Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer was today due to respond to years of campaigning and announce a ‘Hillsborough Law’. Legislation will be brought before next April to enforce a legal duty of candour on public authorities who are subject to investigations following major disasters.
The government is recruiting an independent public advocate to represent victims and their families and will provide funding to ensure groups have access to legal advice.
Starmer will announce the changes during his leader’s speech at the Labour party’s conference in Liverpool. The location is symbolic, given that the law will be named to commemorate the 97 Liverpool fans who lost their lives following a crush on the terraces at an FA Cup semi-final in Sheffield in April 1989.
Elkan Abrahamson, a solicitor with Liverpool firm Broudie Jackson Canter and a director of the Hillsborough Law Now campaign, said his organisation stands ready to help the government make this law a reality.
He added: ‘We and all the families are delighted to hear the renewed commitment from the prime minister that a Hillsborough Law will be brought in by next April. However, there remains a lot of work to do to ensure a Hillsborough Law loses none of the effectiveness of the original bill (Public Authority (Accountability) Bill) first presented by Andy Burnham in 2017.
‘The HLN campaign has grown significantly and is now a coalition of families bereaved by state failures who will not give up until they see the right act on the statute book.’
Deborah Coles, director of advice charity INQUEST, paid tribute to the people who have spent so long trying to increase accountability. ‘There are few occasions that we can celebrate success and today is a step forward in providing a legacy for the 97 so that others do not have to go through the pain and trauma of decades of campaigning,’ said Coles. ‘This is the result of the incredible power of families standing together to demand justice accountability and change.’
