The Guardian view on Covid and Hillsborough: bereaved families forced the state to face the truth, exposing deep-seated failures in institutional accountability. In both tragedies, official responses initially sought to deflect blame, but persistent campaigning by families led to public inquiries that uncovered systemic shortcomings.
Parallels in Official Responses
Following the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, where 97 football fans died, authorities initially blamed the victims. Decades of legal battles by families eventually forced a new inquest and a 2016 verdict of unlawful killing. Similarly, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the UK government faced criticism for its handling, with bereaved families demanding a full public inquiry. The Covid-19 Inquiry, chaired by Baroness Hallett, has revealed failures in preparedness, testing, and care homes, with families playing a crucial role in pushing for transparency.
Impact of Family Campaigning
The relentless efforts of Hillsborough families led to the quashing of original inquest verdicts and the establishment of the Independent Panel in 2009, which disclosed that 164 police statements were altered. For Covid, the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group campaigned for a statutory inquiry, achieving it in 2021. Their testimonies have highlighted the human cost of government delays and lack of protective equipment, with over 200,000 deaths by July 2022.
Systemic Failures Exposed
Both inquiries have revealed systemic issues: in Hillsborough, police and ambulance service failures; in Covid, Public Health England's inadequate pandemic planning. The state's initial reluctance to accept responsibility has been challenged by families' insistence on truth. The Guardian argues that without such pressure, the state would have continued to evade accountability, underscoring the essential role of citizen-led oversight in democracies.
