Theresa May has criticised the government’s “vague” promise to publish a response to the 2017 Hillsborough report in spring as pressure grows on the government to act.
The Tory MP was prime minister when the bishop of Liverpool published recommendations five years ago – aimed at “ensuring the pain and suffering of the Hillsborough families is not repeated”.
Ninety-seven football fans died as a result of a crush at an FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on 15 April 1989, with police failures covered up in the aftermath.
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An official police apology was published on Tuesday, however the lack of response from the government has been heavily criticised by the report’s author, families of victims, and politicians.
During a debate on the issue on Wednesday, the policing minister Chris Philp said that a government response is expected to be published in spring.
But Mrs May responded: “Can I say first to my right honourable friend, saying vaguely that the government’s response will be available this spring, I do not think is good enough. Five years on, the government must publish its response.”
The Maidenhead MP added that while the apology from the police is welcome, “frankly, it would have been far better for them to have done their job properly on that fateful April day, 34 years ago”.
She pressed Mr Philp on the introduction of an independent public advocate, whose role would be to help the bereaved in the event of major future tragedies.
Hillsborough campaigners say this would help build trust in the legal system and Mrs May promised the introduction of one in her 2017 manifesto.
The former Conservative minister Kevin Foster also raised this issue as he criticised the government’s delayed response.
“The Hillsborough disaster was a tragedy. The lies, smears and cover-ups that followed were an absolute disgrace … so the extended delay in getting this response out just makes it even worse,” he said.
“Would he at least today commit to the principle of the independent public advocate to ensure that in future families would be on a level playing field?”
Mr Philp refused to commit in principle but pointed to a consultation on the measure which he said is “under active consideration at the moment”.
“It is for the Ministry of Justice to publicly respond,” he added.
Suella Braverman branded ‘an absolute disgrace’
The debate was held in response to an urgent question from Ian Byrne, the Labour MP for West Derby in Liverpool, who asked when the Home Office will set out its response.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman was branded an “absolute disgrace” for not attending the debate after being sat in the chamber for Prime Minister’s Questions earlier.
On Tuesday she said the government had not yet responded to the report because of active criminal proceedings relating to the tragedy, but her Labour counterpart Yvette Cooper said “those finished 18 months ago and the work could have taken place even while those proceedings were ongoing”.
Ms Cooper said: “Where is she [Suella Braverman] today, because previous home secretaries have shown the respect to the families and to the appalling ways in which they have been wronged by being here to respond and it is a devastating failure of responsibility and respect to them not to be here to respond”.
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Calls for Hillsborough Law
An inquest jury ruled in 2016 that the Hillsborough victims were unlawfully killed amid a number of police errors.
The government has long faced calls to implement a “Hillsborough Law” which campaigners say would ensure fairer treatment of bereaved families after major tragedies.
In its response to the report on Tuesday, The National Police Chief Council (NPCC) committed to a new “duty of candour” but campaigners want this to be legally binding.
Mr Byrne, who was in attendance at the game in 1989 and witnessed Liverpool fans being crushed to death, said recommendations from the police “did not go anywhere near far enough to change the culture we came up against in our quest for justice”.
“So I ask the minister, will this government do the right thing for future generations of our nation and implement a Hillsborough Law, containing Bishop Jones’s recommendations with immediate effect?”
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Mr Philp said it is “imperative” that lessons are learned from the disaster and he is “grateful” for the report, but he did not commit to any new law.
“The government is fully committed to engaging with the Hillsborough families prior to the publication of the government’s formal response,” he said.
“And I can also say that in particular since arriving in the Home Office two or three months ago, I have asked for this work to be sped up and we are expecting it to come out in the course of this spring.”
