Andy Burnham has reiterated his support for the introduction of a ‘Hillsborough Law’, following a recent TV drama.
The law, which would force public authorities to tell the truth during legal proceedings, was first introduced to Parliament by Mr Burnham when he was an MP in 2017.
Now, in a video posted on social media with Liverpool city region mayor Steve Rotherham, the Labour politicians have repeated their support for its introduction.
It comes after the broadcast of ‘Anne’, an ITV drama starring Maxine Peake, that charts Anne Williams’ fight to challenge official narratives following the disaster.
Now, the Mayor of Greater Manchester says a change in law is needed to stop ‘a pattern’ of a lack of candour ‘repeating itself’.
Mr Burnham said: “If we had a Hillsborough Law, it would make this place, as a country where truth and justice are more likely to happen.
“The lack of fairness in the system has meant we constantly see the same mistakes of history repeating themselves.”
The Everton fan, who was at the other FA Cup semi-final on the day of the disaster, added that the law also extends to other tragedies.
“We’ve seen what’s happened to the Hillsborough families — but also the families that have suffered from the contaminated blood scandal, and today, families fighting for justice for Grenfell,” he added.
“This is a pattern that keeps on repeating itself, and until we have a Hillsborough Law, that pattern won’t be broken.”
In total, 97 Liverpool fans died during a stadium crush at the 1989 FA Cup semi-final at the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield.
In the decades since, numerous legal battles have been fought between South Yorkshire Police and the families of the victims, with a landmark inquest in 2016 finding the supporters had been ‘unlawfully killed’, after initial verdicts of ‘accidental death’ were quashed.
Two South Yorkshire police officers and a solicitor for the force were charged with perverting the course of justice after being accused of changing 68 police officers’ statements in the aftermath of the atrocity, although they were acquitted last year.
