Hillsborough Law Bill Delayed Until After Summer Recess

A bill to create a Hillsborough Law is not expected to be back in Parliament until after the summer.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told the Commons earlier that he expected the bill to return to the House "in the coming days", but the BBC has been told it is unlikely to go before MPs before the summer recess.

Downing Street had been looking at changes to the Public Office (Accountability) Bill after campaigners raised concerns about how strongly intelligence services could be compelled to comply with a "duty of candour".

While sources suggested there had been "significant progress", they said there were no plans for the bill to return to Parliament before it rose on 16 July.

In the wake of the disaster which claimed 97 lives during an FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield in April 1989, police spread false narratives blaming Liverpool fans, and withheld evidence of their own failings.

Fresh inquests held in 2016 found that the fans had been unlawfully killed, and it was the police who had caused or contributed to their deaths.

The Hillsborough Law would create a legal duty for public officials to tell the truth to inquiries and investigations.

The passage of the bill was paused after families involved in the campaign opposed an opt-out for intelligence services.

A proposed government amendment would have given the heads of intelligence agencies the right to decide whether to co-operate with public inquiries, allowing them to opt out if they believed giving evidence would cause a national security risk.

But some campaigners pointed to the actions of intelligence agencies after the Manchester Arena bombing, when MI5 was accused of misleading the inquiry into the incident.

In the Commons on Wednesday, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper raised a BBC story about an MI5 agent defended by the service despite it knowing he was a misogynist obsessed with violence.

Cooper went on to ask Lammy for an assurance the Hillsborough Bill would be brought back next week – allowing MPs to pass it before the summer break.

Lammy said he was "confident" it would be back "in the coming days".

But the BBC has been told the bill is likely to be left to the next prime minister, which will almost certainly be Andy Burnham.

Burnham, who has been a long-standing supporter of the Hillsborough campaigners, said government plans for the intelligence services created "too broad an opt-out" and risked "undermining the spirit of the legislation".

It is understood Burnham intends to move quickly to pass the bill if he becomes prime minister.