The state can never hide from the people it is supposed to serve
Thirty-seven years after 97 Liverpool supporters were killed in the Hillsborough crush and their families were met with official lies, the British Parliament is on the verge of enshrining in law what should always have been a moral given: that the state must tell the truth. The Public Office (Accountability) Bill, known as the Hillsborough Law, is expected to pass the House of Commons next week after the government resolved a bitter dispute over whether intelligence agencies would be exempt from a new legal duty of candour. In removing those exemptions entirely, the legislation signals a rare moment in which the machinery of power is compelled, however belatedly, to answer to those it has wronged.
- A cover-up that lasted nearly three decades — police falsely blamed victims for their own deaths and suppressed evidence — is finally being answered by a law that makes such institutional dishonesty a legal violation.
- The bill nearly collapsed in January when a proposed amendment would have allowed MI5 and other intelligence services to opt out of cooperating with public inquiries on national security grounds, a loophole that bereaved families from both Hillsborough and the Manchester Arena bombing refused to accept.
- Families who lost children wrote directly to the Prime Minister and met him in person, while Andy Burnham is credited with helping persuade ministers to abandon the exemption entirely — a political resolution reached under pressure of the summer recess deadline.
- The government has now confirmed there will be no carve-outs for intelligence services, with all relevant ministers personally signing off on the change, and MPs are expected to approve the bill on Tuesday.
- For survivors and the bereaved, this is not closure but a structural shift — the state will carry a legal obligation to be truthful, fundamentally altering the balance of power between institutions and the people they harm.
On the afternoon of April 15, 1989, 97 Liverpool supporters were killed in a crush at Sheffield Wednesday's ground during an FA Cup semi-final. In the aftermath, South Yorkshire Police did not account for their failures — they concealed them, spreading false narratives that blamed the fans themselves. For nearly three decades, the families of the dead lived inside that lie. It was not until fresh inquests in 2016 that a jury formally established what the families had always known: the supporters had been unlawfully killed, and police conduct had caused or contributed to their deaths.
Now Parliament is set to pass legislation designed to make such a cover-up legally impossible. The Hillsborough Law — formally the Public Office (Accountability) Bill — is expected to clear the House of Commons next week. At its core is a duty of candour: a legal requirement that public officials and bodies tell the truth to inquiries and investigations. The principle is straightforward; getting it into law has not been.
The government withdrew the bill in January after a dispute over whether intelligence agencies should be exempt. A proposed amendment would have allowed the heads of MI5 and other services to withhold cooperation from public inquiries if they judged disclosure a national security risk. For families who had already watched intelligence agencies obscure the truth — the Manchester Arena bombing inquiry found MI5 had given an inaccurate account of what it knew about the attacker — this was a line they would not accept. They wrote to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and later met him directly.
Starmer, who had made personal promises to Hillsborough relatives about implementing this law, worked to resolve the impasse before the summer recess. Andy Burnham, a long-standing ally of the families, is said to have played a key role in persuading ministers to drop the exemption. The government has now agreed to an amendment that campaigners say closes the loophole entirely — no carve-outs for intelligence services, with all relevant ministers having personally approved the change.
Ian Byrne, a Hillsborough survivor and the MP who led the parliamentary campaign, described himself as "absolutely delighted, and above all relieved." Jenni Hicks, who lost her two teenage daughters Sarah and Victoria in the crush, thanked Starmer for listening and asked that the law stand as his prime ministerial legacy — not only for Hillsborough's 97, but for every person denied truth by the state. Andy Burnham called the bill's return to Parliament "a major moment in the long fight to end the cover-up culture."
Once it receives royal assent, the law will alter the relationship between public institutions and the people they serve. Officials will no longer be able to shelter behind national security claims or institutional privilege when inquiries demand answers. For the families who spent decades fighting while authorities lied, the passage of this bill is not closure — it may never be that — but it is a fundamental redistribution of power. The state will be legally bound to tell the truth.
On July 15, 1989, a crush during an FA Cup semi-final at Sheffield Wednesday's ground killed 97 Liverpool fans. Police responded not with accountability but with a cover-up: they spread false narratives blaming the supporters themselves and withheld evidence of their own failures. For nearly three decades, the families of the dead and the survivors lived without the truth. Fresh inquests in 2016 finally established what should have been obvious from the start—the fans had been unlawfully killed, and police action had caused or contributed to their deaths.
Now, after years of campaigning, Parliament is poised to pass legislation that would make such cover-ups legally impossible. The Hillsborough Law—formally the Public Office (Accountability) Bill—is expected to win approval from the House of Commons on Tuesday. The bill creates a legal duty of candour, requiring public officials and bodies to tell the truth to inquiries and investigations. What sounds simple has been anything but.
