Boris apologises for Liverpool comments

Last updated at 08:08 19 October 2004


Politician and journalist Boris Johnson today apologised for his "outdated stereotype" of Liverpool as he prepared to visit the city to say sorry for remarks made in his magazine about beheaded hostage Ken Bigley.

The MP for Henley has come under fire over a leader written in The Spectator, which he edits, which claimed Liverpudlians were "hooked on grief".

In the same opinion column he also blamed drunken fans for contributing to the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, which claimed 96 lives.

In an open letter in the Liverpool Daily Post, Mr Johnson repeated his apologies for the article.

He wrote: "I am sorry, too, for the hurt and dismay we have so evidently caused in our description of Liverpool.

"There may well be Liverpudlians who still answer to the characteristics in question, just as there are all over the country. We should not have generalised.

"And we should clearly not have blamed drunken fans at the back, when this cause was specifically ruled out by the inquiry report.

"Anyone, journalist or politician, should say sorry to the people of Liverpool - as I do - for misrepresenting what happened at Hillsborough.

"I repeat that the leader made a serious point about risk and sentimentality, and the culture of blame, and I stick by it. In so far as it imposed an outdated stereotype on the whole of Liverpool, and thereby caused offence, I sincerely apologise."

Mr Johnson is expected to visit Liverpool tomorrow to offer his apologies in person.

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