Hillsborough families have reacted with fury over a new law to end official cover-ups, after suggestions the legislation has been ambushed by civil servants. Keir Starmer has been warned he risks dishonouring the dead and “he will never be welcome in Liverpool again” if he lets the bill be watered down.
The Prime Minister swore to introduce anti-scandal legislation, known as ‘The Hillsborough Law’, before the anniversary of the 1989 football tragedy next month. A draft has been produced by officials and passed around ministers for agreement, but alarm bells are ringing over changes suggested by the security services.
“It’s a law full of loopholes,” said a source. “At Hillsborough, senior police officers stood over junior constables, tore up their statements and ordered them to lie. This bill was supposed to stop that ever happening again. Instead, it sounds like it will guarantee more cover-ups.”
Families had demanded a duty of candour for all public officials backed with criminal penalties for lying, and legal funding for the victims of tragedy, and had draft legislation prepared by an experienced barrister. Insiders with knowledge of the process told the Mirror it is now suggested the duty of candour would apply only to officials while giving evidence at inquests or public inquiries, and criminal sanctions for lying has been switched out for a voluntary code of conduct in most cases.
Starmer twice told the Labour Party conference he would introduce a Hillsborough Law, and personally rang Margaret Aspinall, whose son James died in the disaster at just 18, to tell her the bill would be introduced. A draft is thought to now be on his desk waiting for final approval before it goes to Parliament in the next fortnight, but despite requests, none of the campaigners have been allowed to see it.
Yesterday Margaret and fellow campaigners, Sue Roberts whose brother Graham was killed at Hillsborough aged 24, and Charlotte Hennessy whose father Jimmy died at the match when she was only six, threatened to withdraw their support for the bill.
“Keir Starmer promised us, twice, that he would introduce a Hillsborough Law. He knew what we asked for, and we trusted him to deliver. We have repeatedly made clear there is no impact on national security, beyond a requirement to tell the truth about whatever becomes public,” they said.
“If it is true that the duty of candour will only apply sometimes, that officials will always be able to cover up with claims to be acting in the nation’s interests, then this is no Hillsborough Law at all and we cannot support it. It will mean the scandals never end, and it is not a fitting legacy for the 97 whose deaths the Prime Minister promised us would not be in vain.”
They urged Starmer to intervene, overrule the edits and restore the bill before it comes to Parliament. They said: “We hope there is still time for Keir to take personal charge of this legislation, the success of which we all be judged by. We will never accept legislation which dishonours the lessons of Hillsborough and which our loved ones died for.”
It comes as the Independent Office for Police Conduct wrote to families with interim findings for 354 complaints about police failures at Hillsborough. In a letter, IOPC deputy director general Kathie Cashell said more than half the complaints would have led to “a case to answer for misconduct for one or more officers, had they remained serving”.
She added that, because the police had no professional duty of candour at the time, it was impossible to bring anyone to justice for their part in the tragedy and its aftermath. She welcomed a potential Hillsborough Law and said: “We believe this will strengthen the ability of our investigations to get to the truth.” It is thought the new version has had extensive suggested edits following input from Whitehall mandarins and MI5, among others. They are believed to have demanded a broad national security exemption for the police and intelligence services.
In the original bill, there was no change to the amount of information the security services should make information public, only that they must tell the truth when they do so. Fears of greater scrutiny have led to demands for a wider “carve-out” for spooks and the Ministry of Defence.
There are thought to have been concerns about large legal aid costs as a result of the bill, which would leave victims continuing to fund their own court fights against massive resources of institutions like the Post Office, or government departments. The source said: “It will give the state carte blanche to lie, as it always has.”
The Mirror’s investigation of the Nuked Blood Scandal, about medical monitoring of troops at nuclear weapons tests, has found their personal data unlawfully hidden behind bogus claims of national security. Steve Purse has been denied access to the results of blood tests taken from his dad while he served at radioactive trials. He wants them to help son Sasha, 3, who was recently diagnosed with a genetic dental condition.
He said: “The government should not be preventing a father from looking after his son on the grounds of national security. We really hoped this law would shine a light on how national security has been used as an excuse. Now it sounds like the victims of Orgreave and the spy cops scandal could be joining us under the same rug.”
Failure to win the families’ support will mean the government is unable to call it a Hillsborough Law, as the name is a trademark for the campaign group. The PM could also face large Parliamentary rebellions over amendments, including exemptions from national security concerns for nuclear test veterans and others.
Liverpool fans were wrongly and repeatedly blamed for a crush at the Hillsborough stadium on April 15, 1989, which led to 97 deaths. It was not until 2016 that fresh inquests produced a verdict of unlawful killing, and blamed South Yorkshire Police negligence for the tragedy. Subsequent court cases failed to bring anyone to justice, but a report by Bishop James Jones of Liverpool found systemic failings were caused by “the patronising disposition of unaccountable power”.
His recommendations went into creating a bill presented to Parliament in 2017 by then-MP Andy Burnham, with the aim of rebalancing the legal system and preventing cover-ups. It is his bill which the campaigners demanded, and has now been rewritten.
One campaigner told the Mirror: “The Prime Minister has taken his eye off the ball. If what we are hearing becomes law, then he will never be welcome in Liverpool again.” A spokesman for Hillsborough Law Now campaign group said: “The government has not told us what’s in the draft, nor told us what is or is not in it. Until we have seen something we cannot comment.”
A No10 source said they “did not agree with the characterisation of an ambush”. They confirmed the draft bill only makes legal funding available to victims at inquests, and that the duty of candour would apply only “in the most serious circumstances”.
A government spokesman said: “Our thoughts remain with those affected by the Hillsborough disaster and we will get them the justice they deserve. As he pledged in Liverpool, the PM is committed to bringing in Hillsborough Law which will include a legal duty of candour for public servants and criminal sanctions for those who refuse to comply. The bill is on track to be introduced ahead of the next Hillsborough anniversary in April.”
