Starmer backtracks again as Hillsborough law amendment pulled amid concerns | Politics | News
Starmer has long promised to implement this law (Image: Getty)
The government has withdrawn an amendment to the proposed Hillsborough Bill following concerns from campaigners and MPs that the duty of honesty under the law was being diluted. The legislation, officially the Public Office (Liability) Bill, aims to force public officials and contractors to tell the truth after disasters.
The changes proposed by the government on Wednesday brought spies into the purview 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 the information. According to the Press Association, the Government decided not to delay the change on Monday, but instead to work with campaigners and mourners to bring it forward when the changes reach the Lords. The bill will return to the House of Commons for report stage and third reading as planned.
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Public officials were found to have misled investigations after the disaster (Image: Getty)
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promised to introduce a duty of integrity during the general election and has been under pressure to deliver on promises.
A Government spokesman said: “This legislation will right the wrongs of the past, shift the balance of power to ensure the state is never hidden from the people it is supposed to serve, and impose a legal duty on officials to respond openly and honestly when things go wrong.
“The bill will place greater scrutiny on the police, intelligence agencies and the entire government than ever before, but we can never compromise on national security.
“We will continue to work with all parties to ensure the bill is as strong as possible without compromising national security.”
In a post on X, campaign group Hillsborough Law Now said: “We welcome the government listening to the campaign, families, MPs and supporters by withdrawing the security services change.
“We will further cooperate with the government to ensure that the bill is fully implemented in security services without endangering national security.”
Some campaigners had warned that the draft legislation could allow intelligence chiefs to “hide serious failings behind a vague national security claim”.
MPs were due to debate the Hillsborough Bill last week but the debate was postponed until Monday to allow the government to propose changes that could address campaigners’ concerns.
However, the proposed change sparked criticism from campaigners and Labor figures.
Starmer’s rival Andy Burnham warns change risks ‘watering down’ legislation (Image: Getty)
Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said on Saturday that the change “risks undermining the spirit of the law” and “creates a very broad opt-out option” for security services.
Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne said he could not support the legislation, including the Government’s amendments.
He had also proposed many changes of his own.
Culture Minister Lisa Nandy insisted earlier on Sunday that the security services would not be “exempt” from the duty of integrity.
The challenge, he said, was to ensure that the law was applied “without fear or favour” to the security services and to allow these services to do their jobs, for which they were “mostly recipients of classified information”.
“But we’ve never had a situation like the one we had with the Manchester Arena investigation, and I have constituents who are affected by that, where security services can withhold information and present an inaccurate picture to families and the public inquiry for a very long period of time,” he told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday.
