Overview
- The Public Office (Accountability) Bill, known as the Hillsborough Law, was cleared by MPs on Tuesday after ministers accepted there would be no blanket exemptions for the intelligence services.
- The bill creates a legally enforceable duty of candour that requires public officials to be honest to inquiries, makes it a criminal offence to mislead proceedings, and expands legal aid so bereaved families receive equal publicly funded representation at inquests.
- The breakthrough removes a proposed ‘carve‑out’ for MI5, MI6 and GCHQ by giving serving or former intelligence staff ‘compliance directions’ to pass sensitive material to their agency head, who would then forward it to inquiries under existing security protections.
- Keir Starmer personally steered the legislation through its final Commons stages in his last days as prime minister and incoming leader Andy Burnham publicly endorsed the measure as a lasting legacy for campaigners.
- Campaigners, including Hillsborough families, welcomed the vote as a major step for accountability, but the bill must still pass the House of Lords and ministers have signalled they will seek a swift timetable for final enactment.