Boris Johnson today apologised over derogatory comments on Hillsborough as police officers faced the threat of prosecution for a shocking cover-up.
The Mayor of London apologised for an article in The Spectator magazine which claimed Liverpudians had made a scapegoat of police in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster.
The 2004 article also accused people in Liverpool of refusing to acknowledge the part played “by drunken fans at the back of the crowd who mindlessly tried to fight their way into the ground”.
Mr Johnson, who is not believed to have written the editorial but was editor of The Spectator at the time, welcomed yesterday 395-page report into the disaster which accused police with damning new details of wrongly blaming drunk and violent fans for it.
He told ITV News: “I was very, very sorry in 2004 that the Spectator did carry an editorial that partially repeated those allegations, I apologised then and I apologise now.
“I’m very, very glad that this report does lay to rest the false allegation that was made at the time about the behaviour of those fans.
“I do hope the families of the 96 victims will take some comfort from this report and that they can reach some sort of closure.”