'Don't take advantage of us over Hillsborough Law'

Bereaved families and campaigners pushing for a Hillsborough Law have demanded that the government does not "take advantage" of their patience.

The legislation, which would create a legal obligation for public authorities to co-operate with and tell the truth to inquiries, was due to go back to the House of Commons last month.

However, a sticking point emerged about how far the intelligence services would be obliged to co-operate and the government pulled the bill - promising to "work with all parties" to find a solution.

Charlotte Hennessy, whose father Jimmy died in the 1989 disaster, told the BBC she feared the government had put the legislation "right at the bottom of the pile".

Hennessy, who is a founding member of the campaign group Hillsborough Law Now, said: "We were under the impression that we were going to work with the government again, as we have throughout this whole process, and come to some sort of resolve on an amendment that would suit all parties.

"Unfortunately we've had no meaningful resolution and no meaningful update to carry the issue forward, which is becoming very frustrating for our members."

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had previously promised to have the Public Authority (Accountability) Bill in place by 15 April 2025, to mark the 36th anniversary of the disaster.

But the Hillsborough families felt the previous form of the bill did not go far enough and the legislation was delayed for further consultations.

Campaigners said they wanted the law to be "right not rushed" and backed the decision to delay the bill.

It was later put forward again and seemed destined to make its way through Parliament.

The latest hold-up came after a proposed government amendment which would give the heads of intelligence agencies the right to decide whether to co-operate with public inquiries, to prevent any "risk to national security".

However, some campaigners pointed to the behavior of intelligence agencies after the Manchester Arena bombing, when MI5 were accused of "institutioal defensiveness" and a "lack of candour".

Hennessy said since the process was delayed again in January there had been little progress.

"Now that we've hit this bump in the road it seems to have completely put the public accountability bill way at the bottom of the pile which is incredibly frustrating," she said.

Hennessy said the campaign was "not naive" about the competing priorities "on the Prime Minister's desk".

But she said: "I also think that we need to be mindful that people within our coalition are traumatised people who have been wronged by governments on multiple occasions, our judicial system has let them down on multiple occasions.

"There's only so many times that they can say 'another setback' - okay, well, so long as we keep working together'.

"I feel like now we are getting into territory where these people are being taken advantage of."

A government spokesperson said: "The Hillsborough disaster will remain in our national consciousness for its tragedy and disgraceful injustice.

"Our legislation will right these wrongs, changing the balance of power so the state can never hide from the people it is supposed to serve, and making the police, intelligence agencies and the whole of government more scrutinised than they have ever been.

"As we have done throughout this process, we are taking the time to get this right - working with families and campaigners to create a bill that is testament to their decades campaigning, while never compromising on national security."

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