In one of his final acts as Prime Minister, Keir Starmer personally steered the legislation through its final Commons stages, delivering on his promise to bereaved families
The Hillsborough law will rewire the state and pass power back to the hands of ordinary people, Andy Burnham has declared as it was backed by MPs in parliament.
In his first Commons intervention since sensationally returning to Westminster, the PM-in-waiting praised the families of the Hillsborough victims, describing their efforts to change the law as “special”. In one of his final acts as Prime Minister, Keir Starmer personally steered the legislation through its final Commons stages, delivering on his promise to bereaved families.
The law takes its name from the 1989 disaster at Hillsborough Stadium, in Sheffield, when 97 Liverpool fans were killed in a crush during an FA Cup semi-final match.
Merseyside-born Mr Burnham said the Hillsborough campaigners had delivered a change in the law “for others, not for themselves”. He said: “I cannot describe my pride in being in this House tonight to see this Bill plant the values of the city of my birth at the heart of this country. And that is something of huge and profound significance that has been brought about by the Hillsborough families and we recognise the significance of that tonight.
“The Hillsborough Law can’t do any more for the Hillsborough families. Indeed, it will do much more for those who come after them. But that’s what makes their campaign so special – they’ve done this for others, not for themselves.”
The legislation – which will now head to the Lords – is designed to prevent future cover-ups by requiring officials to be transparent during investigations and inquiries into state failures. But it was held up by months of negotiations between ministers and families over how the landmark legislation would apply to the security services including MI5 and MI6.
A breakthrough was reached at the weekend, with spies being brought within the scope of the duty of candour, but with a “secure process” for disclosing information that could affect national security. Mr Burnham claimed the new law will “put decency back at the heart of the British state”, adding that it will define Mr Starmer’s legacy as PM.
He said: “We can never forget that for 20 years an entire English city was crying injustice correctly, and yet this place ignored them for all of that time. We cannot forget that, and we cannot take away the hurt that that caused.”
The Makerfield MP also urged MPs to listen to nuclear test veterans’ call for a special tribunal to look at their experiences. Referring to veterans who witnessed nuclear tests during the 1950s and 1960s, he said: “How often in this House do we praise our veterans? And how, in this case, have we left those veterans without truth and justice in terms of what happened to them all of those years to go?
“And I think this House needs to hear their call for a special tribunal, entirely consistent with the aims of the Bill we are passing tonight.” The Daily Mirror has campaigned for decades demanding justice for British military personnel exposed to radiation during Cold War nuclear testing.
Opening the debate, the PM had paid tribute to Hillsborough campaigners in the Commons. He said: “I come here today not to take credit for this government or this House, but as prime minister, to put on our national record exactly where the credit belongs, because it belongs to the families and to the campaigners. And I pay tribute to every one of them.”
Labour MP Ian Byrne, who was at Hillsborough when 97 Liverpool football fans were killed, was earlier applauded by MPs for his emotional speech during the debate. Holding back tears, the Liverpool West Derby MP said: “To every survivor, I hope today brings some measure of peace. Not because it can erase the past, nothing ever will, but because your suffering has brought us about lasting change for generations to come.
“For decades I asked myself why I survived. Today, I think, I understand. Not because I’ve done anything extraordinary, but because I was given the privilege of standing here and carrying the voices of people who could no longer speak for themselves.
“If in some small way I have honoured the memory of the 97, if I’ve been worthy of the trust the families and survivors have placed in me, if this Parliament finally ensures that no grieving family will ever have to come to fight the state simply to uncover the truth, then every setback, every disappointment, every sleepless night would have been worth it.
“This law is far more than Hillsborough. It is about the kind of country we choose to be, a country where power tells the truth, where public servants serve the public, where justice is not delayed until campaigners grow old, and where no family is ever left to walk alone.”
The PM’s successor, Mr Burnham has long championed the cause of a Hillsborough Law. As a minister in Gordon Brown ’s government, he gave a speech to thousands at Anfield stadium on the 20th anniversary of the tragedy which was interrupted by shouts demanding justice.
He went on to push for the setting up of the Hillsborough Independent Panel and introduced a version of the Hillsborough Law to the Commons in 2017 – but it failed to pass ahead of the general election. Mr Starmer later made it a key promise in Labour ’s 2024 election manifesto.
Earlier, a Downing Street spokesman said the Hillsborough disaster “remains in our national consciousness for its tragedy and disgraceful injustice”. She added: “This legislation will right those wrongs, changing the balance of power so that the state must always act for the people it’s supposed to serve.”
Attorney General Richard Hermer, who was key to the negotiations with families, said: “Today, we all pay tribute to the courage of the families and campaigners who made the Hillsborough Law possible. This is about them. The Hillsborough Law will radically change the relationship between those who govern and the people they govern, forever.
“It’s been a long journey to get here, but I know the Prime Minister has been personally determined to ensure we get this right – working with families and campaigners to bring in a Bill that is testament to their decades campaigning, while never compromising on national security.”