17 July 2024

This is a media release by Hillsborough Law Now, reshared by INQUEST

• Lawyers stand ready to assist the government in making the law a reality
• Campaign pays tribute to all those who have battled the state over decades

The Hillsborough Law Now campaign has hailed today’s announcement in the King’s Speech that the Labour government will bring in a ‘Hillsborough Law’ as ‘life changing’.

Debbie Caine, campaign director of Hillsborough Law Now said: “Only those who have endured a long and arduous battle with the state for truth and accountability will realise the significance of this announcement. But make no mistake, this announcement has the potential to save and change lives for the many, not the few.”

Bringing in a duty of candour is a key part of the Public Authority (Accountability) Bill which was introduced by Andy Burnham in 2017. The Bill had a first reading but fell after the 2017 General Election was announced.

Lawyers Pete Weatherby KC of Garden Court North Chambers and Elkan Abrahamson of Broudie Jackson Canter drafted the Bill, which has become known as ‘Hillsborough Law’. Both are also directors of the Hillsborough Law Now campaign.

Solicitor, Elkan Abrahamson of Broudie Jackson Canter, said: “Public inquiries, inquests and investigations often fail to get to the truth because public authorities and officials cover-up what happened to protect themselves. This law should stop all those who in public office serve themselves rather than the public.

“On behalf of all our campaigners, we thank the Prime Minister for keeping to the commitment he made to us and we stand ready to assist him and his government in enacting this law.”

Pete Weatherby KC adds: “I hope today offers some comfort to the thousands of people who over decades have been denied justice, truth and accountability by the state that things might soon change. It is because of the struggles of so many that we stand on the brink of changing the law and I pay tribute to all the thousands of campaigners who have stood up to be counted.”

Deborah Coles, director of INQUEST and a director of Hillsborough Law Now, says: “We welcome today’s commitment from the new Government to implement a Hillsborough Law. This would not have happened without the longstanding campaigning from bereaved families and survivors.

“INQUEST sees daily the impact on bereaved families as the search for the truth invariably begins to feel like a battle as the shutters come down. Public scrutiny is a vital opportunity to learn from past mistakes and protect lives in the future.

“For too long organisations have been more concerned with reputation management, concealing the truth and defending their policies and practices even where there is clear evidence of systemic and individual failure.

“The new Government must now ensure a statutory duty of candour and parity of funding as a lasting legacy to those who died in the Hillsborough Disaster and to stop future injustice and trauma.”

The Bill creates a legal duty of candour on public authorities and officials to tell the truth and proactively cooperate with official investigations and inquiries. It also provides a 'toolkit' to enforce compliance with the duty, which would both prevent obfuscation and cover-ups, and lead to much more focused and shorter inquiries, thereby saving millions of pounds of public money, and delivering swifter justice with much less stress to families and witnesses alike. Failure to comply would become a criminal offence, and the culture of denial that we have seen in other inquiries, such as Infected Blood, Post Office and Grenfell, would be minimised. 

It will also ensure a level playing field for bereaved people at inquests and for those whose lives have been affected by wrongdoing and preventable failures. Bereaved people will receive public funding for legal representation to be equally represented as the police and public authorities are.

A whole host of campaigners and bereaved have reacted to the news and their comments in support of a Hillsborough Law can be found in the notes to editors.

ENDS

For further information or to speak to any of the campaigners and bereaved, please contact:

Kerry Jack, Black Letter Communications
020 3567 1208 / [email protected]

Comments from campaigners and bereaved:

Brian Davis lost his 17-year-old sister in the Birmingham pub bombings and supports the Hillsborough Law Now campaign. He says: “Having waited for 45 years for an inquest into the murders of 21 people in Birmingham in 1974, we finally were able to attend an inquest in 2019. We, the bereaved families, had to battle for legal aid, or rely on pro bono work of the legal teams. Yet the state had access to seemingly unlimited resources, funded by us, the taxpayers.

“I am delighted to see that Sir Keir has delivered on his commitment and look forward to the enactment of this law during the first term of his administration.”

Charlotte Hennessey lost her father, Jimmy, at Hillsborough when she was just six years old.  She says: “I am pleased that Sir Keir has honoured this promise.

“For too long we have watched bereaved, devastated families have to fight for truth and answers in circumstances where the professionals involved have been allowed to mislead, lie or omit crucial information or evidence in a bid to protect themselves.

“This is also a reassuring step to ensure that bereaved families will have fair access to legal representation at an extremely difficult time in their lives. I can't think of a bigger legacy to the 97 innocent, unlawfully killed victims of the Hillsborough disaster. 

“Too many people in this country spend their time of grief, fighting against corrupt organisations.

