Kelvin MacKenzie loses his job over Barkley article

Former S*n editor Kelvin McKenzie is to leave the paper in the wake of his disgraceful article about Ross Barkley and the people of Liverpool.

In his weekly column on April 14 McKenzie compared Barkley, who has Nigerian heritage, to a gorilla.

McKenzie also went on to make several disparaging remarks about the people of Liverpool.

The S*n apologised and removed the article from its website, saying it was unaware of Barkley’s heritage. Though previous articles from the S*n discussing Barkley’s Nigerian grandfather subsequently emerged.

Tellingly the paper didn’t apologise for the other parts of the article, which will have passed through a thorough editing process being being approved for publication.

A spokesman for The S*n says McKenzie remains suspended and will not comment further.

The BBC report, however, that McKenzie “will not be asked to contribute to the paper again".

The Financial Times claims that the terms of McKenzie’s departure are currently being negotiated.

In response of the article Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson reported McKenzie to the police while Everton followed their neighbours Liverpool in banning the S*n from Goodison Park and Finch Farm.

McKenzie was the editor of the S*n in 1989 when the paper published a front page article about the Hillsborough disaster headlined “The Truth”.

The article wrongly blamed the Liverpool fans for the disaster, in which 96 fans died. Mackenzie apologised for the article 23 years later in 2012.

Last year the Hillsborough inquests ruled that the 96 fans were unlawfully killed and supporters played no role in the deaths.

McKenzie’s article was published the day before the 28th anniversary of the disaster.

He departs with little sympathy from those on Merseyside.