Campaigner backs ‘Hillsborough Law’ legacy after meeting Keir Starmer
THE Hillsborough Law will leave a legacy for future generations, one of the campaigners at the heart of the battle for justice said after meeting the Prime Minister in Downing Street.
The new Public Office (Accountability) Bill is intended to make sure the authorities will face criminal sanctions if they attempt to cover up the facts behind disasters such as the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy or the Grenfell Tower fire.
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had previously pledged to bring in the law by the 36th anniversary of the tragedy, which was on April 15, but Downing Street then said more time was needed to redraft it.
At a meeting with some of the families of those killed at Hillsborough, Sir Keir acknowledged it had been a battle, with “frank” discussions continuing as his deadline passed.
Margaret Aspinall, whose son James, 18, died at Hillsborough, said she is hopeful the new law “will mean no one will ever have to suffer like we did”.
Speaking alongside Sir Keir in No 10, she said: “I thought this is a day that was not going to happen.”
“This is not just about a legacy for the 97,” she said, in reference to the number of Liverpool fans who died in the tragedy.
“This is a legacy for the people of this country and I think that is the most important thing.”
Some campaigners raised fears the Bill’s contents had been diluted and would not include a legal duty of candour.
But the Government has confirmed a new professional and legal duty of candour will be part of the Bill, meaning public officials must act with honesty and integrity at all times and could face criminal sanctions if they breach it.
The Hillsborough disaster led to the deaths of 97 football fans during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the football ground in Sheffield.
The Government said the new legislation will “end the culture of cover-ups” and learn lessons from wider disasters including the Grenfell Tower fire and the Post Office Horizon and infected blood scandals.
Sir Keir said the new legislation can change “the balance of power in Britain” to ensure the state “can never hide from the people it is supposed to serve”.
He added: “Make no mistake, this a law for the 97, but it is also a law for the subpostmasters who suffered because of the Horizon scandal, the victims of infected blood, and those who died in the terrible Grenfell Tower fire. This is change only this Government can deliver.”
Sue Roberts, whose brother Graham was unlawfully killed at Hillsborough, described the Bill’s introduction as “a huge step in the right direction” but said the families will be “watching closely to ensure this Bill is passed in its entirety and enacted in full”.
She added: “The Government must resist any pressure from those who don’t believe the public deserves to know the truth about when the state fails.”
Among what the Government has described as the “seismic changes” as part of the Bill are the biggest expansion of legal aid in a decade for bereaved families, with non-means tested help and support for inquests.
There will also be a new offence for misleading the public, which the Government said will mean criminal sanctions for the most serious breaches.
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