Agreement on Hillsborough Law could come in weeks, peers told
Labour peer Baroness Chakrabarti said the families of the 97 football fans who died following the 1989 incident feel 'less positive' about its discussions with the Government.
The deadly crush occurred during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the football ground in Sheffield.
The proposed law would require public bodies to have a duty of candour, meaning they would need to co-operate with official inquiries and tell the truth in the aftermath of major disasters – or face criminal sanctions.
A previous deadline set by Labour, that the Bill would be passed before the anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster in April, has been missed.
The Government had said it needed more time to finalise the Bill.
A draft Bill has been criticised by campaigners, including the Hillsborough Law Now group, for not containing pledges previously made – including the duty of candour.
Lady Chakrabarti told the upper chamber on Thursday: 'I'm grateful to (the minister), as always, for repeating the Government's commitment to introduce Hillsborough Law, but I'm afraid that the families and their representatives feel a little less positive about the engagement they had so far.
'Some worry that they've been briefed against to the newspapers, and generally speaking, they worry about the dilution that … Lord Storey has warned against.'
Lord Ponsonby said he was 'sorry to hear that', adding: 'I am aware of very recent interaction with the families in Liverpool, and what I understand is those talks have been going positively, and it is very much hoped that we able to reach some form of agreement in the coming weeks and months.'
He had earlier said: 'Since March, we have listened to stakeholder feedback to ensure that we deliver the best Bill possible.
'This engagement has been constructive and progress has been made. Engagement is ongoing and will continue over the summer.'
Liberal Democrat peer Lord Storey said: 'Would he give a clear commitment there will be no watering down of that duty of candour intent when the Bill is published?'
Lord Ponsonby replied: 'The Prime Minister has made a personal commitment to the affected families to work with them constructively to come up with an appropriate law.
'Regarding the duty of candour, the Government is clear that what happened following the Hillsborough disaster must never happen again.
'Under the Hillsborough Law, public officials will be bound by duties of candour with criminal and professional consequences.
'We are committed to achieving a true cultural change. The Bill cannot change culture on its own, but it can and should act as a catalyst, and we remain committed to launching a programme to encourage cultural change alongside the Bill.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Former North Tyneside Mayor Dame Norma Redfearn granted Freedom of Borough
The former three-time mayor of North Tyneside has been granted the council's highest Norma Redfearn was nominated for the Freedom of the Borough in recognition of her "extraordinary leadership" and the "transformative change" brought to the area during her Karen Clark put forward the Labour veteran's nomination, which was unanimously agreed said: "Through her passion, dedication, and tireless efforts, Dame Norma Redfearn has left an indelible mark on North Tyneside." She said the former mayor "really did make North Tyneside a great place to live, work, and visit."The position of mayor is an elected role and is effectively the leader of the Norma announced her decision last year not to seek re-election, marking the beginning of the end of her 12 years in narrowly retained the mayoralty for Labour in May after beating Reform UK by a thin margin. Dame Norma's administration saw the regeneration of large parts of Whitley Bay including the re-opening of the long-disused Spanish City Dome. She also played a key role in regional devolution, which saw the creation of the North East Combined Authority and the North East elected to North Tyneside Council as a councillor for the Riverside ward in 2004, Dame Norma joined the cabinet and was responsible for the children and young people portfolio in was first elected as mayor in 2013, defeating the then Conservative incumbent Linda to her 20-year career in local politics, she spent 30 years as an educator, culminating as the head teacher of West Walker Primary the Conservative opposition supported the nomination, Tory councillor John Johnson lamented that the same honour was not bestowed to her late following clarification from the council's legal officer, it was determined the Freedom of the Borough could not be handed over posthumously, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
South Wales Argus
3 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Tories would ban doctors' strikes, Badenoch says
The Tory leader said that her party would introduce primary legislation to block medics from taking widespread industrial action, placing the same restrictions on them that apply to police officers and soldiers. Thousands of resident doctors, previously known as junior doctors, began a five-day walkout on Friday after relations between the Government and British Medical Association (BMA) soured over a dispute about pay. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said the union will not be allowed to 'hold the country to ransom' after receiving a 28.9% pay award over the last three years, the highest across the public sector. The BMA says, despite this uplift, pay for resident doctors has declined by a fifth since 2008 once inflation is taken into account. NHS resident doctors outside Bristol Royal Infirmary (Ben Birchall/PA) On Saturday, the Conservatives said they would reintroduce minimum service level requirements, which were brought in by the previous government and scrapped by Labour, across the health service. Mrs Badenoch said: 'The BMA has become militant, these strikes are going too far, and it is time for action. 'Doctors do incredibly important work. 'Medicine is a vocation, not just a job. 'That is why in government we offered a fair deal that supported doctors, but protected taxpayers too.' She said the Tories were 'making an offer in the national interest, we will work with the Government to face down the BMA to help protect patients and the NHS.' Patients have been urged to attend appointments unless told otherwise while the action is ongoing, with NHS England saying hospitals are aiming to reschedule any cancellations due to strikes within two weeks. Mr Streeting has warned of a challenging few days for the health service but said 'we are doing everything we can to minimise' harm.
