Weakened Hillsborough Law would not get family support, says MP

A Liverpool MP has said introducing a weakened Hillsborough Law without the requirement for public officials to tell the truth at major inquiries would be a “mistake” and “fall far short of what was promised”.

Labour’s Ian Byrne has written to Sir Keir Starmer to demand a “duty of candour” obligation was not dropped amid fears it had been removed from a draft version of the bill.

The prime minister had pledged to introduce the law by April for the 36th anniversary of the 1989 disaster, but the deadline was missed.

A government spokesperson said, having consulted with campaign groups, it knew “more time” was needed to draft the “best version of a Hillsborough Law”.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told MPs last week the government remained committed to the bill and the “focus is on getting the legislation right”.

Proposals for the law include a legal responsibility for public servants to tell the truth, and to provide legal funding to those affected by state-related disasters.

When he became prime minister last year, Sir Keir Starmer said: “one of my first acts would be to bring in a Hillsborough Law – a duty of candour”.

He previously said while Labour leader that the law would help prevent cover-ups like the infected blood and Post Office scandals.

In his letter to the prime minister, Byrne said a draft version of the bill shown to lawyers in March did not include any of these key pledges.

“In particular it did not contain a duty of candour, merely an aspirational objective,” he said.

He said a bill without this “will not command the support of Hillsborough families, nor other victims of state cover-ups”.

Byrne, who represents Liverpool West Derby, said there were also concerns the obligation to be truthful would be “applied only to some investigations” and some public bodies could be exempt.

• Ninety-seven fans died as a result of a crush at an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough Stadium in 1989.
• In 2016, an inquest jury found that Liverpool fans were not to blame for what happened and those who died were unlawfully killed.
• Jurors blamed police failures, stadium design defects and a delayed response by the ambulance service.
• In 2021, the South Yorkshire and West Midlands police forces agreed to pay damages to more than 600 people over a cover-up which followed the disaster.
• Police forces apologised for “profound failings”, saying they had “got it badly wrong”.

Byrne said attempts to replace the bill with “wholly deficient and ineffective redrafts are led by those who are most likely to be affected.

“Senior civil servants and public institutions who want to retain their impunity in protecting their reputations above telling the truth.”

He called on the prime minister “not to pass up this opportunity to achieve generational culture change”.

Liam Robertson, Labour leader of Liverpool City Council, told BBC Politics North West on Sunday: “The government has to get this right, we all have to get this right and that’s why it has to be the Hillsborough Law in full, as supported by the Hillsborough families.”

A government spokesperson said the Hillsborough disaster was “one of the greatest stains on British history”.

“The families of those who lost loved ones have shown endless determination to get justice,” they said.

“We remain fully committed to bringing in this legislation at pace, which will include a legal duty of candour for public servants and criminal sanctions for those who refuse to comply.”