Hillsborough Families Demand Law Before Starmer Leaves

Campaigners Urge Starmer to Deliver on Manifesto Pledge Before Departure

Hillsborough survivors and bereaved families are pressing Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to pass the Hillsborough Law in full before he leaves office, warning that further delays would constitute a broken promise to victims of one of Britain’s worst sporting disasters.

Ian Byrne, Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby and a survivor of the 1989 disaster, made the appeal directly to Starmer, citing the party’s 2024 general election manifesto as a binding commitment. “The prime minister’s got a real opportunity to do this as part of his legacy,” Byrne told the BBC.

Bill Stalled Over Intelligence Services Dispute

The Public Authority (Accountability) Bill — commonly known as the Hillsborough Law — was scheduled to pass in April 2025, on the 36th anniversary of the disaster. It was paused following a dispute over a proposed opt-out clause for the security services.

The legislation is designed to impose a statutory duty of candour on public bodies, requiring greater openness and accountability in the aftermath of major incidents. Byrne has tabled an amendment to prevent any exemptions — or “carve-outs” — from applying to intelligence agencies.

“That’s in his gift to give,” Byrne said. “We know it’s done then, so all the worry will be off our shoulders.”

Families Reject Calls to Wait for New Leadership

Charlotte Hennessy, whose father James was among the 97 people unlawfully killed at Hillsborough, said she welcomed Andy Burnham’s return to Westminster as MP for Makerfield but rejected suggestions the legislation should await his potential succession to the premiership.

“It was written in 2017, it’s been amended along the way. There’s no reason [Sir Keir] can’t endorse that original bill,” she said.

Hennessy acknowledged Burnham’s long association with the campaign — he commissioned the landmark Hillsborough Independent Panel report as culture secretary in 2010 and helped draft the bill — but expressed concern that intelligence agency resistance would persist regardless of who leads the government.

“I have got no doubt whatsoever that it’s definitely going to be a priority, but my concern is there will still be these barriers from the intelligence agencies,” she said.

Campaign Group Acknowledges Starmer’s Role

The Hillsborough Law Now campaign issued a measured statement crediting Starmer with securing the legislation’s inclusion in Labour’s 2023 manifesto platform, while registering continued frustration at delays.

“He did not forget us,” the statement read. “While we are disappointed by the continued barriers and delays, we thank him for helping us reach this point when many other prime ministers did not even try.”

The bill’s fate now rests with a government in political transition, leaving families who have campaigned for accountability for more than three decades uncertain whether the statutory protections they have sought will be enacted before power changes hands.