Adding insult to injury, a UKIP bigwig says he’s ‘sick to death’ of hearing about Hillsborough [TWEETS]
UKIP leader Paul Nuttall has been facing strong public scrutiny. He says he was at Hillsborough for the fateful FA Cup semi-final in 1989, but he has also admitted that claims on his website saying he lost “close friends” were untrue. Nuttall’s press officer took responsibility for these claims, saying that she was the one who wrote them. The blog entry was shared by sources such as the BBC at the time of its publication.
While this unfolded, another prominent UKIP figure was giving his opinion on the issue. That man is Arron Banks. A key UKIP donor, and one of the men pictured with Nigel Farage and Donald Trump last year.
Arron Banks, UKIP 'anti-establishment' type, is "sick of hearing" about Hillsborough & its cover up by the UK establishment. pic.twitter.com/deX0RgOgdy
— John Shafthauer (@johnshafthauer) February 15, 2017
“Sick to death of hearing about it”
Banks’ first criticism made it clear what his feelings are:
Read on...
I'm sick to death of hearing about it. It was a disaster and that's it, not some sort of cultural happening https://t.co/KTJPosOGDo
— Arron Banks (@Arron_banks) February 14, 2017
No milking a tragedy forever is sick https://t.co/t1AHg6WJqb
— Arron Banks (@Arron_banks) February 14, 2017
The aftermath of the Hillsborough tragedy saw the longest inquest in British legal history. If it feels like it’s been going on for ‘forever’ to Arron Banks, it probably seems like a lot longer for the people who have spent a quarter of a century fighting for justice.
It was an awful accident at a football ground , that's it. https://t.co/50NniGeluO
— Arron Banks (@Arron_banks) February 14, 2017
The Hillsborough inquiry found that 96 people were unlawfully killed. The various cogs of the establishment covered up the truth for years. Politicians, the media, and the police spread lies about what happened. So it was quite clearly more than just “an accident”.
No one set out to kill people it was an accident. Cover up or otherwise. https://t.co/Cpj6081rZW
— Arron Banks (@Arron_banks) February 14, 2017
If a policeman making a mistake is unlawful killing so be it , he made the wrong decision but it's still an accident. https://t.co/kCPVOcfVjx
— Arron Banks (@Arron_banks) February 14, 2017
Meet the ‘anti-establishment’, the same as the establishment
The Hillsborough tragedy was clearly an establishment cover-up. The irony is that UKIP portrays itself as being ‘anti-establishment’. Yet Banks is now trying to downplay the role that those in power played against the largely working-class victims.
I understand that people have the need to blame others, the cover up was wrong but in overcrowded stadiums accidents happened. https://t.co/T83CnCDzvu
— Arron Banks (@Arron_banks) February 14, 2017
I didn't say there wasn't a cover up. Someone screwed up but it's still an accident and it's time to see it for what it is . https://t.co/nwEAIqT0wj
— Arron Banks (@Arron_banks) February 14, 2017
Banks also referred to people who objected to his comments as displaying “fake outrage”:
So it's kind of a political point you are making at the expense of the dead like the majority of people expressing fake outrage @wmarybeard https://t.co/fZH0XfjHuw
— Arron Banks (@Arron_banks) February 14, 2017
But it was Banks who quite clearly showed “fake outrage”. Specifically when he brazenly tried to claim that he was being treated unfairly while back-pedalling on what he’d actually said:
Standard left playbook. Including the language. All I said was it was a tragic accident. https://t.co/GVScbZC1OQ
— Arron Banks (@Arron_banks) February 14, 2017
Absent sympathies
On paper, UKIP should be supportive of the Hillsborough campaign. UKIP has spent decades fighting against what it sees as a ‘corrupt establishment’. The Hillsborough campaigners have done the same thing. And yet UKIP’s main donor aligns himself more closely with the people who abused their positions of power. Even after history has since shown them to be the ones who were at fault.
These are not the actions of a man who wants to put the people’s interests before those of the establishment.
Get Involved!
– Support the Don’t Buy The Sun campaign.
– Sign the online book of condolence for the Hillsborough victims.
Featured image via YouTube
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