Hillsborough disaster in the House of Commons to the families of those killed at Hillsborough and to the city of Liverpool as a whole. Echoing his 2012 expression of regret former Home Secretary Jack Straw apologised to the families for the failures of his 1997 review of the disaster. Kelvin MacKenzie, who wrote the now-infamous "The Truth" front page for the "Sun", said that although he was "duped" into publishing his story, that his "heart goes out" to the families of those affected, saying that "It's quite clear today the fans had nothing to do with it". However, MacKenzie did not accept
Ferry Cross the Mersey all 45s – even reissues from decades after the original release – as "Ferry Across The Mersey". In May 1989, a charity version of "Ferry Cross the Mersey" was released in aid of those affected by the Hillsborough disaster, which claimed the lives of 95 Liverpool fans the previous month (a 96th, Tony Bland, died in 1993 as a consequence of that disaster). The song was recorded by Liverpool artists The Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden and Stock Aitken Waterman. The single held the #1 spot in the UK chart for three weeks and the Irish chart for