- Tue Sep 16, 2025 12:39 pm
#96351
Good things that Labour is doing in government. The "Hillsborough" Act. I wasn't sure where to re-post Tom Watson's excellent piece of writing on this, but I'll do it here.
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Justice for the 97
On 15 April 1989 ninety six Liverpool supporters went to a football match and never came home. Years later Andrew Devine died of his injuries, taking the toll to ninety seven. This is for my kids, and for anyone who does not know the history. It is about what a community can do together, how people can challenge state power, why facts and history matter, why the Human Rights Act matters, and how the arts helped people endure a very long fight.
Justice
What happened and how the story was corrupted
The crush took place on the Leppings Lane End at Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough Stadium. It was a failure of crowd management and emergency response. In the days that followed, false stories spread fast. The Sun ran a front page headlined The Truth which claimed, wrongly, that some Liverpool supporters pickpocketed the dead, urinated on police officers, and attacked officers giving first aid. Those allegations were untrue. The paper refused to apologise for years. Later apologies could not undo the harm and were rejected by many on Merseyside as too late and too convenient. The damage has lasted decades and helped fix a false picture in the public mind. This is why facts matter and falsehoods have to be challenged. .
How the arts supported the campaign
From memorial services to terrace mosaics, from banners to benefit gigs, the arts gave shape and stamina to the campaign. Songs were written, plays staged, documentaries made. In 2012 I joined the Justice Tonight tour with Mick Jones, Pete Wylie and The Farm. Those nights were not entertainment for its own sake; they were acts of witness. People came to remember, to raise funds, to organise the next step. Culture created spaces where truth could be heard and where resolve could be renewed.
A moment of national listening
On 17 October 2011 I sat in the House of Commons as my friend Steve Rotheram read, one by one, the names of all ninety six people who died so they would be recorded in Hansard. The chamber fell silent. It felt like the country finally listened.
How the Human Rights Act unlocked the truth
The Human Rights Act brings the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. Article 2 protects the right to life. It also requires the state to run an effective investigation when lives are lost and public bodies may be involved. In plain terms, the state must look properly, involve families, and disclose material that helps reach the truth.
Courts widened what inquests could examine. In 2004 judges made clear that inquests should consider not only how a person died but in what circumstances. That change allowed a fuller look at systemic failure, not a narrow focus on a single cause.
In September 2012 the Hillsborough Independent Panel released hundreds of thousands of pages. It showed that accounts had been altered and that serious mistakes were made on the day. Parliament apologised. In December 2012 the High Court quashed the original inquests. New inquests sat at Warrington from 2014 to 2016 under the Article 2 framework. The jury concluded that the victims were unlawfully killed and that supporter behaviour did not cause or contribute to the disaster. Human rights law did not replace the search for facts; it forced a proper search to happen and gave families a place in it.
We must also name the defeats
In 2019 the match commander was acquitted. In 2021 a trial over altered statements collapsed. Professional misconduct cases brought little closure because those involved had already left their posts. The law corrected the public record, yet it did not deliver the accountability many had hoped for.
Why today’s expected announcement matters
Later today the government is due to bring forward the Bill widely called the Hillsborough Law in the House of Commons. If Parliament gets it right, two simple things will follow. First, a clear duty of candour on public bodies and public officials so they must tell the truth and face real consequences if they do not. Second, automatic legal representation for bereaved families where the state is represented so no family faces a courtroom alone while the other side has a team of lawyers.
This is not only about Hillsborough. It speaks to what we saw at Grenfell, the infected blood scandal and the Post Office cases. It is a culture change written into law. Credit is due to Justice Minister Alex Davies-Jones for keeping victims at the centre of this work. What matters now is the exact wording on the face of the Bill.
To my kids
When an injustice looks too big to face, find other people and share the work. Keep turning up. Do the simple things and be consistent. Write things down while they are fresh, keep documents, ask for disclosure, put corrections on the record. Learn the history of similar fights so you can emulate what worked and avoid what failed. Use the law when you need it. The Human Rights Act exists so families can insist on a proper investigation they and so public bodies must look properly and open their files. Use culture as well. Songs, plays and films give people places to mourn, to teach, to organise, to recover their strength. Be patient and be kind because campaigns take years and people tire, they’ll need each other. Never accept the idea that the truth is optional. It is the ground you stand on.
Why we still say Justice for the 97
Andrew Devine’s inquest in 2021 recorded unlawful killing and made clear that the disaster claimed ninety seven lives. Saying the number matters. Names matter. Memory matters. History matters. The law matters because it forces institutions to honour those facts. Culture matters because it keeps the story alive between court dates and committee stages.
Justice lives in both places, in the courtroom where records are corrected and in the civic spaces where people remember, learn and decide what to do next.
"The opportunity to serve our country: that is all we ask.” John Smith, May 11, 1994.
- By Oboogie