silverguide.site –

The delayed Hillsborough law could come into force after a shift by the government on forcing intelligence services to give evidence to public inquiries. Disagreement on the issue had seen the bill’s progress halted earlier this year.

Downing Street is understood to be willing to give way over a block on intelligence staff coming under the law’s terms, which enforces a duty of candour on public officials and contractors in the aftermath of disasters.

Concerns among families of victims and survivors of the 1989 tragedy, along with some Labour MPs, about ensuring intelligence officers were covered meant the law, which is proceeding through the Commons, was paused in January.

An attempted compromise failed to unblock the legislation after families and their supporters rejected amendments proposed by the government, bringing the possibility of a backbench rebellion.

More than 20 Labour MPs, including the Merseyside MPs Ian Byrne and Anneliese Midgley, had backed amendments to the bill to place specific duties of candour on intelligence officers.

The proposed compromise brought spies within the legislation's scope, subject to the approval of the head of their service. Campaigners said this would allow those running Security Services to decide whether to disclose information.

While Keir Starmer is believed to be ready to give way to the requests of Hillsborough campaigners, government officials say nothing has yet been agreed. The 37th anniversary of the disaster falls this Wednesday, and any announcement of a new plan is unlikely until after then.

Before the impasse, families affected by the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, where Salman Abedi killed 22 people in a suicide attack at an Ariana Grande concert, wrote to Keir Starmer saying Security Service officers should not be exempt from the new law.

In the letter, they said the inquiry had found the deadly attack could have been stopped if MI5 had acted on crucial intelligence.

“MI5 failed our loved ones and failed us. It did so by failing to prevent the arena bombing. But it then failed and hurt us further through its lack of candour after the attack,” they said in the letter.

Some of the Manchester Arena families subsequently met Starmer, along with Margaret Aspinall, the Hillsborough campaigner who knows the prime minister well and has introduced him at a previous Labour conference.

Starmer had initially promised to pass the law by the time of the anniversary of the disaster last year. But with it not having yet been considered by the Lords, and with a new session of parliament beginning next month, it is likely to have to start again.

A government spokesperson said: “We are working with the families, who have campaigned for decades, to get this bill right. The bill will fundamentally change how public authorities and officials behave during inquiries and investigations, ensuring honesty and transparency, so the state must always act for the people it serves.”