PM says No 10 has 'sympathy' for duty of candour law - but that's not what Hillsborough campaigners were told

PM Rishi Sunak today said he had “sympathy” for a duty of candour law that would make dishonesty by public servants illegal - but that’s not what he said when Hillsborough campaigners asked for it in December.

Keir Starmer today compared the failings over infected blood to Sheffield’s Hillsborough Disaster, calling it the same “familiar story” of “scandal after scandal” in England.

The Labour leader called the dishonesty, cover-ups and ignored families that marked the healthcare scandal “not unique” when stood next to horrors like Grenfell, Windrush, and the deaths of 97 football fans that saw families fight for decades to get justice.

The mention at Prime Minister’s Questions today (May 22) came as the opposition called for a “duty of candour” and the legal responsibility to be honest be “enshrined in law across the board.”

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Such a law would mean public servants would have a legal responsibility to tell the truth or face criminal charges. This is already in place for NHS staff, and was emphasised as a failing in Brian Langstaff’s report over the blood scandal, but here Sir Keir is asking for it to be extended to all services.

“The infected blood scandal is shocking. But it’s not unique. The story is familiar,” said Sir Starmer from the dispatch box.

“Concerns raised but ignored. Reports but read but not acted on. Victims and their families campaigning for years just to be heard.

“So I want to focus on if I may on the duty of candour. Or lack of it. Which has been a failing in scandal after scandal and injustice after injustice - from Grenfell to Horizon to Hillsborough and now infected blood.

“I cannot think of a single example where they duty of candour should not apply to all public services across the board. And I don’t think it’s possible for any of us to stand at this dispatch box and honestly say ‘never again’ unless we address it.

“So does the Prime Minister agree that the time has now come for the duty of candour to be clearly enshrined in law across the board?”

The Prime Minister replied that “given the situation and the gravity of the findings, it’s a recommendation that there is an enormous amount of sympathy for.”

This is in contrast to when, in December, Hillsborough campaigners pushed for ‘the Hillsborough Law’ that would include a legal duty of candour on public authorities and officials to tell the truth and proactively co-operate with official investigations and inquiries.

In response, the Government stopped short of introducing the legislation, saying it was "not aware" of any gaps or clarifications needed that would further encourage a culture of candour among public servants in law.

The comparisons between the infected blood scandal to Hillsborough, and the failings of public service that then tried to cover up what happened, are non-trivial.

The fight for justice launched by the families of the total of 97 victims was relentless to expose that there had been a cover up to deflect blame by South Yorkshire Police.

In 2012, an independent panel’s findings were published and revealed that 164 police statements were altered - 116 of them to remove or change negative comments about the policing of the ill-fated FA Cup semi-final on the day of the disaster.