HILLSBOROUGH families have warned Sir Keir Starmer that former Sun editor David Dinsmore is “manifestly unsuitable” to become the government’s permanent secretary for communications.

In a letter, they urged the Prime Minister to scrap the appointment due to Mr Dinsmore’s association with the tabloid, which he edited from 2013 to 2015.

“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,” it said.

“Graphic and false allegations cast the deceased and those who survived as barbaric, feckless and inhumane.”

They also highlighted delays to Labour’s long-promised Hillsborough Law, adding: “This appointment gives us less reason to trust the government.

“It risks damaging public confidence in the state among those affected by Hillsborough, everyone connected to Liverpool and all who feel solidarity with them.”

Liverpool MPs Ian Byrne, Paula Barker and Kim Johnson have also written to Mr Starmer to express concerns following reports of the appointment.

“What sort of message do you believe your appointment of Dinsmore into a senior government role sends to Hillsborough families and survivors, who have lived through so much pain and suffering at the hands of the publication he has previously edited?” it said.

The proposed Hillsborough Law would legally compel senior government officials and civil servants to tell the truth following a tragedy at the hands of the state, their letter added.

The decision has also been criticised by Liverpool Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram, who called the appointment a “deeply insensitive choice.”

“The paper Dinsmore once led printed falsehoods that caused unimaginable pain. That shouldn’t be brushed off as a footnote in his CV — it should be a red line,” the former Labour MP said on X.

In 1989, four days after the stadium crush, The Sun printed unfounded claims that Liverpool fans had urinated on a police officer resuscitating the dying and stolen from the dead in a front page headlined “The Truth.”

It apologised for its coverage in 2012 after an independent panel concluded that no Liverpool fans were responsible in any way for the disaster and that the main cause was failings by police, which were subsequently covered up.

The appointment has not been officially confirmed. No 10 declined to comment.