{"success":true,"data":{"id":"465de8cf-e4b1-4cae-8aee-a5b3223fb33c","title":"MPs expected to approve long-delayed 'Hillsborough Law'","summary":"Site search News Business Technology Culture Arts Travel Earth Audio Video Live Documentaries MPs expected to approve long-delayed 'Hillsborough Law' 21 minutes ago Save Richard Wheeler Political reporter Reuters MPs are expected to approve the long-delayed 'Hillsborough Law' later, in a bid to prev...","content":"Site search \n\nNews\n\nBusiness\n\nTechnology\n\nCulture\n\nArts\n\nTravel\n\nEarth\n\nAudio\n\nVideo\n\nLive\n\nDocumentaries\n\n# MPs expected to approve long-delayed 'Hillsborough Law'\n\n21 minutes ago\n\nSave\n\nRichard Wheeler Political reporter\n\n![Image 1: Reuters People stand in front of the Hillsborough Memorial outside Anfield Stadium in Liverpool. There are flowers and heart balloons in front of a plaque with the names of the victims of the disaster.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/fa7d/live/fd16c770-f468-11f0-a0d3-85939bf94401.jpg.webp)Reuters\n\nMPs are expected to approve the long-delayed 'Hillsborough Law' later, in a bid to prevent cover-ups linked to failures of the state.\n\nThe legislation would impose a duty on public authorities and officials to tell the truth and proactively co-operate with official investigations and inquiries.\n\nIt has been delayed by wrangling over how the duty applies to the intelligence services, with ministers recently breaking the deadlock with further amendments.\n\nThe bill's approval by MPs in Sir Keir Starmer's final days as prime minister would enable him to present it as part of his legacy in No 10.\n\nAndy Burnham, Sir Keir's expected successor, said the debate will be a \"deeply moving moment\". Both men are expected to speak in the Commons later.\n\nThe proposed law takes its name from the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, which claimed 97 lives after a crush during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday's ground.\n\nPolice leaders were found to have spread false narratives about the disaster, blaming Liverpool fans, and withheld evidence of their own failings.\n\nThe legislation, which also commits to providing legal aid for victims of disasters or state-related deaths, was a pledge in Labour's 2024 general election manifesto. It is formally known as the Public Office (Accountability) Bill.\n\nSir Keir had promised to pass the bill by 15 April 2025, to mark the 36th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.\n\nBut this deadline was missed and the government abandoned a final debate in January [following a backlash from campaigners and some Labour MPs](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yvldj47v9o).\n\nThis came after a government amendment would have made co-operation with inquiries by intelligence officers subject to the approval of the head of their service.\n\nBereaved families said MI5 and MI6 officers should be fully subject to the proposed law and pointed to a series of cases where MI5 has provided false information, [including the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crkr0r6lrdjo).\n\nThe government has now tabled amendments to the bill, which campaigners have said means there would be no exemption for the intelligence services and ministers believe would not compromise national security.\n\nThese will be considered during the bill's report stage ahead of it being approved at third reading on Tuesday.\n\nThe bill will then proceed to the House of Lords where it could be changed further, including by any peers concerned over the impact of the bill on national security.\n\nOn Tuesday, Downing Street said the government wants the law to be on the statute book by April next year, in time for the next anniversary.\n\nAhead of the debate, Sir Keir said the \"landmark law\" was \"a tribute to the incredible families and campaigners who have spent decades and decades fighting to get justice for their loved ones\".\n\n\"They suffered unimaginable grief and never gave up. If it wasn't for their dedication the Hillsborough Law would never have happened,\" he added.\n\nDuring the debate on the bill in November last year, Sir Keir also highlighted that Hillsborough was not an isolated example of a state cover-up.\n\nHe raised failings connected to other scandals including the Grenfell Tower fire, infected blood and grooming gangs.\n\nBurnham, who is on course to replace Sir Keir as prime minister on 20 July, said the Hillsborough families have \"shown extraordinary courage\" and they are \"helping to reshape the relationship between the public and the state for generations to come\".\n\nHe said: \"The lesson of Hillsborough goes beyond introducing a duty of candour.\n\n\"It asks us what kind of country we want to be. One where power is concentrated in distant institutions, or one where it is shared more fairly with the people and places those institutions are meant to serve.\n\n\"If an entire city could be ignored for two decades while telling the truth about the deaths of its own people, what other communities have gone unheard? Which voices have been overlooked simply because they lacked power?\"\n\nThe Labour MP for Makerfield said he believes there is a need to \"build a Britain where every community is treated with equal respect and where, in the face of injustice, nobody walks alone\".\n\nHillsborough Law campaigners, including those whose family members were killed in the 1989 disaster, welcomed the return of the bill to the Commons.\n\nIn a statement, Charlotte Hennessy, Sue Roberts, Steve Kelly and Margaret Aspinall said: \"This is not just about legislation, but about changing the way the bereaved and survivors are treated and a change in culture and it is deeply empowering knowing that this protects others forever.\"","source_name":"BBC News","source_url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9q2qwnvd75o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9q2qwnvd75o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss","author":"Unknown Author","author_name":"Unknown Author","published_at":"2026-07-14T12:53:55.000Z","publication_date":"2026-07-14T12:53:55.000Z","image_url":"https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/fa7d/live/fd16c770-f468-11f0-a0d3-85939bf94401.jpg.webp","category":"world","topic":"world","tags":[],"political_bias":null,"bias_score":null,"confidence_score":null,"credibility_score":null,"factual_quality":null,"reading_time":5,"word_count":815,"view_count":0,"breaking":false,"breaking_news":false,"ai_analysis":null,"fact_check_status":"unverified","archive_status":"hot"}}