Government pulls Hillsborough Law amendment after backlash

The government has pulled an amendment to its Hillsborough Law following a backlash from campaigners and some Labour MPs.

The draft legislation would introduce a legal obligation for public authorities to co-operate with and tell the truth to inquiries.

But bereaved families raised concerns that MI5 and MI6 officers could be exempted from disclosing information, after the government put forward an amendment that would have made doing so subject to the approval of the head of their service.

The government will no longer put this proposal to a vote on Monday, with a spokesperson saying it would continue to work with all parties to strengthen the bill “without compromising national security”.

The move was welcomed by the Hillsborough Law Now campaign group, which said it would “engage further with government to ensure the bill fully applies to the security services whilst not jeopardising national security”.

The proposed law – named after the football stadium in Sheffield where a deadly crush occurred in 1989 – aims to make the security services more accountable for failings. The government amendment sought to balance this with protecting confidential information.

Ministers were facing a potential rebellion from Labour MPs, with around 30 backing a proposal by Liverpool Labour MP Ian Byrne that would ensure the legislation applied fully to security service personnel.

The bill is due to complete its remaining stages in the House of Commons on Monday and the government now hopes to bring forward amendments when it reaches the House of Lords.

Byrne – a long-standing campaigner for the law – told the BBC: “I think there’s been an acknowledgement that their amendment was heading for defeat, and thank God they’ve withdrawn it.”

However, he added: “I won’t vote for any law to leave the Commons until myself and the families are happy with what it contains…

“I have spoken to some families, and they are absolutely firm that it has to be the full Hillsborough Law before it leaves the Commons.”

It is understood that Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee did not support the government’s proposed amendment, posing an additional problem for ministers.

It is also understood that, amid increasing government concern about a rebellion, the head of MI5 Sir Ken McCallum was personally involved in speaking to some MPs.

The draft law, formally known as the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, is designed to stop cover-ups and would place the same “duty of candour” on security service personnel as other public servants.

However, campaigners had argued that giving those running security services approval over disclosures would allow them to choose what could be disclosed, and said they could not support the bill in its current form.

Families bereaved by the 2017 Manchester Arena attack had also called for the law to apply fully to security services.

A public inquiry found MI5 had not given an “accurate picture” of the key intelligence it held on the suicide bomber who carried out the attack, which killed 22 people and injured hundreds more.

The Labour mayors of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region, Andy Burnham and Steve Rotherham, had also criticised the government’s amendment, saying it created “too broad an opt-out and risks undermining the spirit of the legislation”.

A government spokesperson said: “This legislation will right the wrongs of the past, changing the balance of power to ensure the state can never hide from the people it should serve, and putting a legal duty on officials to respond openly and honestly when things go wrong.

“The bill will make the police, intelligence agencies and the whole of government more scrutinised than they have ever been, but we can never compromise on national security.”

Earlier, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that she was confident the government would be able to resolve disagreements over the bill before Monday’s vote.

She insisted security services would not be exempt from the legislation but said ministers faced the challenge of ensuring officers, who often held confidential information, could continue to do their jobs.

Nandy added that the government wanted to make sure “we never ever end up in a situation like we did with the Manchester Arena inquiry… where the security services are able to withhold information and present an inaccurate picture to families and to a public inquiry for a very long time”.

The Hillsborough Law is the result of campaigning by families affected by the stadium crush, which led to the death of 97 football fans.

Police leaders were found to have spread false narratives about the disaster, blaming Liverpool fans, and withheld evidence of their own failings.