Mayor Anderson highly critical of Everton stance

The Mayor of the City of Liverpool and lifelong Toffees fan Joe Anderson has asked the club to ban tabloid newspaper The S*n from the club, following Liverpool’s lead. This is in the light of the disparaging and racially-tinged comments the rag’s editor Kelvin Mackenzie made today about Everton player Ross Barkley and the city in general.

Later in the day, news broke that the newspaper’s parent company News UK had suspended the editor after the Merseyside Police announced they would be investigating MacKenzie over a racial hate crime complaint that had been filed with the authorities.

Anderson voiced his displeasure over the comment in a tweet earlier today -

There have been plenty of complaints about the paper and the failure of Everton to ban the publication and its related staff from the club, just like Liverpool have done. Considering the solidarity that the Blues have shown with the Reds in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster and the events that have unfolded over the years, it is the only sensible decision to make.

Today’s over-the-top comments by the hack MacKenzie are just adding fuel to that fire as the Everton community, led by the Mayor and the Everton Fans Forum, have come out in strong protest against the daily.

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Anderson said -

“I think Everton have let the fans down and let the city down by not banning them.

“This weekend of all weekends, when we are trying to do something to remember the 96 fans who died at Hillsborough, at the same time Everton are allowing The S*n - which is still violently attacking our city - into its press conferences.

“I have asked (Everton chief executive) Robert Elstone behind the scenes before to act on this and I have been reluctant to do this publicly but now I have been forced to go public.

“For god’s sake, stop embarrassing the fans, they are attacking the city and the club is saying it’s ok - I feel embarrassed to be an Everton fan.”

On the editor Mackenzie, he continued -

“He is not fit to lace the boots of any Scouser.

“This is another appalling slur by a southern-based journalist whose reputation has already been torn to shreds.

“It is hard to think that a newspaper that is so reviled in this city could sink any lower, but to do this on a weekend when the city’s emotions will be focused on the Hillsborough anniversary is absolutely unforgivable and I am demanding a full apology.”

Later this evening he asked the club to reconsider their stance once again -