A so called 'think tank' charity called 'The Institute for the study of Civil Society' (CIVITAS) has caused outrage here in Liverpool. A recent civitas report called 'Conspicuous compassion: Why sometimes it really is cruel to be kind', dismissed the public outpouring of grief and solidarity which took place after the Hillsborough Football Disaster as 'hollow'. This was reported in the Daily Post today but there is no actual quote from the report concerning Hillsborough, and it seems that Hillsborough was included in some attempt to argue that public outpourings of grief can be some kind of collective social neurosis or 'recreational grief' as the Daily Post informed us. Civitas have made a big mistake and the professors who wrote it are going to have to explain why Hillsborough was included in this manner. The author was Patrick West.

One of the sponsors of this think-tank charity is Lord Harris of High Cross. A man who wrote and published a pamphlet titled 'Down with the Poor' back in 1971. He has also attacked the welfare state on numerous occasions and was an enthusiastic supporter of Thatcher. (Link - Guardian)

The report is an analysis of 20th century Britain by Patrick West, one of a bunch of academics and professors who seem to have some elitist agenda going on in their little charity'think-tank'. They seem to think outpourings of public grief may be some attempt by the public to 'find meaning' after various institutions such as the 'Church, family and Neighbourhood and State' apparently no longer provide us with meaning. The Liverpool Daily Post also mentions the James Bulger murder and the death of Princess Diane. The Hillsborough families will remember that Diane actually visited them and seemed genuine in her compassion. More than can be said for the rest of the Royals.

Sheila Coleman, a tireless campaigner for the Hillsborough Justice Campaign (link) has worked with the bereaved families and survivors from the beginning. She had the following to say on the matter.........

"There was a genuine grieving in the city which was almost tangible. There had to be a focal point for that and Anfield was the most obvious place and rightfully so. It offered tremendous comfort to both the bereaved families and the survivors of the disaster"

Princess Diane.

The Daily Post Article uses quotes concerning the death of Princess Diane and tells us that "In truth mourners were not crying for her, but for themselves". Obviously there would have been some false grief being expressed and politicians using the occasion to come across as 'sensitive'. The royals and upper classes are a cold hearted bunch and the Queen, we may recall, would not even fly the flag at the Palace at half mast after her death. A lot of the grief by the working class was genuine grief for a young mother who many of us now believe was killed. Despite many of us being anti royal, we are not so uncaring or uncivilised that we would not have felt some sorrow at this event. Many working class women would have identified with the fact that she was a women who had been betrayed by the man she loved and had maybe found love again when she had the 'accident' she had predicted would happen. Diane visited the Hillsborough Survivors in hospital. She stood up against the use of landmines and spoke out too much. She was not a saint; she stood out because there are few upper class people who speak out on social issues. Kirkby Times will be publishing an article soon on the events surrounding her death or murder.

James Bulger

The murder of this young child stunned us all on Merseyside and here in Kirkby, James's hometown. Liverpool was called 'self pity city' after the outpouring of public grief. Some people sneered at our tears and made light of what we saw as decent good people joining together to acknowledge the death, to grieve and to call for Justice. Kirkby Times will not let the good people of Kirkby be dismissed in this manner without speaking out. This is a Kirkby website, James was one of our own and his memory will always live on here. Every flower laid down for James was simply a display of human nature at it best. To anyone who ever shed a tear for this poor child, you done the right thing. What sort of sick Country are we turning into if any public display of grief is going to looked upon as somehow 'false'. Maybe the sick bastards in power just don't feel much emotion, maybe they feel tears, and flowers and poems and teddy bears are somehow 'unproductive' and don't belong in the brave new world these intellectual types seem to like telling us about. These people are absolutely insane and common sense, as ever, seems to be in short supply when these academics write reports.

Hillsborough

It seems that every year, in the weeks leading up to the anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster, we seem to get various news items which seem to do there best to rub the faces of the families and survivors into the proverbial sh**. The Families and Survivors have struggled now for 14 years to get the authorities to come clean on what really happened, and there are still people out there who need this disaster covered up. For the academics, Hillsborough seems to be just another historical event to use in passing reference, such as this latest dig at the actual mourning process. No-one needs a degree in social sciences to work out why the Working Class people of this town joined together almost as one body and mind to find a place to gather and mourn. As Sheila Coleman of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign rightly pointed out, "Anfield was the most obvious place and rightfully so." None of us here in Kirkby or Liverpool found this public display of grief strange or false. It wasn't a show for the cameras; it was the true community spirit of a working class City that cared for its own people. The flowers and tributes which covered the Kop terraces and half of the football field gave great comfort to the families and survivors. The event itself was almost one of almost religious proportions; those who were there will never forget it.

Now, 14 years later, we have people like Anne Williams, a bereaved Hillsborough Mother on the brink of another legal breakthrough regarding Hillsborough. The City of Liverpool is once again being called to show that we still care for our own people. Until we get Justice on this matter, Liverpool as a City will never be able to hold its head up with pride. Our politicians and leaders cannot ignore this issue, and Kirkby Times is here to remind these people that their callous betrayal of the Hillsborough Families and Survivors has not been forgotten.

Support the Hillsborough Justice Campaign in their struggle to expose the cover up instigated by the authorities.

Join the Memorial March at Anfield on the 15th of April 2004.

Complain to civitas in the strongest possible terms here!

Patrick West: Profile

Mr West is a freelance journalist who has written for the New Statesman, The Spectator, and Living Marxism. (Independent Feb 23)

He thinks the traditional minute's silence has suffered "compassion inflation" and become meaningless.

He owes us an explanation does he not?

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