A new Hillsborough law will be introduced before the next anniversary of the disaster, it has been promised.
Prime Minster Keir Starmer spoke at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool on the emotive subject, and promised campaigners that the new legislation will be made a legality before the anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy – where 97 Liverpool fans were crushed to death while attending a game in April 1989.
Campaigners, who include family members of those who lost their lives, have been calling for such legislation for years as part of their 32-year fight for justice.
PM Keir Starmer promised to introduce the Hillsborough law into parliament before the next anniversary of the tragedy in April 2025, vowing that he is acting “on a promise he made two years ago to change the law if he became prime minister.”
He said: “For many people in this city, the speech they may remember was the one here, two years ago. Because that was when I promised, on this stage, that if I ever had the privilege to serve our country as prime minister, one of my first acts would be to bring in a Hillsborough law – a duty of candour.
“A law for Liverpool. A law for the 97. A law that people should never have needed to fight so hard to get. But that will be delivered by this Labour government.
“I can confirm that the duty of candour will apply to public authorities and public servants, that bill will include criminal sanctions, and that the Hillsborough law will be introduced to Parliament before the next anniversary in April.”
But what will the legislation do? Here is what we know.
What is the Hillsborough Law?
The new legislation will introduce a legal duty from all public bodies, with potential for criminal sanctions for any official or authority that misleads or obstructs investigations. The current legal duty of candour requires care providers to be “open and transparent with people who use services”. This includes providing support, truthful information and an apology when things go wrong.
Any officials or organisations who mislead or obstruct investigations could potentially face criminal sanctions under the new law.
The families of those who died at Hillsborough were at the heart of devising the bill and worked with lawyers to create the bill to prevent cover-ups.
What happened at Hillsborough?
Liverpool Football Club played Nottingham Forest on April 15, 1989, at Hillsborough, a neutral ground.
The sold-out game was expected to draw in around 53,000 fans and, at the time, standing was the norm at football games.
Too many people in the Liverpool end were allowed in and it ended in tragedy when the resulting crush ended with 97 football fans dying and a further 760 injured.
The oldest victim was 67, while the youngest was just 10 years old.
Eventually, the disaster was largely attributed to mistakes made by the police but, at the time of the incident, police blamed fans for forcing their way in. Accusations about the behaviour of fans were made by police, but many claimed it was a cover-up to blame fans rather than take blame for their own failures on the day.
It remains the UK's worst sporting disaster. Since then, many families and survivors have led a 30-year campaign to discover how and why they died.
Inquiries and inquests have been held since, with people demanding “justice for the 96”. The 97th victim died in 2021 at the age of 55, after suffering life-changing brain injuries that predisposed him to fatal aspiration pneumonia.
In 2014, the new Hillsborough inquests opened in Warrington and lasted for two years – the longest inquests in UK legal history.
In 2015, match commander for the police at the time, David Duckenfield, admitted his failure to close a tunnel before opening gate C and, under pressure, said he "froze" and “failed to consider the consequences” of admitting thousands of fans on to already-packed terraces. However, he was found not guilty of gross negligence manslaughter in 2019.
Campaigners for the law welcomed it being brought in and said: ”Since 1989, the Hillsborough families and survivors have called for the truth and for change. Following the 2016 inquests, they have campaigned for a legacy to prevent others from having to go through the same nightmare as they did; grieving the deaths of their loved ones whilst fighting against institutional lies which for 27 years placed the blame on Hillsborough survivors and those who died.”
