Prime Minister in waiting Andy Burnham has given his first speech in the Commons as the Government introduces the Hillsborough Law
Burnham told the Commons that he hopes it “ends the cover-up culture” many have faced in the country.
“We cannot take that hurt away tonight, but we can put decency back at the heart of the British state, and that is what this bill does“ he said
The law he added will “change the way this country thinks and works about justice,” as it “truly is a rewiring of the state and a passing of power from the authorities to the hands of ordinary people.”
The draft law imposes a duty on public bodies to tell the truth and cooperate with inquiries after survivors and the families of those who died campaigned for decades to find out what had happened. Subsequent investigations found police cover-ups and false narratives had been spread about the circumstances of the Hillsborough deaths.
Liverpool MP Ian Bryne in a powerful intervention said
“The families, the survivors & the people of Liverpool will never forgive those who deliberately vilified innocent people & orchestrated that cover up. They will never forget what Rupert Murdoch, Kelvin MacKenzie, the Sun, Norman Bettison & South Yorks police did..”
