The government has apologised for taking six years to respond to a 2017 report into the experiences of the bereaved families of 97 Liverpool FC fans who died in 1989.
In November 2017, former bishop of Liverpool, the Rt. Rev. James Jones, had set out 25 learning points in his report “The Patronising Disposition of Unaccountable Power” following inquests into the deaths of the fans who died at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final in Sheffield.
Families of those who died, the local Liverpool community, and survivors have always rejected the police’s official version of events, which blamed fans’ drunken behaviour for the police’s own errors.
In 1991 an inquest ruled the deaths of the fans as accidental. After years of campaigning by families, that ruling of accidental death was quashed in a High Court challenge in 2012, sparking a new inquest that ran until 2016. This concluded that the 97 victims were “unlawfully killed,” and that Liverpool fans’ behaviour did not contribute to the crush, amid a number of police errors.
‘Tenacity, Patience, and Courage’
On Wednesday, the government said that a “Hillsborough Law” was “not necessary.”
It said that a “Hillsborough Charter” broadly achieves the same aims as it will consult on expanding legal aid for affected families and places “a statutory duty of candour on the police.”
“Legislation alone cannot ensure a culture of openness, honesty and candour, we will not rule out bringing further legislation if we think this is needed to drive further improvements,” the government added.
The Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden “has signed what today will be known as the Hillsborough charter on behalf of the government.”
He said policing authorities and fire chiefs were among other signatories, adding, “We want this charter to become part of the culture of what it means to be a public servant in Britain.”
Mr. Chalk also announced plans to give families of victims in tragedies greater involvement in the inquest process, telling the Commons, “I can announce today that we will consult on an expansion of legal aid for families bereaved through public disaster where an independent public advocate is engaged or in the aftermath of a terrorist incident.”
The justice secretary also said an “organisational duty of candour” will be required for all police as a result of the Criminal Justice Bill, and that the government was reviewing whether a similar duty for health workers needed to be strengthened in light of recent scandals.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “The Hillsborough families have suffered multiple injustices and more than 34 years later there can never be too many apologies for what they have been through.
“And I want to repeat that apology today and thank the Hillsborough families for their tenacity, patience, and courage.”
6 Years
Elkan Abrahamson, director of Hillsborough Law Now, said, “To wait six years for a government to respond to a report about a disaster that took place 34 years ago speaks volumes.”He added: “Only the full reintroduction of the Public Authority (Accountability) Bill, which was introduced by [former shadow home secretary] Andy Burnham but fell when the 2017 general election was called, will do; namely making a duty of candour enforceable and ensuring a level playing field between public authorities and those affected by disasters and wrongdoing at inquests and inquiries.”
Police bosses apologised to the families in January this year.
Chief Constable Andy Marsh, the College of Policing’s CEO, said in a statement at the time, “For what happened, as a senior policing leader, I profoundly apologise. Policing got it badly wrong.”
“Policing has profoundly failed those bereaved by the Hillsborough disaster over many years and we are sorry that the service got it so wrong. Police failures were the main cause of the tragedy and have continued to blight the lives of family members ever since,” he said.
Mr. Marsh said that changes will include all police forces in England and Wales signing up to a charter agreeing to acknowledge when “mistakes have been made and not seek to defend the indefensible.”
