Keir Starmer's Labour government has put its plans for a Hillsborough law on hold indefinitely until it reaches an agreement with families of those affected by the 1989 disaster and the Manchester Arena attack. The law aims to prevent official cover-ups but faces opposition from the government, which wants to give agency chiefs final say over when individual officers can give evidence.
The issue at hand revolves around how duty of candour in public authorities will apply to serving intelligence officers. Families claim that this provision is unacceptable and could lead to future cover-ups. The government has agreed that the law should cover security services, but it wants to make exceptions for agency chiefs.
In a bid to break the deadlock, the government has tabled its own amendments, which impose further obligations on the security services. However, these changes have not satisfied the families, leading Labour to delay bringing the bill to the Commons until a compromise can be reached.
Families met with ministers Alex Davies-Jones and Nick Thomas-Symonds in the Ministry of Justice earlier this week but left without agreement. Starmer has vowed to find a solution that ensures accountability for those responsible for the Hillsborough disaster, adding that he must balance national security interests with the need to right historical wrongs.
The delay means that MPs may not see the bill again until many weeks have passed. A significant number of Labour MPs had signed an amendment calling for the application of duty of candour to serving intelligence officers, but this was blocked by the government's amendments. Campaign groups and local politicians have voiced support for the families' demands.
The government source has stated that there is no deadline for talks, which will involve multiple stakeholders including the Home Office, Foreign Office, and intelligence and security committee. Starmer is likely to be directly involved in these negotiations at a later stage.
The issue at hand revolves around how duty of candour in public authorities will apply to serving intelligence officers. Families claim that this provision is unacceptable and could lead to future cover-ups. The government has agreed that the law should cover security services, but it wants to make exceptions for agency chiefs.
In a bid to break the deadlock, the government has tabled its own amendments, which impose further obligations on the security services. However, these changes have not satisfied the families, leading Labour to delay bringing the bill to the Commons until a compromise can be reached.
Families met with ministers Alex Davies-Jones and Nick Thomas-Symonds in the Ministry of Justice earlier this week but left without agreement. Starmer has vowed to find a solution that ensures accountability for those responsible for the Hillsborough disaster, adding that he must balance national security interests with the need to right historical wrongs.
The delay means that MPs may not see the bill again until many weeks have passed. A significant number of Labour MPs had signed an amendment calling for the application of duty of candour to serving intelligence officers, but this was blocked by the government's amendments. Campaign groups and local politicians have voiced support for the families' demands.
The government source has stated that there is no deadline for talks, which will involve multiple stakeholders including the Home Office, Foreign Office, and intelligence and security committee. Starmer is likely to be directly involved in these negotiations at a later stage.
- families of those who died are still fighting for accountability & justice but the government's being all like "we'll talk about it" and nothing's changing 
meanwhile starmer's just trying to find a balance between national security & righting historical wrongs, good on him though 
gotta keep pushing for change even when progress is slow 
. I think it's great that Keir Starmer is standing firm on the need for accountability, especially given the tragic events of Hillsborough and the Manchester Arena attack. The government's proposed amendments seem like a half-measure at best - by giving agency chiefs final say over when individual officers can give evidence, they're essentially shielding them from scrutiny 
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This is so frustrating... the families of Hillsborough victims are still waiting for answers 
. The gov's hesitation on this one is 
. Duty of candour should apply to all public authorities 
, not just making exceptions for agency chiefs 
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. We can't let politics get in the way of finding truth & closure 
. The gov's amendments don't seem to be addressing the concerns 
. Maybe they need to listen more & compromise more 
. This delay is gonna make it hard for MPs to see progress 
! 
I mean, I get it, national security interests, but can't we balance that with justice and accountability? 
My gut tells me there's more to this story than meets the eye 
... The government is being super shady about this whole thing, and it's all about covering their own behinds 
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. I'm no expert, but it seems like Labour's trying to find a middle ground here, but I'm not convinced 
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they deserve justice and truth! it's like, I get that there needs to be some kind of compromise on national security but come on! duty of candour should apply to everyone not just certain people in power 
. I think Labour is tryna be all fair and balance national security with making things right... but fam, this is about justice & accountability 
and Starmer to find a solution that doesn't leave people feeling like they're still living in the dark 
. Fingers crossed they can find common ground tho 
, like, they've been through so much already and I think we owe them an explanation for what went down all those years ago... but at the same time, I can see why the government is being super cautious about giving agency chiefs final say 
. The Hillsborough disaster was a terrible tragedy that had devastating consequences, and we should be learning from it not avoiding the truth. This delay just means more time for things to fester and more hurt for the families 
And what really gets my goat is that these families are still dealing with the aftermath of one of the darkest tragedies in British history, and we're not even getting close to giving them justice. 
it's not too much to ask for some transparency, is it? 
what a kick in the teeth... I mean I get it, national security is important, but so are human lives and dignity! 
how can we trust our government when it seems like it's more concerned with sweeping things under the rug? 
this delay is just another example of that... it's not like they're even making a genuine effort to find common ground here... some compromise would've been nice, any compromise whatsoever... 
like, how many times do we have to go through this? anyway i think starmer's being super reasonable by delaying the bill until a compromise can be reached 
gotta keep some balance between national security and accountability, but this law could really help prevent future cover-ups 
and their families are right to be furious 
. I hope Starmer and the families can find a compromise, but at this rate, it'll take forever