Hillsborough Law not likely until after summer recess

A bill to create a Hillsborough Law is not expected to be back in Parliament until after the summer.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told the Commons earlier that he expected the bill to return to the House “in the coming days”, but the BBC has been told it is unlikely to go before MPs before the summer recess.

Downing Street had been looking at changes to the Public Office (Accountability) Bill after campaigners raised concerns about how strongly intelligence services could be compelled to comply with a “duty of candour”.

While sources suggested there had been “significant progress”, they said there were no plans for the bill to return to Parliament before it rose on 16 July.

In the wake of the disaster which claimed 97 lives during an FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield in April 1989, police spread false narratives blaming Liverpool fans, and withheld evidence of their own failings.

Fresh inquests held in 2016 found that the fans had been unlawfully killed, and it was the police who had caused or contributed to their deaths.

The Hillsborough Law would create a legal duty for public officials to tell the truth to inquiries and investigations.