What do Stafford and Liverpool have in common?
On the face of it, Stafford and Liverpool have very little in common. One is a market town, another a large city. Socio-economically they are vastly different. But in one respect they share a common grievance - they have been maligned as a community by a media campaign motivated by political interests.
This is not to try and draw ridiculous parallels with the Hillsborough tragedy and the systematic cover-up afterwards. The events at Stafford do not bear comparison with Hillsborough. But there has been a concerted reporting of one skewed version of the facts about Mid Staffs which has smeared the entire community, which appears to be politically motivated. This version of the events at Mid Staffs has been used to justify the current dismantling of the NHS. There have been allegations of a hate campaign, for which the police could find insufficient evidence to proceed. Julie Bailey has alleged she was "run out of town". After her recent award of the CBE, newspapers reported opposition and criticism from Stafford people. Yet another attack on the people of Stafford.
Criticism of the award is understandable, given the circumstances. How would the people of Liverpool have reacted to the Sun editor getting an honour for his coverage of Hillsborough? Like Hillsborough, it may take some time for the full facts to come out. The people of Stafford deserve that day to come sooner rather than later.
This is not to try and draw ridiculous parallels with the Hillsborough tragedy and the systematic cover-up afterwards. The events at Stafford do not bear comparison with Hillsborough. But there has been a concerted reporting of one skewed version of the facts about Mid Staffs which has smeared the entire community, which appears to be politically motivated. This version of the events at Mid Staffs has been used to justify the current dismantling of the NHS. There have been allegations of a hate campaign, for which the police could find insufficient evidence to proceed. Julie Bailey has alleged she was "run out of town". After her recent award of the CBE, newspapers reported opposition and criticism from Stafford people. Yet another attack on the people of Stafford.
Criticism of the award is understandable, given the circumstances. How would the people of Liverpool have reacted to the Sun editor getting an honour for his coverage of Hillsborough? Like Hillsborough, it may take some time for the full facts to come out. The people of Stafford deserve that day to come sooner rather than later.
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