Some Hillsborough survivors and families of those killed in the disaster have urged Keir Starmer to reconsider appointing a former Sun editor to one of the government’s most senior communications jobs.
David Dinsmore, who edited the tabloid from 2013 to 2015 and has since become chief operating officer of its parent company, News UK, is due to become permanent secretary for communications. The role was created after the prime minister voiced concerns about the government’s communications last year.
The Guardian understands senior Labour figures also have concerns over the appointment, which has yet to be confirmed by the government.
In a letter to Starmer, Hillsborough families – and others affected by “scandal and state-endorsed abuse” – claim Dinsmore is “manifestly unsuitable for public appointment” because of his long association with the Sun, citing its coverage of the disaster, for which the paper has since apologised.
“After the Hillsborough disaster, in the midst of unimaginable suffering among the bereaved and the survivors, the Sun newspaper published vicious lies about the conduct of fans. Graphic and false allegations cast the deceased and those who survived as barbaric, feckless and inhumane,” the letter states.
The signatories warn that the Sun “has not changed”, saying it has opted against independent regulation and “has continued to demonise ordinary people and marginalised communities”.
“For these reasons, we are deeply concerned by the proposed appointment of David Dinsmore to the role of permanent secretary for communications,” the letter states.
Charlotte Hennessy, who lost her father, Jimmy Hennessy, at Hillsborough when she was six years old, said: “Dinsmore suggested the only mistake the Sun made regarding Hillsborough was the headline. Not the lies, not the smears.
“If Keir Starmer really wants to deliver change he needs to get on with delivering the Hillsborough law he promised and backtrack on appointing someone so unsuitable for public office.”
The letter also highlights that Dinsmore was convicted of breaching the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act after the tabloid printed a pixelated photograph of the victim of the disgraced footballer Adam Johnson.
The judge in the case was satisfied Dinsmore did not know he was committing an offence and ordered that he pay £1,300 costs and offer to pay £1,000 in compensation to the girl for any distress caused.
The letter states: “As a senior executive of News UK, [Dinsmore] has been involved in the company’s false denials of the Sun’s commissioning of illegal activity throughout the 2000s.” The title has now admitted that “incidents of unlawful activities” were carried out by private investigators working for it between 1996 and 2011.
Steve Rotheram, the Labour mayor of the Liverpool city region, also raised concern about the appointment this week.
“For many people in our city, particularly those who fought for justice for the Hillsborough families, this appointment will be seen as a deeply insensitive choice, given the hurt caused to our communities unjustly targeted by that ‘newspaper’, Rupert Murdoch and his acolytes,” he wrote.
“I fully support the government’s ambition to rebuild trust in politics. But appointments like this could risk undermining that effort. Trust can’t be restored by drawing from the same networks that helped erode it.”
Dinsmore started his career in journalism as a reporter for the Scottish Sun in 1990, becoming the title’s editor in 2006. He has held a number of senior roles at the Sun including managing editor and helped to oversee the launch of its Sunday edition.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said no appointment had yet been made, so they would not comment on Dinsmore. News UK did not wish to comment.