Hillsborough campaigners have hailed a “momentous” day as a bill to force public officials to tell the truth is finally introduced into parliament.
The Public Office (Accountability) Bill, known more commonly as “Hillsborough Law”, will be tabled on Tuesday, after a nearly decade-long fight to get it on the statute book.
Politics Live: Speaker grants emergency debate on Mandelson
Crucially, the legislation contains a new professional and legal Duty of Candour – meaning public officials must act with honesty and integrity at all times, or face criminal sanctions.
Concerns that this element would be watered down delayed the bill being introduced by the 36th anniversary of the tragedy in April – a deadline Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer set at the Labour conference in Liverpool last year.
Downing Street said more time was needed to redraft the legislation so it had the support of bereaved family members and survivors, who warned against a “toothless replacement”.
Margaret Aspinall, whose son James was 18 when he died in the Hillsborough disaster, acknowledged the “long journey to get here” but said Sir Keir’s promise was “well worth waiting for”.
She added: “This campaign wasn’t about just us, it is about the ordinary people of this country, hopefully this law will mean no one will ever have to suffer like we did.”
On 15 April 1989, 97 Liverpool FC fans were killed in a crush during the FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough stadium.
It took a 27-year campaign by victims’ families for an inquest jury to rule that the fans were not to blame for the disaster and those who died were unlawfully killed.
In 2016, the first version of Hillsborough Law was drafted, which Sir Keir promised to implement in full while in opposition – a commitment that was included in Labour’s 2024 manifesto.
