A landmark new duty of candour law was introduced on Tuesday that pledges ‘to ensure the truth is never concealed by the state again’. It follows a 36-year fight for justice by the families of those killed at Hillsborough, who then faced a cover-up of what really happened and lies in the press.
Announcing the legislation, the government said it would ‘once and for all end the culture of cover-ups and hiding the truth, ensuring transparency, accountability, and support for bereaved families.’
The Public Office (Accountability) Bill will introduce significant changes, including a new duty of candour law, meaning state officials must act with ‘honesty and integrity’ at all times, with criminal sanctions for ‘egregious breaches’. It also expands legal aid for bereaved families, providing non-means tested support for inquests. The bill also creates a new criminal offence for misleading the public.
Deborah Coles, director of the charity INQUEST and Hillsborough Law Now, described the new law as ‘a landmark step’. She said the charity has witnessed ‘decades of institutional defensiveness and cruelty designed to evade scrutiny and accountability’ and welcomed an end to the ‘deep inequality’ of bereaved families navigating inquests while up against state agencies who are legally represented at public expense.
She added: ‘We must now ensure the Hillsborough Law is delivered in full and those with vested interests to oppose it are resisted. It must also be enacted across the UK. While there is a long way to go before we see its impact, the introduction of this Bill today should be celebrated as a testament to the strength and persistence of families who refused to give up.’
Speaking to the BBC, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: ‘Make no mistake, this a law for the 97, but it is also a law for the subpostmasters who suffered because of the Horizon scandal, the victims of infected blood, and those who died in the terrible Grenfell Tower fire’.
