The Public Office (Accountability) Bill had its second reading in Parliament this afternoon
The landmark legislation was debated by MPs this afternoon
The landmark legislation was debated by MPs this afternoon
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A landmark Hillsborough Law has taken a massive step forward after it was granted a second reading before Parliament. The Public Office (Accountability) Bill was debated by MPs when they met this afternoon. This represented the first meaningful opportunity for elected politicians to debate the contents of the bill. It was at last laid before Parliament for the first time in September.
Introduced by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, the landmark legislation would hold public officials and authorities accountable for their actions with a new professional and legal duty of candour - meaning they must act with honesty and integrity at all times or face criminal sanctions if they attempt to cover up the facts behind disasters.
Addressing the Commons, Sir Keir Starmer said the British state "failed" the families and victims of the Hillsborough football disaster, adding those who died were "unlawfully killed".
The Prime Minister paid tribute to the families who had campaigned for the truth behind what caused the death of 97 football fans as a result of a crush at the FA Cup semi-final in Sheffield in 1989.
Introducing the Bill, the Prime Minister said: “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.”
Sir Keir continued: “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 said the disaster cover-up was not a one-off, pointing to the Horizon scandal, Grenfell Tower, infected blood 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.”
Several Liverpool MPs - including Ian Byrne (West Derby), Paula Barker (Wavertree), and Maria Eagle (Garston and Halewood) - spoke in support of the Bill, urging the government not to water down its commitments.
Ms Eagle criticised South Yorkshire Police for "ignoring" the findings of the public inquiry and using "expensive lawyers, paid for by the public, to evade responsibility".
"There wasn’t a sniff of accountability for those whose gross failings led to the disaster, or for those who blamed the victims and survivors," she said.
Mr Byrne described a "wall of silence" faced by bereaved families across multiple public scandals, saying:
"Time and time again, grieving families have faced the full might of the state, armed only with determination, while public bodies deploy teams of lawyers to protect reputations.
"The imbalance is grotesque and deliberate. That’s why this Bill must not be watered down."
Ms Barker paid tribute to the spirit of Merseyside and the city’s long fight for justice. She said: "Our city, on the banks of the Mersey, is one that knows about solidarity, love and empathy. We are a city that has one another’s back, and we know all too well that an injustice to one is an injustice to all.
“Scousers have long memories. We shall never forget. We will continue to mourn our loved ones, and we will always fight for truth and justice, opposing those who continue to spread the appalling lies of that fateful day with every fibre of our being."
Speaking on behalf of Margaret Aspinall, who lost her son James in the disaster, Ms Barker said: "Today, Hillsborough Law is finally debated in Parliament.
"But justice won’t be done until The S*n too is made to answer for its abuses. The Prime Minister promised us that he would see this through. It’s time for him to deliver the justice he promised, and ensure the media is held to account for its role in state failures and cover-ups."
The Hillsborough Law bill will also see the largest expansion of legal aid for a decade for bereaved families - providing non-means tested help and support for inquests, with the costs covered by the public body represented. A legal duty will also be placed on public bodies to ensure their spending is always proportionate, stopping the state from hiding behind unjustifiably large legal teams at inquests and making sure both sides are on a fair and equal footing.
There will also be new guidance on how state bodies and their representatives should participate at inquests, aiming to ensure the state conducts itself with "openness and honesty" with the sole purpose of helping the coroner establish the facts of the case. A new offence would also be created for misleading the public, with criminal sanctions for the most serious breaches.
The Bill will now move onto the committee stage in which part of it will be scrutinised.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promised to deliver a Hillsborough Law when he was leader of the opposition, speaking at the Labour Party conference in 2022 - after meeting with Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son James died in the disaster.
The pledge was then made part of Labour's manifesto for the 2024 general election. Sir Keir had pledged to have the bill on the statute books in time for the anniversary of the disaster in April this year, but this was delayed as discussions and debates between the government and campaigners continued about the provisions within the bill.
Those discussions intensified across the summer and right up until an agreement was finally reached.