The British state failed the victims and families of the Hillsborough disaster, where 97 Liverpool fans were “unlawfully killed,” the prime minister has stated to MPs.
Sir Keir Starmer lauded the relatives who relentlessly campaigned for the truth regarding the deaths that occurred during the FA Cup semi-final in Sheffield on April 15, 1989.
Campaigners, including Margaret Aspinall, who lost her 18-year-old son James in the tragedy, observed from the House of Commons public gallery as MPs debated the Public Office (Accountability) Bill.
The proposed Hillsborough Law seeks to impose a duty of candour on public officials, compelling them to be truthful in the aftermath of future disasters.
The 2016 inquests into the disaster revealed the absence of any legal obligation for public authorities to cooperate or be transparent.
Sir Keir stated, “I want to begin this debate with a simple acknowledgement, long overdue, that the British state failed the families and victims of Hillsborough to an almost inhuman level.”
“Those victims and their families, their strength, their courage, their refusal to give up, a determination no matter what was thrown at them to fight for people they’ll never know or meet, to make sure that they never go through something like this again.”
“They are the reason we stand here today with this Bill.”
“They are the reason why it will be known as the Hillsborough Law, and they are the reason why we say clearly again, what should have been said immediately, that their loved ones were unlawfully killed, and that they never bore any responsibility for what happened in Sheffield that day. We say it at this despatch box today.”
The legal duty of candour would subject authorities to criminal sanctions for attempting to cover up future disasters.
The Hillsborough families spent decades uncovering the events leading up to and during the initial stages of the match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
While not retroactive, the law will be in effect across the UK upon passage.
Private entities contracted to provide services for publicly funded bodies will also be subject to the law.
Sir Keir told the House of Commons: “We often call Hillsborough a tragedy, but it’s more than a tragedy, because the disaster was not down to chance, it was not an accident.”
“It was an injustice, and then further injustice piled on top when the state subjected those families to endure from the police lies and smears against their loved ones while the central state, the government, aided and abetted them for years and years and years.”
“A cover-up by the very institutions that are supposed to protect and to serve. It is nothing less than a stain of modern history of this country.”
The prime minister noted that the disaster cover-up was not isolated, citing the Horizon scandal, Grenfell Tower, the infected blood scandal, and grooming gangs.
He added: “We should also be blunt that there’s a pattern common to all these scandals that time and again, the British state struggles to recognise injustice because of who the victims are – because they’re working-class, because they’re black, because they’re women and girls.”
“That is the injustice that this Bill seeks to correct.”
Shadow justice minister Kieran Mullan said the Bill should “provide the necessary legal clarity to underpin its successful operation”.
“We’ve seen too often government decisions that the government considers to be in the public interest challenged repeatedly and often successfully in the courts,” he said.
“How will this Bill be utilised by campaign groups who wish to legally challenge the government in support of what they consider to be in the public interest?
“That’s not to say that we can’t make this Bill work, but we need to consider its terminology carefully.”
Liberal Democrat justice spokeswoman Jess Brown-Fuller called for the duty of candour to be extended to social media companies.
The Lib Dems also called for the strengthening of whistleblowing protections, including the establishment of an independent office for the whistleblower.
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