Sharing words with the ECHO, Prime Minister heaped praise on Hillsborough families ahead of milestone moment when landmark new law will finally pass through the House of Commons
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has praised the courage of the Hillsborough families ahead of a new Hillsborough Law passing through the House of Commons on Tuesday
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has praised the courage of the Hillsborough families ahead of a new Hillsborough Law passing through the House of Commons on Tuesday(Image: PA)
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On the eve of a landmark new Hillsborough Law finally returning for its final stage in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has paid an emotional tribute to the families of the Liverpool fans who died in the 1989 disaster as he praised their courage and tireless campaigning.
After months of delays and legal arguments between family members, campaigners and government officials, the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, commonly known as the Hillsborough Law, will return to the House of Commons on Tuesday for its Report Stage and Third Reading - the final stages a bill must go through in the House of Commons.
The new law will make it a criminal offence to mislead proceedings through a new Duty of Candour and will expand legal aid so bereaved families have equal, publicly-funded representation at inquests. The law is known widely as the Hillsborough Law in honour of the 97 Liverpool fans unlawfully killed at Hillsborough in 1989 and their families who fought against a state cover-up for decades.
After being laid before Parliament on a momentous day last September, the Bill's passage through the House of Commons has been heavily delayed by a row about how the new duty of candour would affect the nation's intelligence and security services.
But after a crucial breakthrough, amendments being voted on tomorrow (Tuesday) mean individuals who currently or formerly worked for intelligence agencies can be given 'compliance directions'. It is hoped that this will address any concerns about national security being compromised by forcing staff to assist inquiries and investigations into failings by the state.
In a statement, Hillsborough campaigners Charlotte Hennessy, Sue Roberts, Steve Kelly and Margaret Aspinall said: "Following the conclusions of the fresh Hillsborough Inquests in 2016, we knew that we could not stand by and let professionals and organisations continue to abuse their positions of power.
"For 10 years we have campaigned for a change in the law to stop cover-ups, and enable bereaved families, access to legal aid at a time when they need it the most.
"It has been an honour and a privilege to fight for this monumental change of law alongside so many other strong, dedicated campaigners. We have shown that true power belongs to ordinary people.
"We did not stay silent, we were not ground down, we were not afraid to speak truth to power.
"This is not just about legislation, but about changing the way the bereaved and survivors are treated and a change in culture, and it is deeply empowering knowing that this protects others, forever."
Once the bill completes its House of Commons stages this week, the journey continues in the House of Lords. But campaigners are clear that breaking this impasse and getting the new legislation through the House of Commons is a hugely significant step.
The ECHO will travel to Parliament on Tuesday with Hillsborough family members and the Hillsborough Law Now campaign team to watch the moment the crucial law passes through the House of Commons.
Hillsborough families met with Keir Starmer ahead of the Bill being laid before Parliament in September
Hillsborough families met with Keir Starmer ahead of the Bill being laid before Parliament in September(Image: Getty Images)
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Sir Keir Starmer promised the new law would be put in place before he entered Downing Street and now, as he prepares to leave the most famous address in the country next week, he has paid tribute to the families who have never given up in their battle to change the way the country works.
In a statement provided to the ECHO, Sir Keir said: "I don’t think I could have done it. I have a football-mad teenage son. I go to games with him and his sister. But I do not think I have the same courage in me that Margaret Aspinall has shown, over the decades, fighting for justice for her son, James.
"That’s the first thing that humbles you when meeting the Hillsborough families – how much they have endured. It’s not just the unimaginable pain of losing their loved ones at a football game - a place of joy and human spirit. It is also the burden of having to grieve whilst the full power of the British state is deployed to cover up the truth.
"I remember Margaret telling me how she had to use the insurance pay out from James’s death to pay for a barrister at the original inquest. Meanwhile, the state used taxpayer-money to hire armies of lawyers, for the explicit purpose of denying justice.
"Like so many stories from Hillsborough, it defies belief. But with this Hillsborough Law, we can make sure that such a shameful episode – and the many others like it – can never happen again.
"That it is the thing that really floors you about the Hillsborough families. It’s not about them. It’s about millions of working people they will never meet. Making sure that nobody else like them, ever has to suffer as they did."
The Prime Minister added: "Because there is a class element to this. From Hillsborough to the Grenfell Fire, Windrush, the Grooming Gangs and the Horizon Scandal, time and again the British state fails to see injustice because of who the victims are."That is why, while it is right this law will always bear the Hillsborough name, it is not just a law for the 97. It is a law for everyone. And a symbol of a state that the Labour Party, in the proudest tradition of its values, will make accountable to working people."