The so-called Hillsborough Law will leave a legacy for future generations, campaigner Margaret Aspinall said after meeting Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Labour) in Downing Street. The new Public Office (Accountability) Bill aims to ensure authorities face criminal sanctions if they attempt to cover up facts behind disasters such as the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy or the Grenfell Tower fire.
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 Number 10, she said: "I thought this is a day that was not going to happen."
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. Sir Keir had previously pledged to bring in the law by the 36th anniversary of the tragedy on April 15, but Downing Street said more time was needed to redraft it.
Law's comprehensive scope
Aspinall emphasised this extends beyond the 97 Liverpool fans who died in the tragedy. "This is not just about a legacy for the 97," she said. "This is a legacy for the people of this country and I think that is the most important thing."
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."
The Prime Minister said the courage shown by the Hillsborough campaigners had been "humbling". He told them: "You have changed the lives not just of the families involved in all of those scandals and injustices, you are also going to change the lives of thousands of people you will never meet, who for years and years and decades and generations to come will now be able to point to what you have done and say 'we don't have to go through that'."
Duty of candour and new offences
Some campaigners raised fears the Bill's contents had been diluted and would not include a legal duty of candour. However, the Government 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.
There will also be a new offence for misleading the public, which the Government said will mean criminal sanctions for the most serious breaches. The 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.
Expanded legal support
The Bill includes the biggest expansion of legal aid in a decade for bereaved families, with non-means tested help and support for inquests. Julia Waters, sister of headteacher Ruth Perry who took her own life after an Ofsted report downgraded her school, welcomed this provision.
Waters said her family had been denied legal aid for the inquest, meaning they were "forced to crowdfund to cover our legal costs at an already emotional and stressful time - simply to be heard and to try to uncover the truth". She described this as "profoundly unjust" when public bodies involved had their legal costs covered.
Wider support from victims
Natasha Elcock, from Grenfell United, said: "It has been so easy for public and private agencies to escape accountability and scrutiny. By establishing a duty of candour, Hillsborough Law will prevent this, help us learn from failures and ensure bereaved and survivors are properly supported."
Lobby Akinnola, who lost his father, Femi, early on in the Covid pandemic, said he and others had seen "first-hand how easily the truth is delayed, diluted or denied". He added that this new Bill is "a huge step towards" justice.
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 families will be "watching closely to ensure this Bill is passed in its entirety and enacted in full". A spokesperson for the Hillsborough Law Now campaign warned the Bill must not be weakened during its passage through Parliament.
Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
