Keep the Promise: Pass the Hillsborough Law Now
Prime Minister Keir Starmer
The Prime Minister promised one of his first acts would be to pass the Hillsborough Law.
This landmark piece of legislation is designed to end the culture of state cover-ups – seen at the Hillsborough disaster, the infected blood scandal, the Post Office Horizon scandal, the Grenfell Tower disaster, amongst many others.
But the Government is stalling and there are reports that it could table an inadequate replacement bill instead. That’s why Ian Byrne MP has tabled the real Hillsborough Law in Parliament.
Add your name to this petition to call on the Prime Minister to fulfil his promise to enact the Hillsborough Law in full and without delay.
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To:
Prime Minister Keir Starmer
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Prime Minister,
In 2022 in Liverpool, you promised passing “the Hillsborough Law” would be “one of [your] first acts as Prime Minister.”[1] You reaffirmed that commitment in Liverpool in September 2024 as Prime Minister.[2]
This pledge had a clear meaning. The Hillsborough Bill is a specific Bill: the Public Authorities (Accountability) Bill. Originally introduced by Andy Burnham in 2017, written by Hillsborough lawyers, and endorsed by survivors and families, it is designed to end the culture of state cover-ups and restore public trust.
Yet instead of introducing this Bill, in March 2025 your Government presented an inadequate draft to Hillsborough lawyers. It omitted key principles and protections. After strong opposition from families and survivors, you scrapped the proposed rollout. But there are now serious concerns that a revised replacement Bill – still falling far short – will be brought forward.
That would be yet another betrayal of Hillsborough families and the wider campaign for justice.
That is why Ian Byrne MP – parliamentary lead for the Hillsborough Law Now campaign and himself a survivor of the disaster – reintroduced the real Hillsborough Law in Parliament: the very legislation you promised to enact and the law that would deliver the change that so many have fought for.
The Public Authorities (Accountability) Bill is now progressing through Parliament. But without your Government’s support, it will not become law.
Prime Minister, we urge you: do not let a promise made in Liverpool be broken in Westminster. Stand with the victims of state cover-ups. Honour the 97. Fulfil your pledge. Enact the Hillsborough Law in full and without delay.
Yours sincerely,
[1] https://labour.org.uk/updates/press-releases/keir-starmer-conference-speech/
[2] https://labour.org.uk/updates/press-releases/keir-starmer-speech-at-labour-party-conference-2024/