King's Speech: What is the 'Hillsborough Law' promised by Labour government after Sheffield football disaster?
The Government has pledged to introduce the long-awaited ‘Hillsborough Law’ in the first King’s Speech under Labour - but what does it mean?
The Hillsborough Law - named after the disaster at Sheffield’s Hillsborough Stadium that killed 97 people in 1989 - would place a ‘legal duty of candour’ on public servants and authorities.
It means officials and public servants and would have to tell the truth under penalty of prosecution - something that is currently only the case in the NHS.
It would also mean the victims of disasters or state-related deaths - such as the Manchester Arena Bombing, Grenfell and the Infected Blood Scandal - must be provided legal aid.
The Hillsborough Law is a nickname for the Public Authority (Accountability) Bill.
After inquests finally ruled that the 97 people who died at the stadium in 1989 were unlawfully killed and that officials covered up their responsibility by lying, an independent panel in 2017 set out 25 recommendations to prevent future injustices like Hillsborough - including the ‘Hillsborough Law’ requiring public servants to tell the truth.
It comes after the Conservative government rejected calls by Hillsborough Law campaigners in December 2023, saying it was “not aware” of any gaps or clarifications needed that would further encourage a culture of candour among public servants in law.
Instead - and six years after the recommendations - it signed the ‘Hillsborough Charter’, pledging to place the public interest above its own reputation, thus claiming the law was not necessary.
This was contradicted on May 22 this year in the wake of the infected blood scandal, when then-PM Rishi Sunak told PMQs there was now “enormous sympathy” for the law at Whitehall. Incidentally, he called the General Election later that day.
At the King’s Speech today, when His Majesty speaks on behalf of the new government at the State Opening of Parliament, King Charles said: “My Government will take steps to help rebuild trust and foster respect.
"Legislation will be brought forward to introduce a duty of candour for public servants."
Campaign group Hillsborough Law Now has called the announcement “life changing.”
Charlotte Hennessey lost her father, Jimmy, at Hillsborough when she was just six years old. She said: “For too long we have watched bereaved, devastated families have to fight for truth and answers in circumstances where the professionals involved have been allowed to mislead, lie or omit crucial information or evidence in a bid to protect themselves.
“This is also a reassuring step to ensure that bereaved families will have fair access to legal representation at an extremely difficult time in their lives. I can't think of a bigger legacy to the 97 innocent, unlawfully killed victims of the Hillsborough disaster.
“Too many people in this country spend their time of grief, fighting against corrupt organisations.”
Anne Burkett lost her son Peter at Hillsborough. She added: “Along with many families I have campaigned for years for Hillsborough Law. The Hillsborough families struggled because we didn't have the funds so we could not access legal representation. We were just ordinary people trying to fight for justice for our loved ones. We had already had so many doors shut in our faces but we never walked away. We knew that we would fight to the bitter end and we did, but we don’t want people to have to go through what we did.
“We need to have the Hillsborough Law for the future so that nobody should ever be denied legal access to state funding. It's been eight years since the verdict in Hillsborough was overturned. It took 27 years. What a long road. Can you imagine walking for that long? This is one of the very many reasons why we need Hillsborough Law.”