Daily Record
3 hours ago
- Daily Record
Sir Bob Geldof shouts 'shut up' on Sky News in passionate plea for Gaza children
The Band Aid organiser accused the Israeli government of 'lying' about there being "no famine caused by Israel". Furious Bob Geldof speaks about starvation in Gaza Sir Bob Geldof has slammed the UK Government for not doing enough in Gaza, saying images of starving children 'enrages' him. The Band Aid organiser accused the Israeli government of 'lying' about there being "no famine caused by Israel". "They're dangling food in front of starving, panicked, exhausted mothers," he said. A furious Sir Bob questioned how a powerful supercomputer could be developed in the UK earlier this month at the same time as babies were being forced to survive on a teaspoon of salt and as much water as possible in Gaza. During a passionate interview with Sky News, he said: "Shut up. What have we become that we can do this miracle and perpetuate this agony?' He was also critical of the UK government, which he said had done "not enough" and suggested recognising Palestinian statehood - as Keir Starmer has been under pressure to do - would not make a "difference" to the humanitarian emergency. He told Labour MPs to stop signing their letters calling for it and said it was a kind of "virtue signalling" at this point, adding: "Enough. Guys, focus on the issue to hand." As reported by the Mirror, the political activist said the absolute priority is stopping starving mothers and infants being used as 'instruments of war'. On the Israel-Hamas conflict, he said: "I'm really not interested in what either of these sides are saying. When you target infants and children, when their wounds are no longer capable of healing, when breastfeeding mothers can no longer do this, then everything goes out the window." When asked if it was "unfair" to criticise Israelis, many of whom were protesting against their PM Benjamin Netanyahu's offensive in Gaza, Sir Bob said they should drive to the border to drop off aid. He said: "What's unfair is what's happening to these babies.... What's unfair is that one hour from the hunger, people are sitting down to their unthreatened dinners to turn on the next Netflix show. "So if Israelis want to protest, get in your cars. This is very bold stuff, I know, sorry about that. Get in your car, stuff your cars full of food and drive through that border and let your own army stop you." The UK is working with the Jordanian authorities to get aid in through airdrops into Gaza. Treasury minister James Murray said: 'We need to be doing everything we possibly can to help.' But he admitted "there are real limits and drawbacks with airdrops when it comes to aid". Elsewhere, the PM has been under pressure to recognise Palestine immediately after French President Emmanuel Macron announced his country would do so in September. Some 221 MPs from Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, SNP, Greens, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and independents have signed a letter pressuring the Government to follow suit at a UN meeting next week. The majority of those who have signed, 131, are Labour MPs. Mr Murray said on Sunday: "As a Government, we're committed to the recognition of Palestine, but we need to work with international partners and we need to use that moment to galvanise change. It needs to be part of a pathway to peace." He added: "140 countries have already recognised Palestine. The suffering is still continuing." Meanwhile Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said pictures of children starving in Gaza have not changed her support for Israel. "War is a difficult situation and what I see when I see Israel is a country that is trying to defend itself, mostly from Iran and a lot of its proxies, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis. I think they are in a very difficult situation. "What worries me is that the length of time that this war has been going on is making it very difficult for the people in the Palestinian territories and also for Israel. We need to bring things to an end."
