The gall of Kelvin MacKenzie

Yesterday Kelvin MacKenzie announced he has instructed his solicitors to demand an "apology and recompense" from South Yorshire Police over the newspaper's discredited reporting of the Hillsborough disaster.

It seems Mr MacKenzie has forgotten why his paper is usually singled out for censure during discussions of press treatment of Hillsborough. If that's the case, he will find the front pages reproduced by the New Statesman today a useful aide-memoire.

"See if you can spot the difference between the Sun's front page on 19 April 1989, and those of other newspapers," writes Alex Hern. "The only one which comes close to repeating the allegations of the police was the Daily Express, which accurately reports them as just that - allegations."

The Liverpool Echo responded furiously to Mackenzie's demand: "This isn’t a sick joke. It’s beyond sick," says an editorial. "Let’s just ponder this madness for a moment – Kelvin MacKenzie, a sad and miserable apology for a human being who seemingly didn’t care that he was defiling the memory of those who died at Hillsborough and defaming the survivors and the entire city of Liverpool, wants an apology."