Hillsborough Law will include duty of candour

Public officials will be required to tell the truth amid inquiries into major disasters by a long-awaited Hillsborough Law bill. Campaigners, who had feared that the law was going to be diluted, have embraced the news. The landmark Public Office (Accountability) Bill will require public agencies to collaborate with investigations into major disasters or potentially face criminal charges, as well as providing legal assistance to those affected by state-related disasters. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who had promised to bring in the legislation by the 36th anniversary of the 1989 disaster, said he was humbled by what the families had achieved.

Thank you to the families and campaigners who have been fighting for justice and truth for years and years, and their determination to provide a Hillsborough Law is the reason we're here today,

he said.

Today is an important day having known the families for ten years, and it's humbling to see what they have achieved after an unimaginable loss.

I wanted the bill to be introduced earlier but I've decided it was better to get it right and I''ve talked to the families here today, and I do believe it is right to have the law in place that they are accepting it.

They know it will benefit thousands and thousands of people they will never meet, and they will no longer have to go through what they have endured.

The extra work we've done has helped us get it right.

We are not going to allow it to be watered down," he said. I've made the pledge to the families as soon as possible to ensure no one is wronged.

The bill will be presented to Parliament on Tuesday to begin its journey toward becoming law. The government has announced that a new professional and legal duty of candour will be included in the bill, requiring public officials to act with honesty and integrity at all times and face criminal sanctions if they breached it. Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son James died in Hillsborough, said she was hoping the new law would prevent

no one will have to suffer like we did. The tragedy, which occurred during the FA Cup semi-finals between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on April 15, 1989, resulted in the deaths of 97 football FAns. The new legislation, according to the government, would

end the culture of cover-ups

and learn lessons from other crises, including the Grenfell Tower fire and the Post Office Horizon, and the infected blood scandals.

It's been a long road to get here," Ms Aspinall said. I am so grateful to the prime minister for keeping his promise to me.

Sir Keir lauded Ms Aspinall's courage and

the tenacity of all the Hillsborough families and survivors

in their long fight for justice. According to him, the new legislation would change the balance of power in the United Kingdom so that the state will

never hide from the people it is supposed to represent.

Make no mistake,he said,this is a bill for the 97, but it also provides a statute for the subpoenas, the victims of infected blood loss, and those who died in the deadly Grenfell Tower fire. Charlotte Hennessy, whose 29-year-father Jimmy died at Hillsborough, said the law had been very difficult.It has taken a lot of negotiations, blood, sweat, and tears, late nights, meetings after meetings, reading a draft and saying 'no',she said.The duty of candour was the biggest barrier we encountered, but it's important to note that new laws such as perjury only apply to criminal cases.

After the Hillsborough Independent Panel's report, Ms Hennessy said her family was only alert of what happened to her father - a plasterer from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.

I didn't know the truth of what happened to my dad until 25 years later. Is it still being talked about by people? 'I've only known the truth for 13 of the last 36 years.

Elkan Abrahamson of law firm Broudie Jackson Canter, one of the bill's designers, said there was still some way to go before it became law.