THIS WEEK IN 1988: Portsmouth MP hits at Zeebrugge link

A poster showing the stricken Herald of Free Enterprise ferry, and urging support for seamen who were in an industrial dispute, was slammed as '˜sick and deplorable' by a Portsmouth MP.

By The Newsroom

Published 22nd May 2018, 07:00 BST

Updated 8th Jun 2018, 08:28 BST

jpns 190518 retro Poster - The controversial poster

Peter Griffiths, the Tory MP for Portsmouth North, said the poster – published by the Socialist Workers Party – was in bad taste and grossly insensitive to the feelings of those bereaved by the Zeebrugge tragedy.

The National Union of Seamen disassociated itself from the poster which was discovered on a wall near Portsmouth city centre.

The poster showed the ill-fated ferry, in which almost 200 people died, lying on her side. Above were the words ‘Remember Zeebrugge’ and below the sentence ‘Now they are out to murder a union’, accompanied by the message ‘Support the seafarers!’.

Portsmouth