook group has been set up calling for the fiery columnist to be dropped from the Hebden Bridge Times, for which he writes a monthly opinion piece.
The group’s campaign follows publication of the report which highlights comments Sir Bernard was reported to have made after the 1989 football tragedy in which 96 Liverpool supporters - men, women and children - lost their lives.
The group says Sir Bernard should either apologise for his remarks or be removed from the newspaper’s columns.
The former Press Secretary to Margaret Thatcher, who began his career with the Hebden Bridge Times and has written a column for the paper for more than 20 years, says he is prepared to give evidence to any other official inquiry but will be making no other comment on the subject.
The Hebden Bridge Times and Todmorden News have already received and published a selection of letters about Sir Bernard’s articles.
Among those calling for his sacking are Dave and Viv Boardman, of Hebden Bridge, who wrote: “His attitude to the victims, their families and the community is unforgiveable and renders any views of his irrelevant.”
Others, including Harry Wilkinson from Todmorden and Chris Bragg of Hebden Bridge, wrote wondering why he was given a regular platform to air his views despite living hundreds of miles away in Surrey.
But John Ratcliffe wrote in, saying he enjoyed reading Sir Bernard’s opinions and agreed with much of what he wrote.
Editor John Kenealy said: “Sir Bernard was brought up in the Calder Valley and began his career at the Hebden Bridge Times. He has written his column for several years, for which he is paid a small token amount.
“Like all our columnists, his views are his own and not those of the newspaper and when determining the content of the newspaper we pay close attention to the views and wishes of all our readers. The comments he made about Hillsborough some years ago were not made in this paper.
“The newspaper’s view regarding the Hillsborough disaster fully supports the findings of an independent panel report published in September wholly clearing fans of any wrongdoing.”
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