Labour Party leader Keir Starmer today confirmed Labour would introduce a new law for which Hillsborough families and survivors have spent decades campaigning.
Today, on the 35th anniversary of the disaster in which 97 Liverpool fans were unlawfully killed, Sir Keir confirmed to the ECHO that if his party comes to power at the general election expected later this year, they will bring in a Hillsborough Law. The law is seen by many as a key tool in ensuring those who are responsible for the safety of the public must tell the truth.
The battle for the law has taken place over many years, with a cross-party consensus reached in 2017 still not enough to ensure the law made it on to the statute books. Today, recommitting his party to making the law a "priority" in government, Sir Keir said: "It is nothing less than insulting that after three and a half decades Hillsborough families still haven’t seen the legislative change they rightfully demand."
READ MORE:97 candles burn bright: the Hillsborough victims remembered
Following the 2015 Hillsborough inquests, the families of victims and survivors of the disaster worked with legal professionals to create a draft law known as the Public Authorities Accountability Bill, which would be commonly referred to as a Hillsborough Law.
The law, if brought into practice in the UK, would enforce a requirement of authorities and organisations who are responsible for public safety to tell the truth, preventing these groups from withholding or spreading false information. This is also known as a legally enforceable duty of candour.
Under the law, not only would public authorities and servants be required to tell the truth, but they would be required to proactively assist investigations, inquests and inquiries. This would prevent a repeat of the lies of police officers and others that came after the 1989 disaster as those in power wrongly tried to blame the Liverpool fans.
On top of this, a Hillsborough Law would ensure victims and families have equal representation and receive public funding for lawyers from the start of any proceedings, something the Hillsborough Families did not have. Other measures include a code of ethics for public authorities and the creation of an independent public advocate to support bereaved families after disasters.
Sir Keir told the ECHO: "Today on the 35th anniversary of that dark day, I'll be thinking about those lost, their families, and their enduring courage and determination to pursue justice.
"It is nothing less than insulting that after three and a half decades Hillsborough families still haven’t seen the legislative change they rightfully demand.
“As Director of Public Prosecutions, I met with Hillsborough families and saw the raw pain and grief they still carry. I promised then that I would do everything in my power to deliver the justice they deserve. That promise stands.
“This is why with my leadership, Labour stands unequivocally with the Hillsborough families. There can be no justice for those who died until we stop the same thing ever happening again. Making Hillsborough Law reality would be a priority of my Labour government."
Elkan Abrahamson is a solicitor who represents over 20 of the families who lost loved ones in the tragedy and was a key member of the legal team that successfully argued that the 97 victims of the 1989 disaster were unlawfully killed when the inquests were completed in 2016.
On the Hillsborough Law, Mr Abrahamson said: “While the inquests clarified the truth, they did not achieve accountability, much to the anger of the families. Criminal proceedings for altering evidence failed because the Judge held there was no duty on police and others to be truthful to the Lord Justice Taylor Inquiry. Hillsborough Law will remedy that, imposing a duty on public officers to be truthful to inquiries.”
When the law was drafted, members of the Hillsborough Law campaign insisted that it receive cross-party political support. On March 29, 2017, the bill was read in Parliament and was unopposed, signed and sponsored across all parties.
However, due to the 2017 General Election, progress stalled, and the bill wasn’t considered again by the Conservative Government until December 2023, when it was rejected in favour of a ‘Hillsborough charter’.
This charter promised greater transparency after public tragedies but was only introduced into the police officers' code of conduct - and crucially not into law.
Pete Weatherby is a director for the Hillsborough Law campaign and a barrister who represents 22 of the victims’ families. In the past, Mr Weatherby has also given evidence to the House of Lords and the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights about Hillsborough Law.
Mr Weatherby concluded that while in principle a charter isn’t undesirable, it doesn’t carry any legal significance.
He said: “Unfortunately, a voluntary charter doesn’t carry the same weight. A small number have signed up to this charter but there’s no teeth to it. It’s not the answer. It’s part of the overall picture of changing the culture, but useless on its own. It works well as a section of Hillsborough Law as you need codes of conduct to filter down to ordinary officers for example, but without hard law it just doesn’t have enough bite."
Mr Weatherby also worked on the independent UEFA review panel for the inquiry into the events of the 2022 Champions League Final in Paris where thousands of Liverpool fans were put in danger by poor organisation. Mr Weatherby was the only lawyer on the panel.
During this process, he implemented practices of the proposed Hillsborough Law bill, namely by forcing UEFA and the Parisian Police to supply position statements on what they believed happened prior to the final and around the stadium after the game.
The infamous, and fabricated, reasoning that was put forward in these position statements was that ticketless Liverpool fans and fans with ‘fake’ tickets turned up to the Stade de France stadium and caused the chaos. Gerald Darmanin, the French Interior Minister had this figure at 40,000 ticketless fans. This was disclosed in position statements and proved to be false.
Mr Weatherby called this a triumph for the principles of a Hillsborough Law and added: “Forcing public authorities and organisations to supply position statements takes away any power that they must lie as they must set out their dispute early on. It’s also in police interest to know who’s telling the truth and where mistakes are being made. It’s also beneficial for the cost and length of legal proceedings. The UEFA enquiry was concluded in 6 months and not 3 decades. There are only positives on both sides.”
In September 2022, on the eve of his party's conference in Liverpool. Sir Keir Starmer confirmed that Labour in government would bring in a Hillsborough Law in full. This was a promise he repeated in his keynote speech at the conference days later.
He said: "Labour stands unequivocally with the Hillsborough families. We've repeatedly called for the Hillsborough Law and making it reality would be a priority of my Labour government."
Ross Telfer, a survivor, and director of the Hillsborough Survivors Support Alliance showed his support for the law from the perspective of survivors and the bereaved families.
He said: “To us, the survivors, the Hillsborough Law is a proposed legislation that aims to ensure accountability and transparency in all public authorities to prevent future disasters like the Hillsborough tragedy. It seeks to uphold the rights of the bereaved families and survivors by providing access to justice and truth.
"Hillsborough Law would be a permanent legacy to all those affected by the events of April 15 1989, and those that have fought and campaigned for the truth, justice and change for the better.”
Don't miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the Echo Daily newsletter here
