HILLSBOROUGH LAW SET FOR PARLIAMENTARY APPROVAL

The Public Office (Accountability) Bill, commonly known as the Hillsborough Law, is expected to receive approval from the House of Commons on Tuesday, the government announced this week. The legislation has been delayed for several months after Downing Street withdrew it from the parliamentary agenda in January amid disagreements over whether intelligence services should be exempt from a proposed legal duty of candour. A government source told the BBC that ministers have now agreed a new amendment under which the intelligence services will not receive an exemption, according to campaigners familiar with the discussions.

The bill would establish a legal obligation for public officials to tell the truth to inquiries and investigations. The Hillsborough disaster in 1989 claimed 97 lives following a crush during an FA Cup semi-final at Sheffield Wednesday's ground. After the incident, police circulated false accounts blaming Liverpool fans and concealed evidence of their own failures. Fresh inquests conducted in 2016 concluded that the Liverpool fans had been unlawfully killed and that police actions had caused or contributed to their deaths. Families bereaved by the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing wrote to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in January, expressing concern that MI5 should not be exempt from the duty of candour, after a public inquiry found the agency had not provided an "accurate picture" of key intelligence it held.

Ian Byrne MP, a Hillsborough survivor who has led the parliamentary campaign for the legislation, told the BBC he was "absolutely delighted" that the law had been secured. He described it as "a lasting legacy for the 97, for the survivors, the bereaved families, and for every person who has suffered at the hands of the state and been denied truth and justice." The bill is expected to become law by autumn once it passes the House of Commons.