Labour delays Hillsborough law until families reach agreement

Labour will not bring the Hillsborough law back to the Commons for debate until it can reach agreement with the families, the Guardian understands. Keir Starmer was forced to delay the bill after talks broke down last week with those affected by the Hillsborough disaster and the Manchester Arena attack.

Central to the disagreement is how the duty of candour in the public authority (accountability) bill would apply to serving intelligence officers. The law, designed to stop official cover-ups, would mean those in public office who lie or evade would face prosecution. The government has agreed the law should cover the security services but wants agency chiefs to have the final say over when individual officers can give evidence, a power families say is unacceptable and could lead to future cover-ups.

On Friday the government laid down its own amendments to the bill, which put further obligations on the security services but still did not gain agreement. A Labour source said there was no option but to delay the bill until a compromise acceptable to the families and that did not affect national security could be reached; families and the barrister Pete Weatherby met ministers Alex Davies-Jones and Nick Thomas-Symonds on Monday but left without agreement.

MPs said they were relieved the government had pulled the bill from Commons business, but it may not return for many weeks. About 20 Labour MPs had signed an amendment from Ian Byrne in line with the families' demands.

Key Topics

Politics, Hillsborough Law, Keir Starmer, Security Services, Hillsborough Disaster, Manchester Arena Attack