Campaigners have launched a fundraising bid to help make the proposed Hillsborough Law a legal reality.
If enacted, the new law would mean officials would have to come clean about wrongdoing and failures and co-operate proactively with investigations, inquiries and inquests.
The second part of the Bill calls for parity of provision for victims with the public authorities involved in inquests and inquiries.
So far, a growing number of MPs have given their public support for the Bill, but there are still some Parliamentary hurdles to overcome.
Lawyer Elkan Abrahamson, from solicitors Broudie, Jackson and Canter, has started a “Just Giving” fundraising effort to gather more support and cash to make a Hillsborough Law become a reality.
He said: “The Hillsborough Law has the support of MPs from all parties but the Government is doing nothing about enacting it.
“We need a petition calling for a debate in Parliament and we need a campaigner to lobby for the law to be brought before parliament.
“INQUEST, a charity providing expertise on state-related deaths and supporting bereaved families, will take on a campaigner if we raise enough money.
“All money raised will go to INQUEST and their work alongside families searching for truth, justice and accountability.”
Today, £545 had been donated towards a target of £250,000.
In recent weeks, pressure has been placed on Prime Minister Theresa May to support a new Hillsborough Law - and create a “lasting legacy” for the families of the 96.
Mr Abrahamson said: “The investigation of state related deaths is characterised by an institutionalised culture of delay, denial and defensiveness.
“Public bodies routinely cover up their wrongdoing using taxpayers’ money.
“There is concern that this is already happening again with Grenfell with authorities and private entities denying responsibility before the fire was even out.
“We need to stop this and make it a legal duty to tell the truth and proactively cooperate with investigations and inquiries.”
Hillsborough Law
The Hillsborough Law was first mooted after the families of the 96, at the recent inquests into the disaster, were forced to defend themselves from accusations of ticketless fans who had too much to drink, on April 15, 1989.
This is despite the 2012 Hillsborough Independent Panel absolving all Liverpool fans of any blame, and discovering that the fault behind the Leppings Lane tragedy was a failure by police, the ambulance service, as well as defects in the stadium.
The behaviour of supporters, the jury said, played no part in the 1989 disaster.
Now, a report into the treatment of the 96 Hillsborough victims’ families - by the former bishop of Liverpool James Jones - supports the proposed “Hillsborough law” – which would force public bodies and public officials to tell the truth.
Titled The Patronising Disposition of Unaccountable Power, the report looked at the families’ 27-year ordeal – between the 1989 disaster and the end of the inquests in April 2016.
The report by Jones, who chaired the independent panel – which uncovered evidence that led to new inquests – was requested by Prime Minister Theresa May, when she was Home Secretary.
Supporters of the Hillsborough Law blasted the behaviour of public authorities in the recent Hillsborough Inquests. calling it “a stark example of institutional defensiveness and a culture of denial.”
“They add: Despite making fulsome apologies for their role in the disaster and cover-up in September 2012, both the South Yorkshire Police (SYP) and the South Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service (SYMAS) took a very different approach in court two years later.
“Both organisations chose to add to the suffering of bereaved families and unnecessarily lengthen the inquests by deflecting responsibility and failing to acknowledge their previously-admitted failures.
To donate, visit the Just Giving page here
