Starmer’s Last-Week Drive to Pass the Public Office (Accountability) Bill

In the final week of his premiership, Prime Minister Keir Starmer moved to complete the Commons stages of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, commonly called the “Hillsborough law.” The legislation would create new offences for officials who deliberately mislead the public or block accountability after major disasters, and impose a legal duty on public authorities to disclose information. Parliamentary business was updated on Tuesday, allowing MPs to vote before the bill proceeds to the Lords. If approved this week, the measure would become the signature achievement of Starmer’s term.

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The bill is named after the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster, in which 97 Liverpool supporters died. A 2016 inquest concluded the victims were unlawfully killed and that fan behaviour played no role, exposing systemic failures by South Yorkshire Police and other public bodies. Labour pledged the legislation at its 2024 conference, promising to introduce it before the disaster’s next anniversary on 15 April. Delays arose after intelligence agencies—MI5, MI6 and GCHQ—raised national-security concerns about provisions allowing them to withhold information. After a backlash from bereaved families and Labour MPs, the government dropped the contested amendment but continued to negotiate safeguards for sensitive intelligence.

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• “Families should never again have to fight the state to uncover the truth.” — Keir Starmer, Prime Minister, Liverpool conference, 2024

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• “I am confident the draft legislation will be back in the coming days.” — David Lammy, Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, Commons statement

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• Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper urged the government to pass the law before the parliamentary recess.

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Hillsborough families and campaigners condemned the earlier proposal that would let intelligence chiefs decide on disclosure, arguing it would “undermine the central purpose of the law.” Their sustained pressure contributed to the removal of the amendment, but the episode highlighted tension between transparency goals and national-security safeguards.

The Guardian

The Commons will vote on the remaining stages this week. Upon passage, the bill moves to the House of Lords for further scrutiny, with the expectation that it will be enacted before the summer recess ends, potentially allowing Starmer to leave office with the legislation fully enacted.

The Guardian