Hillsborough Law takes huge step forward after approval in the House of Commons | OneFootball

Hillsborough Law has taken a significant step towards being implemented after it was approved by MPs in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

Officially titled the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, the legislation will introduce a legally-bound duty of candour requiring public officials to act with honesty and transparency during inquests and investigations, thus ensuring that there is accountability and support for families of those affected by state-related scandals.

Following a previous pledge by outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer to introduce the legislation, the Bill was first laid before Parliament last September, but was held up in January due to a disagreement over how the Duty of Candour would affect the nation’s security and intelligence services.

Hillsborough Law Bill approved in House of Commons

As per Liverpool Echo, the Hillsborough Law Bill passed its final stages through the House of Commons  (The Report Stage and Third Reading) on Tuesday.

It will now pass to the House of Lords in autumn, and should it receive approval there, it’ll then be ready for Royal Assent and officially become UK law.

A major step towards Hillsborough Law finally being implemented

Tuesday’s development feels like a significant stepping stone towards Hillsborough Law finally being implemented, and it is a testament to the unrelenting determination of the families and their fellow campaigners to overcome the major obstacles which have impeded its path towards being passed into law.

On the 37th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster in April, then-Liverpool head coach Arne Slot voiced his surprise that the Bill hadn’t yet been formally introduced into law, adding that truth and accountability from the authorities ‘should be provided as a matter of course’.

Any legislation which’d eliminate the culture of cover-ups by holding public officials and authorities to account, and duly delivering justice for families of the bereaved, is to be welcomed, and nobody should ever again have to go through what those who lost loved ones in Sheffield on 15 April 1989 have courageously overcome.

Should Hillsborough Law receive House of Lords approval and duly be implemented, it’ll ensure that the heroic efforts of campaigners have not been in vain, and that no family will ever again face the same tireless fight for truth and justice.