The government first withdrew the bill from Parliament in January after disagreements erupted over a crucial detail: whether intelligence agencies should be exempt from this duty of candour. A proposed amendment would have allowed the heads of MI5 and other intelligence services to decide whether to cooperate with public inquiries, with the power to refuse if they believed disclosure would pose a national security risk. For families still fighting for accountability, this was unacceptable. The Manchester Arena bombing families, bereaved in 2017, knew firsthand how intelligence agencies could withhold crucial information. A public inquiry into that attack found MI5 had failed to give an accurate picture of what it knew about the suicide bomber. They wrote to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in January, demanding that intelligence services not be exempted. They later met him in person.
Starmer, who had made a personal promise to some Hillsborough relatives that he would implement this law as prime minister, was determined to resolve the impasse before the summer recess. Sources close to the discussions indicate that Andy Burnham, widely expected to become the next prime minister and a longtime ally of the Hillsborough families, helped persuade ministers to abandon the exemption. The government has now agreed to a new amendment that campaigners say closes the loophole entirely. There will be no carve-outs for intelligence services. All relevant ministers have personally signed off on the change.
Ian Byrne, a Hillsborough survivor and the MP who has led the parliamentary campaign for the law, said he was "absolutely delighted, and above all relieved" that the legislation had finally been secured. "This is 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," he said. Jenni Hicks, whose two teenage daughters Sarah and Victoria died in the crush, thanked Starmer for listening. "I've asked Keir Starmer to make this his prime ministerial legacy, not just for the 97 victims of Hillsborough, the survivors and their families, but to ensure accountability for all victims of state wrongdoing," she said. Charlotte Hennessy, whose father James was killed, noted that the prime minister had kept his promise. "That is a clear testament to the man he is."
Burnham called the bill's return to the Commons "a major moment in the long fight to end the cover-up culture and secure a country based on truth, justice and accountability." He added a broader point: "We must never forget that an entire English city correctly cried injustice for 20 years but was blanked by the powers-that-be." Alex Davies-Jones, who led the government's work on the legislation before resigning as victims minister in May, said the bill had been "an unnecessary uphill battle." But when it reaches royal assent, she said, "it will totally change how victims and the public are treated."
Once passed, the law will reshape how public bodies handle accountability. Officials will no longer be able to hide behind claims of national security or institutional privilege. The state will have a legal obligation to tell the truth. For the families who spent decades fighting for answers, who buried children and spouses while authorities lied about what happened, the passage of this bill represents not closure—that may never come—but a fundamental shift in power. The machinery of government will no longer be able to protect itself at the expense of truth.
Citações Notáveis
This is 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.— Ian Byrne, Hillsborough survivor and MP
The prime minister made us a promise and he has fulfilled it, that is a clear testament to the man he is.— Charlotte Hennessy, whose father James died in the disaster
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why did it take so long for something this straightforward—that officials should tell the truth—to become law?
Because the state has always protected itself first. After Hillsborough, police controlled the narrative. No one was held accountable. The families had to fight for 27 years just to get inquests that confirmed what they already knew. Laws don't exist until people force them into existence.
What changed this time? Why did the government finally agree to remove the intelligence service exemption?
Two things. First, the Manchester Arena families showed that the exemption wasn't theoretical—MI5 had actually withheld crucial intelligence about a suicide bomber. Second, Starmer had made a personal promise to Hillsborough relatives. He couldn't leave office having broken it. And Burnham, who's likely to be prime minister, backed the families. When power aligns with justice, things move.
Does passing this law actually prevent future cover-ups, or does it just create a legal framework that officials can still work around?
It changes the legal landscape. Officials can no longer claim they were following procedure when they hide the truth. There's now a statutory duty of candour. It won't stop people from trying to cover things up, but it makes it illegal. That matters. It gives victims and their families legal standing to demand answers.
What does this mean for the 97 families who've already waited 37 years?
It doesn't bring anyone back. It doesn't undo the lies or the decades of fighting. But it means their children and grandchildren won't have to fight the same way. It means the next time something goes wrong, the state can't hide. That's what they were fighting for—not just truth about what happened to them, but a system where truth is mandatory.
Is there a risk that intelligence agencies will simply find new ways to withhold information?
Possibly. But now they'd be breaking the law. The duty of candour applies to them the same way it applies to everyone else. That's the point. No exemptions. No special status. The state serves the people, not the other way around.