Former bishop offers Government his help with Hillsborough Law

The former bishop of Liverpool has said he has offered to help the Government with the introduction of a Hillsborough Law, which he believes should be shaped by families’ experiences.

The Right Reverend James Jones, who chaired the Hillsborough Independent Panel, told the PA news agency he had contacted Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer after the Government committed to the legislation, which would incorporate a legal duty of candour, in the King’s Speech earlier this year.

He said: “We’re aware of other public inquiries, we’re aware of millions of words being written about various public tragedies and the families’ feeling is there’s got to be more than words, there’s got to be action and it’s got to lead to change – a change in culture and a change in law.

“I’ve written to the Prime Minister offering my help, having been involved with the families, and I look forward to the Government reaching out to those of us, especially the families, who have experienced these tragedies so that future legislation can be shaped by the families’ own experiences.

“It would be sad if a Hillsborough Law was produced and the families and survivors looked at it and said ‘well that wouldn’t have made any difference’.

“Let’s listen to the families of the Grenfell Tower scandal, of the infected blood scandal, of the Covid pandemic, of the Post Office scandal. Let’s listen to the people that have been badly treated, learn from their experience and change what needs to be changed.”

The former bishop spoke after meeting Hillsborough families as a review of the forensic pathology which followed the 1989 disaster was published.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “This report is a stark reminder of the extent to which the families were failed and this government is committed to helping right the wrongs.

“We are introducing the Hillsborough Law, which will place a duty of candour on all public servants and authorities, building a culture of honesty and integrity, and ensuring that the institutional defensiveness and coverups seen in the wake of tragedies like Hillsborough are never repeated.”

The review was one of 25 recommendations made in Rt Revd Jones’s 2017 report The Patronising Disposition Of Unaccountable Power, which looked at the experiences of the families of the 97 football fans who died because of the crush at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on April 15 1989.