Prime Minister says he is committed to delivering Hillsborough Law

Last year, progress on the Hillsborough bill came to a stop due to an amendment being pulled at the last minute. 

Concerns came to light over intelligence agencies using the amendment to avoid being bound by the proposed duty of candour.

The Prime Minister has promised the Commons he would deliver the law, ensuring “the state will always act for the people that it serves”.

Sir Keir Starmer commented that he is committed to providing a Hillsborough Law that ensures a “duty of candour applies to all public servants”.

Expanding on this, Sir Keir insisted that all public servants would be covered by the duty of candour at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.

His comments on the matter resulted from one of his own backbenchers asking if he would commit to ruling out a “carve out” for security services, or whether victims would “be failed by the state once again”.

Security chiefs will now be expected to make a court application for any disclosures to be exempted. 

The Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby, Ian Byrne, who was at Hillsborough during the disaster, said the 97 children, women and men who died were “killed at the hands of a corrupt state”.

He added:

 “As parliamentary lead to the Hillsborough Law, I stand here with a huge sense of obligation to the 97, all the families, including my constituent, Debbie Matthews, every survivor and every victim of a state cover-up who were all part of this collective campaign. There are signs of progress after last night’s Government concessions, but we’ve heard this before.

“Prime Minister, this is your responsibility; it is within your power to take control of this process and make good on your promise to deliver this legislation.

“So will you commit today to ruling out any carve out for security services and finally delivering a full Hillsborough law worthy of the name, or will they be failed by the state once again?”

Sir Keir responded: 

“I am personally committed to working with the families to get this Bill right. It is integral that their views are heard. We’re discussing this precise issue with the families. I reaffirm my commitment to delivering the legislation to ensuring the duty of candour applies to all public servants.”

At the Prime Minister’s Questions, Keir also spoke about how they would deliver the law to “end the injustice that they have suffered and ensure the state will always act for the people that it serves”.

Since being introduced back in September, the law has stalled despite Labour previously pledging to introduce a Hillsborough Law in its 2024 manifesto.

Once this law is introduced, it would require public officials to speak the truth during investigations and inquiries. 

The Government previously dealt with a row after suggesting amendments that would have spies brought within the scope of the law, but only with the head of their services giving approval. 

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said:

“Significant progress has been made over recent weeks, working both with the families and the intelligence agencies and we expect to bring the Bill back to Parliament soon.”

Find out more about Hilsborough Law here.

Arne Slot says he’s surprised that the Hillsborough Law still hasn’t been passed, read more here.

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