21 years.....

Today marks the 21st anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster; the darkest day in the history of Liverpool Football Club and British football in general.

I have written many times about the ongoing fight for justice which has received some encouragement in the last 12 months, not least due to the dedication of the families and many around them including my Labour opponent in Halton, Derek Twigg.

For me however, today is a day just to remember those who died, and those whose lives were changed forever when 96 football fans went to a match on a sunny day in Sheffield and did not return. We all have our own memories of that terrible day and those that followed. My Dad and I gave our tickets away for the match; upper tier, Leppins Lane. I listened on the radio in the garden at home, wearing my Liverpool kit, waiting to recreate the great moments from the match. Aged 11 you cannot really comprehend what has happened but as the years go on the magnitude of those events sink in and the hurt and sadness deepens. Like most people who had some involvement in Hillsborough, I think about it every day, but today more than ever I think of our 96 brothers and sisters we lost but will never forget.