Keir Starmer welcomed and hugged families of the Hillsborough victims, including Margaret Aspinall, whose son James, 18, was one of the 97 to die, outside Downing Street
Keir Starmer today gave Hillsborough families his word he will not water down a historic new bill to prevent future state cover-ups.
The PM welcomed and hugged campaigners, including Margaret Aspinall, whose son James, 18, was one of the 97 to die at the tragedy, outside Downing Street. “If I can meet international leaders at the door [of No10], I can meet Hillsborough families at the door,” he told them during a private meeting in the Downing Street White Room on Tuesday.
And he promised them that the new bill – in which public officials could face criminal sanctions for lying – will not be diluted as it goes through Parliament.
He told The Mirror after the meeting: “We’ve worked hard to get to where we’ve got to with this law. Yes there have been constant battles. But we have pushed through to get this law into place where the families think it’s the right law. We’re not going to water it down. What we need to do is get it onto the statue book as quickly as possible.”
READ MORE: KEIR STARMER: ‘Hillsborough Law will end the culture of obfuscation and cover-up’READ MORE: Public officials face criminal sanctions for lying under long-awaited Hillsborough Law
He added: “I’ve known Margaret [Aspinall] for quite a long time now. I first met her when I was Director of Public Prosecutions. I met her a number of times since then. I gave her my word we would deliver this law. I’ve delivered on that promise. I’ve given her my word we won’t water it down.”
It comes after a decades-long fight by the families of the 97 Liverpool fans who died in a fatal crush at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest at the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield.
Mr Starmer had originally promised the bill would be published by the 36th anniversary of the tragedy in April. The PM said today: “Often when you push things the answer comes back no. But I made it quite clear that no was not the answer I was looking for.”
He added: “I don’t want to criticise others but we’ve had to push for this. At that point where it looked like we wouldn’t meet the anniversary – that’s why I went for a private discussion with Margaret Aspinall because I wanted to explain face-to-face to her where we’re at and my determination we would get this over the line.”
Ms Aspinall said she is hopeful the new law “will mean no one will ever have to suffer like we did”.
Speaking alongside Mr Starmer in No 10, she said: “I thought this is a day that was not going to happen.This is not just about a legacy for the 97. This is a legacy for the people of this country and I think that is the most important thing.”
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’.”
Some campaigners raised fears the Bill’s contents had been diluted and would not include a legal duty of candour. But the Government has 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.
Sue Roberts, who lost her brother Graham, 24, in the tragedy, also told reporters: “Today is monumental. It’s a day that, you know, even a week ago, we didn’t think we were going to get. Our legal people still had issues, but now they’ve been resolved. And the people in government who are working on this, I do believe that they want this to happen.”
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