"Almost 40 years after the Hillsborough stadium disaster, which claimed the lives of 97 people, the families of those killed or injured reached a milestone last year in their long struggle for justice. It came in the form of the Hillsborough law, which would compel public bodies and officials, such as the police, NHS and local authorities, to assist investigations with full and truthful information or face criminal sanctions."
"More than 100 witness statements given by police officers were found to have been amended to remove or change comments unfavourable to South Yorkshire police, who were responsible for fan safety on the day. In 2016, nearly 30 years after the disaster, a landmark inquest found that those who died were unlawfully killed and that the behaviour of Liverpool fans played no part in the tragedy, as officers had claimed."
"He placed it at the heart of his speech to Labour party conference in September, where he was introduced on stage by Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son James died in the disaster. With this new law, he said, injustice has no place to hide. Last week, Labour introduced a new amendment to the bill that would bring intelligence agencies such as MI5 and MI6 into its scope"
The Hillsborough law would compel public bodies and officials to provide full, truthful information to investigations or face criminal sanctions, including possible prosecution and prison sentences. The legislation targets police, NHS and local authorities and aims to prevent withholding, altering or evading information in inquiries where public bodies face criticism. The law responds to the Hillsborough disaster, where amended police witness statements and a 2016 inquest found the 97 deaths were unlawful and exonerated Liverpool fans. The bill is a flagship policy for Keir Starmer, with Labour proposing an amendment to bring intelligence agencies such as MI5 and MI6 within its scope.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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