Government rejects ‘Hillsborough law’ central to campaign by victims’ families

Ministers reject families' call for legally enforceable duty of candour' but signs charter to commit to transparency after public tragedies

Ministers have rejected the Hillsborough law" reforms that are central to a campaign by families of the 97 people killed in the 1989 disaster to prevent future police cover-ups.

Instead, in its long-delayed response to the 2017 report commissioned by the government from James Jones, the former bishop of Liverpool, the government has signed a Hillsborough charter", that states a commitment by departments to openness and transparency after public tragedies.