Hillsborough Law campaigners say they cannot back proposed bill

The families of victims of the Manchester Arena bombing say they cannot support the current form of a new law being designed to stop cover-ups.

Campaigners met Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday in Parliament to press their case that the Hillsborough Law should apply to individual employees of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ and leave no public authority exempt.

Last week, families bereaved by the arena attack in 2017 wrote to him saying MI5 had failed them and argued that the proposed law must apply fully to security services.

But following their meeting, they said the PM had failed to address their concerns.

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 arena attack, which killed 22 people and injured hundreds.

The Hillsborough Law Now campaign has warned that the draft legislation in its current form could allow intelligence chiefs “to hide serious failures behind a vague claim of national security”.

The government has tabled amendments to the draft law, formally known as the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, that would place the same “duty of candour” on security service personnel as other public servants.

But MI5, MI6 and GCHQ chiefs would have the power to “review and determine whether or how” to provide any information supplied by agents to inquiries or investigations, under the amendments.

Government sources said while they had the deepest respect for the families, they had gone as far as they could without compromising national security and that the security services would be subjected to unprecedented scrutiny.

A government spokesman told the BBC: “We have listened to their concerns on how the duty of candour will apply to the security services and we will continue to work with them to make the bill as strong as it can possibly be, while never compromising on national security.”

Ruth Leney, who chairs the Manchester Arena Support Network, said the PM had “listened” during their meeting on Wednesday, but added: “It’s not the outcome that we expected.

“It’s got to be all or nothing, they can’t water down anything, especially with the security services.”

She added: “We can’t trust the Bill if not everybody is accountable to it.”

Caroline Curry, whose son Liam Curry, 19, was killed in the bombing, said she was “devastated” about amendments to the bill and felt like she had been misled.

“We can’t bring our children back, they’re gone,” she said.

“But what we can do is try to stand up for other people and try to protect their children.”

“It’s not what they agreed and what they promised,” said Lisa Rutherford, whose daughter Chloe Rutherford, 17, was also killed.

“They have said that they will go away and have another look but we are not hopeful,” she added. “All we want is honesty.”

“The government is in danger of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory,” said Pete Weatherby KC, a director of the Hillsborough Law Now campaign which is assisting with the bill.

“They’ve got provisions which would not prevent the problems that occurred with the Manchester Arena, where MI5 corporately put forward a false narrative for six years and very nearly avoided the truth coming out.”

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Labour MP Anneliese Midgley accused MI5 of spending “six years misleading the public and concealing information” about the arena bombing.

In response, Sir Keir said he is determined not to “water down” the legislation and argued that the amendments tabled by the government would “strengthen” it.

“It is right that there are essential safeguards in place to protect national security, and we’ve got that balance right,” Starmer said at PMQs.

The bill follows campaigning by families affected by the 1989 Hillsborough disaster that claimed 97 lives.

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

The government has confirmed the remaining stages of the bill will take place next Monday, instead of Wednesday, allowing time for changes to be considered.

A government source told the BBC the delay would allow further “tweaking” of the bill to address issues raised by MPs.

Liverpool Labour MP Ian Byrne – a long-standing Hillsborough campaigner – has accused the government of “snatching defeat from the jaws of victory” by amending the legislation.

He said he plans to press ahead with his own amendment, which would fully apply the law to the security services, unless the government was willing to change its position.

About 30 Labour MPs have so far publicly backed Byrne’s amendment.

The prime minister’s official spokesperson said on Tuesday: “This government will not bring forward legislation that would put the national security of the UK or lives at risk.

“On Friday, we brought forward a series of amendments to address concerns that the bill did not apply to individual employees of the intelligence agencies. But we’re determined to get this right.”