I am scum
Yesterday’s outburst and hurried, yet seemingly insincere, apology from Jeremy Hunthas reminded me once more that to a sizable minority of the party that my party is in coalition with I am nothing better than scum. Whilst the Tories may be continuing to love-bomb the Lib Dems and Nick Clegg seems firmly in position as Dave’s bezzie mate. my status as a football supporter condemns me.
Hunt’s error was in describing the Hillsborough disaster as being caused by football supporters. In a live interview Hunt 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.”
Many Conservatives have never understood football, nor have they sought to. It was, and to some extent still is, seen as something for the beer-swilling masses, the proles, those who are not ‘one of us’. Even the rise of corporate hospitality hasn’t changed things: there are now two groups attending football matches – those who love the game and those who love the connections and image it can bring.
Hunt’s ‘slip’ yesterday, was not of the tongue, but from the mindset. In blaming hooliganism for the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans at Hillsborough, he falls into the easy Tory route of assuming that the masses will always cause trouble, unless constrained by authority. The fact is that the Taylor Report into the Hillsborough disaster confirmed that the cause of the disaster was a ‘failure of control’ by South Yorkshire police and criticised senior police officers on duty at the match. It was authority itself that caused the deaths of the 96.
Jeremy Hunt is the same age as me. I understand that he didn’t spend the 1980s and 1990s watching football, home and away. Unlike me, he wasn’t an executive member of the Football Supporters’ Association. But he should have an understanding of such a huge issue that happened during his adult life and where the fallout continued for many years. He is now the cabinet minister with responsibility for sport. He should get his facts straight, rather than rely on the Murdoch press and his own cognitive biases.
Related posts:
- First they came for the football supporters …
- Tally Ho! Tally Ho! It’s off to vote we go!
- Pulis the other one
Comments
29 June 2010, 10:49 am
Good post, but I’d highlight one of the problems is that he is the cabinet minister for culture and sport, and while he seems to do well in regards to the culture half, he seems to lack the knowledge of sport, not just football.
It’s not just a personal failing, but one endemic because the portfolio is too big. Noone, even if they we’re clued up on everything from the latest exhibition at the BM to the managerial changes in League one would be able to succeed.
We’ve the Olympics in 2012, the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and we’re bidding for the 2018 World Cup, to name but a few in the ‘Golden Decade of British Sport’ (http://bit.ly/a6yxP6), so is it not about time we had a dedicated cabinet level minister for Sport? Not to mention, it’ll benefit culture because that’ll get a dedicate cabinet secretary too.
The simple solution to ensuring things like this don’t happen is break up the DCMS
29 June 2010, 12:01 pm
I must say that this controversy is the very definition of ‘tempest in a teapot’.
In the BIG scheme of things, football, especially professional football is froth. It’s a diversion and that’s all that it is.
I understand that some might be upset with the incorrect statement by the minister, but he simply conflated one tragic event with many instances of dysfunctional hooliganism. He was wrong but not in any malicious sense. And no he did not say it because he believes that ‘that the masses will always cause trouble, unless constrained by authority.’ That’s just ,well, almost paranoid.
That so many are so upset by this MISTAKE speaks more to the so many than it does to the Minister.
30 June 2010, 12:39 pm
The fact that so many people got upset about his statement is because Hillsborough was used, in the press, to stigmatise a whole city and the hurt that this false accusation caused is still a very sore subject on Merseyside.
The real cause of Hillsborough had to be dragged out of the authorities and the families who lost loved ones have had to endure much over the years as the facts have emerged & in some cases, continue to emerge.
If this was just about Football, I would agree with Dougf but this was about something much more important than that and the minister got it badly wrong.
04 July 2010, 7:21 pm
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