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David Cameron has said he is profoundly sorry for the "double injustice" of the Hillsborough disaster.

Speaking after an independent report into previously unseen documents about the tragedy, the prime minister said police had failed to do enough and had also tried to blame Liverpool fans.

Ninety-six fans died after a crush at Sheffield Wednesday's ground in 1989.

Kelvin MacKenzie, Sun editor when the paper ran a story blaming fans, offered "profuse apologies" for the headline.

Mr Cameron told the House of Commons a swifter response from emergency services could have saved lives.

The Hillsborough Justice Campaign has welcomed the prime minister's apology.

Trevor Hicks, who chairs the Hillsborough Family Support Group, said: "We feel a breakthrough has been made.

"The truth is out today and the justice starts tomorrow."

And Liverpool FC chairman Tom Werner said: "The world has heard the real truth about what happened at Hillsborough."

The report was compiled by the Hillsborough Independent Panel, which has been scrutinising more than 450,000 pages of documents for the past 18 months.

The prime minister said the panel found the safety of the crowds at Hillsborough had been "compromised at every level".

He said there were three main areas highlighted in the report - failures by the authorities in protecting those at the ground, an attempt to blame the fans and doubt cast on the original coroner's inquest.

Mr Cameron added "deficiencies" at the ground were well known and it failed to meet minimum safety standards.

He apologised for the double injustice, which was both in the "failure of the state to protect their loved ones and the indefensible wait to get to the truth", and in the efforts to denigrate the deceased and suggest that they were "somehow at fault for their own deaths".

He said details of the report were "deeply distressing" and said it showed the Liverpool fans "were not the cause of the disaster".
'Potential to survive'

Relatives of the Liverpool supporters who died at Hillsborough were handed the report at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral on Wednesday morning.

It showed police and emergency services made "strenuous attempts" to deflect the blame for the disaster on to innocent fans.

The panel said it found evidence the police's submissions to the original inquiry led by Lord Chief Justice Taylor "emphasised exceptional, aggressive and un-anticipated crowd behaviour".

It said the first inquiry also emphasised "large numbers of ticketless, drunk and obstinate fans involved in concerted action, even 'conspiracy', to enter the stadium".

The new report found 116 of the 164 police statements identified for "substantive amendment" were "amended to remove or alter comments unfavourable to South Yorkshire Police".

Mr Cameron said Attorney General Dominic Grieve would review the report as quickly as possible in order to decide whether to apply to the High Court to order a new inquest.

The families have always challenged the original inquest which concluded all the victims were dead or brain dead 15 minutes after the game had kicked off at 15:00.

By analysing post mortem test results, the panel found 28 of the 96 victims had no" obstruction of blood circulation" and there was "separate evidence that, in 31, the heart and lungs had continued to function after the crush".

Dr Bill Kirkup, panel member and associate chief medical officer in the Department of Health said that, if the emergency response had been swifter, almost half the victims could have had some chance of survival.

"In total, 41 people therefore had potential to survive after the period of 3:15. What I can't say is how many of those could have been saved.

"But I can say is that the potential is of that order of magnitude."

Liverpool Walton Labour MP Steve Rotheram said it was a "momentous day for Liverpool".

He said: "Finally, we have the undeniable truth. The truth that many innocent people could and should have been saved.

"A truth that unequivocally confirms that Liverpool fans were not the cause of the disaster and that drink was not a significant factor."

He added: "It is not about retribution it is about responsibility. Today we have made history but now we must change history."

Sheffield Wednesday issued an apology on Wednesday morning to all the families whose relatives were involved.

The club said on its website: "Throughout the compilation stage, the club has worked closely with the panel and the other donating organisations to ensure that, in line with the ethos of maximum disclosure, we have been totally transparent.

"The club would like to offer our sincere condolences and an apology to all the families who have suffered as a consequence of the tragic events of 15 April 1989."

A number of the victims' families have been campaigning for the Hillsborough documents to be released for more than 20 years.
'Maximum possible disclosure'

Cabinet papers are not usually published in the UK until 30 years after they have been written but MPs agreed to their full, uncensored disclosure last year.

Approval came after 140,000 people signed a government e-petition, set up by Liverpool fan Brian Irvine, to trigger a House of Commons debate on the issue.

The panel, chaired by Bishop of Liverpool the Right Reverend James Jones, has now analysed more than 450,000 pages of documents relating to the disaster from more than 80 organisations.

Ninety-five fans were crushed to death and hundreds more injured on the overcrowded terraces of the Hillsborough stadium, which was hosting an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

The 96th victim, Tony Bland, was left in a coma after the disaster and died in 1993.

An independent inquiry led by Lord Chief Justice Taylor found the main cause of the disaster was a failure in crowd control by South Yorkshire Police.

But the victims' families wanted to know to exactly what caused the tragedy and what happened in the aftermath.

The apology from Mr Cameron was welcomed by Sheila Coleman of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign.

She said: "With the clear evidence that fans could have been saved - and the evidence is there - he needs to give all of those 96 victims their right under law, the right to a fair hearing.

"It needs a full inquiry into how they died."

Speaking after the disclosure of the documents, the bishop said: "We are not an inquiry. People have not appeared before us, people have not been questioned, people have not had legal representation.

"Our job has simply been to oversee the maximum possible disclosure of all the documents and to write a report which adds to public understanding and therefore our terms of reference don't actually allow us to make any recommendation.

"The documents speak for themselves."
Vigil planned

Anne Williams, the mother of Hillsborough victim Kevin Williams, has called for the government to open a new inquest under section 13 of the Coroner's Act.

She claims Kevin was still alive at 16:00 on the day of the disaster and did not die from traumatic asphyxia.

Mrs Williams started an online petition on the government e-petition website which was signed by more than 100,000 people.

A statement on the e-petition website said the attorney general has agreed he will look at the applications made to his predecessor Baroness Scotland before he determines whether the evidence supports a new inquest.

People in Liverpool were asked to observe a two-minute silence as a mark of respect to the 96 who died.

During the silence - held at 15:06 BST to mark the time the game was stopped - the bells at Liverpool Town Hall Municipal Buildings on Dale Street and Liverpool Parish Church rang out 96 times.

A vigil to mark the release of the papers will take place at St George's Plateau near to Liverpool Lime Street station at 18:00.

It's taken 23 years of campaigning for governments to be forced to take the injustice of the Hillsborough tragedy as seriously as this.

But the mass of evidence, disclosures and revelations was enough to get the full apology from David Cameron that the families have wanted desperately for so long.

The prime minister's statement vindicates what Hillsborough families have always claimed: that there was a deliberate police conspiracy to hide their own culpability and a campaign to divert the blame onto the fans.

Amid gasps in the Commons, Mr Cameron revealed that 164 police statements were significantly altered and that criminal checks were done to "impugn the reputations of the deceased".

But the most significant development is whether the original inquests should be reopened.

Today, the prime minister issued a profound apology to the families. It has taken too long. But clearly he did mean it.

Mr Cameron said the independent panel's review found:

New evidence about how the authorities failed, including documents which show a delay from the emergency services when people were being crushed

Shortcomings in the response by the ambulance service and other emergency services in addition to failings by police

Rescue attempts were held back by failures of leadership and co-ordination

Victims' families were correct in their belief that some of the authorities attempted to create a "completely unjust" account of events that sought to blame the fans

"Despicable untruths" about the behaviour of fans were part of police efforts "to develop and publicise a version of events that focused on allegations of drunkenness, ticketlessness and violence"

Police officers carried out police national computer checks on those who had died in an attempt "to impugn the reputations of the deceased"

No evidence of any government trying to conceal the truth

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...yside-19543964