Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to scrap plans that would have allowed security services like MI5 to exempt themselves from the upcoming Hillsborough Law, according to reports. The law, officially the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, aims to impose a legal duty of candour on public authorities to prevent state cover-ups.
The government had previously proposed an amendment that would bring MI5, MI6, and GCHQ within the scope of the legislation but allow security chiefs to block individual spies from giving evidence on national security grounds. This sparked a major backlash from MPs, campaigners, and bereaved families, including those affected by the Manchester Arena bombing and the Hillsborough disaster.
Under the revised plans, reported by The Times, the ability for security chiefs to veto evidence will be removed. Instead, security bosses would have to apply to a court for a partial or full exemption from releasing sensitive information. The change follows a decades-long fight by families of the 97 Liverpool fans who died in the 1989 Hillsborough stadium crush.
Speaking on Monday, Starmer acknowledged the upcoming 37th anniversary of the disaster and reiterated his commitment to the law. “I did make that promise and I intend to deliver on that promise,” he told reporters. “The duty of candour, the duty, basically, that public officials need to come forward and tell the truth – that’s a really important principle that drives me.”
Hillsborough campaigner Margaret Aspinall, whose 18-year-old son James died in the tragedy, had urged Starmer to act “ASAP”. In an interview earlier this month, she said: “You promised when you first came into power that you would fulfil a Hillsborough Law in all its entirety. Now do what you promised.”