“Let's hope that it is enacted quickly and we don't have to spend any more years with it being put on the back burner.

“I'd also like to acknowledge Elkan Abrahamson, Maria Eagle, Alison Mcgovern, Andy Burnham, Steve Rotherham and Ian Byrne for their tireless dedication in to ensuring that our calls for a law were not silenced.”

Simon Callander lost his 18-year-old daughter Georgina in the Manchester Arena bombing. He says: “I would like to express my appreciation to the Prime Minister for keeping his word and introducing the Hillsborough Law, allowing bereaved families to access funding for legal representation and ensuring authorities have a duty of candour to tell the truth.

“After listening to some of the authorities blatantly lying to protect themselves at the Manchester Arena Inquiry, I felt completely helpless to ensure the truth was told. I hope this new law will protect other bereaved families from having to go through this devastating experience.”

Anne Burkett lost her son Peter at Hillsborough. She says: “Along with many families I have campaigned for years for Hillsborough Law. The Hillsborough families struggled because we didn't have the funds so we could not access legal representation. We were just ordinary people trying to fight for justice for our loved ones. We had already had so many doors shut in our faces but we never walked away. We knew that we would fight to the bitter end and we did, but we don’t want people to have to go through what we did.

“We need to have the Hillsborough Law for the future so that nobody should ever be denied legal access to state funding. It's been eight years since the verdict in Hillsborough was overturned. It took 27 years. What a long road. Can you imagine walking for that long? This is one of the very many reasons why we need Hillsborough Law.”

Charlotte Hodgson lost her 15-year-old daughter Ollie in the Manchester Arena bombing, she says: “I am pleased to see that the Prime Minister has kept to his promise of introducing Hillsborough Law. If done properly this will introduce a much-needed duty of candour and provide that bereaved families have access to funding for legal representation. 

“No bereaved family should have to worry about whether they can afford legal representation just to get to the truth of how they lost their family member. No bereaved family should have to hear lies from the people who should have protected their loved one. No bereaved family should be told there is nothing that can be done when the people in power tell lies or hide the full truth. Hillsborough Law is sadly much needed and long overdue but we are hopeful that it will now be enacted in a way that provides hope for those who very much need it.”

Naomi Fulop on behalf of Covid Bereaved Families for Justice UK, says: "So many families like mine who have found themselves involved in an inquiry because of state failures will breathe a sigh of relief now that a Hillsborough Law will be introduced. For far too long victims of state failures have had to fight for justice against bodies and institutions well versed in hiding evidence and shifting blame. A duty of candour and legal parity of arms is the least anyone should expect when they have been let down by the state, and now that we will have a Hillsborough Law, Covid 19 bereaved families have a better chance of seeing lessons being learned, and lives saved when the next pandemic hits."

Steve Kelly lost his brother Mike at Hillsborough. He says: “At last we have a positive response within the King's speech. The King has spoken today and there will be a duty of candour that will be placed upon public authorities to force them to tell the truth. A situation I never thought would ever be required, as my opinion of public office and its servants was that they were duty or morally bound by sheer definition of the position they held. My opinion of this has certainly changed since the Hillsborough Disaster 15 April 1989. But now, we have fresh hope for those bereaved by disasters that they will have their questions answered by public bodies and their servants.

“This has been a very long, hard and extremely difficult road to travel, yet we are still an ever-growing community as we are now more than aware travesties can happen such as the Post Office scandal and the heartbreaking case of the hazardous waste pollution that killed a young boy, Zane Gbangbola aged just seven years old in 2014. The list is endless, apologies for all those I sadly have not mentioned.

“We have all played a part in getting here. Today is for those who campaigned and brought about a change, a change for the better, change that has been required for a very, very long time.

“To the families of those who have lost in so many ways, due to public negligence and subsequently having been the victim of cover ups, you have my love and respect. Now we have hope for a better future for others because of the sacrifices endured.”

Dan Gordon, brother of Anne Williams who lost her son Kevin at Hillsborough, says: “On behalf of myself and all of Anne Williams’ family we welcome the announcement that the Hillsborough Law is included in the King’s Speech.

“I find it very sad that the Hillsborough families and our legal team have had to fight and campaign to ensure people in authority tell the truth.

“Like many other families in similar situations where lives have been lost and completely changed and who like us put their trust in these people of authority to be responsible for the health and safety of their loved ones, we have all been sadly let down through the lies and deceit to cover their incompetence and neglect of duty and lack of care.

“Everyone makes mistakes, that’s human nature, honest people who admit their mistakes and seek help to do their best to put things right have nothing to fear from Hillsborough Law, people who lie and try to cover their mistakes which could cost lives and prolong the misery of families and survivors should be made accountable by law.”

ENDS