‘Keir Starmer made Hillsborough families a promise, now we fear he won’t keep his word’

Sir Keir Starmer made a promise to Charlotte Hennessy. Now he’s worried he won’t be able to keep his promise.

Ms Hennessy, whose father Jimmy was one of 97 Liverpool FC fans unlawfully killed in the Hillsborough disaster on April 15, 1989, is part of the Hillsborough Law campaign, a campaign that has been going on for years and continues to face obstacles.

The law, a key promise of Sir Keir’s election-winning manifesto [officially the Public Office (Accountability) Bill] It is designed to force public officials and contractors to tell the truth in the wake of disasters through a “duty of candor” to prevent future cover-ups of the kind faced by Hillsborough families who have fought for the truth for decades.

Ms Hennessy opened the Labor Party conference in Liverpool last September with the prime minister, who promised her and those gathered on Merseyside that she would introduce the legislation because it had just been introduced in parliament.

he said Independent this week: “This saying continues [for] Years later, when he was leader of the opposition, he first made the promise to (fellow Hillsborough campaigner) Margaret Aspinall, and later made it to me.

“He did it to me in Number 10, he did it to me again at the Labor Party conference, he did it again at Westminster.”

The bill was introduced to parliament last September, shortly before the party conference, but has faced delays since then.

The government is currently at an impasse due to disagreement over the change of government over how this law will apply to those working in the intelligence services and whether it will affect national security.

The amendment, tabled in January, would bring spies within the scope of the legislation, subject to approval by the service chief, but campaigners argued it would allow those running the security services to decide whether to disclose information.

Sir Keir had promised to deliver the legislation by 15 April 2025, the 36th anniversary of the disaster, but this did not happen.

Now Ms Hennessy and her fellow campaigners fear another anniversary will pass without the law on the statute book, with parliament not returning from recess until April 13.

Hillsborough families, as well as those affected by the Horizon Post Office scandals, the Manchester Arena terror attack and others, wrote to the prime minister on Monday expressing their disappointment over the delays.

In their letter to Sir Keir, campaigners said they were deeply disappointed that the issue has not since been re-introduced to parliament and described the lack of progress as an “insult”.

They wrote: “Another anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster is fast approaching. But the bill is stalled.

“We understand that this issue will have to be transferred to the next parliamentary session, but beyond meaningless assurances that it is being worked on, no clarity has been provided as to what the Government intends to do.

“After all, there is no end in sight.”

They added that the delay “has had a serious, negative impact on countless other families and the wider public who have been or are yet to be affected by state-related deaths.”

Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood was also criticized by those involved in the campaign, accusing her of being behind the delays.

While their letter stated that the government’s intervention had created “an arrangement for the intelligence services”, Ms Hennessy said Ms Mahmood had not met with the group.

“He is MI5’s minister and he will not be meeting with us to discuss what his concerns are. So how do we proceed if we can’t have those discussions?” he said.

“But at the same time, why isn’t the prime minister defending us?”

He said the delay meant Sir Keir looked “really weak”.

“Who runs the country? The Minister of Internal Affairs or the Prime Minister?” he asked.

“Why doesn’t he come forward and say, no, I made this promise to these families, I committed to this in my manifesto, and I’m going to make sure this government does the right thing?

“This cannot be watered down, the law needs to be fully implemented and you cannot call it the Hillsborough Act without the duty of candor that essentially applies to security services.”

In response to the government’s intervention, Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne, himself a Hillsborough survivor, has proposed an amendment that would extend the duty of candor to the intelligence services and those who work for them.

The campaign says despite months of talks, the government has not explained why it is objecting to Mr Byrne’s change.

The MP said this week: Independent He said the delays in advancing the legislation were “extremely disappointing”.

“As a Labor MP who was featured in the manifesto, who was closely involved in this campaign and who leads the parliament, it is very disappointing that we have another anniversary with the Hillsborough Bill, which is not on the statute book,” he said.

Mr Byrne, the campaign’s parliamentary leader, does not believe the call for spies to be subject to a duty of candor would threaten national security.

He believes the law is “almost ready” but does not want to weaken it to ensure its passage.

He said: “This needs to be addressed in a way that the Hillsborough Act actually addresses these situations.

“What we don’t want is a Hillsborough Act with loopholes in it that allows for a government cover-up. You can’t have that, it’s not a legacy.”

As the wait for the legislation continues, Ms Hennessy now wants to see action and leadership from the prime minister.

“Let’s not forget that this Hillsborough Bill was in his manifesto,” he said.

“So pick a lane and either respect what you said in your manifesto, because either the Hillsborough law will stand in its entirety or it won’t exist at all.

“Without this amendment we do not have the Hillsborough Act in its entirety, and if we are not given the opportunity to discuss these issues and concerns and listen to and respond to the government’s concerns, I do not see how we can move forward.

“So there is a very real possibility here that the Prime Minister will keep his word and go back to the promise he made in his manifesto.”

A government spokesman said: “The Hillsborough disaster will remain in our national consciousness for its tragedy and shameful injustice. Our legislation will right these wrongs, shifting the balance of power so that the State must always act on behalf of the people it is meant to serve.”

“We must take the time to fix this and introduce a bill that is testament to their decades of campaigning without ever compromising national security.

“Families and campaigners have always been at the heart of this process and we will work with them before bringing this back to Parliament.”