“I cannot support amendments that abandon the Manchester Arena bombing families”Liam Thorp Political Editor and James Holt Senior Live and Breaking News Reporter
20:58, 15 Jan 2026
A banner for Hillsborough Law(Image: PA)
Leaders and campaigners have said they cannot support the Hillsborough Law in its current form after a meeting with the Prime Minister ended with no agreement, accusing Sir Keir as ‘not having the guts’ to stand up to security services.
Some Labour MPs have said they could find themselves forced to vote against the government on the Hillsborough Law they have long campaigned for. The families of those unlawfully killed at the 1989 disaster joined those who lost loved ones in the 2017 Manchester Arena attack and other campaigners for urgent talks about the landmark legislation in Parliament on Wednesday (January 14).
The Hillsborough Law, which is officially known as the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, aims to bring in a duty of candour for public officials that could see them face criminal sanctions if they do not tell the truth. But there are major concerns at what campaigners have called a ‘carve out’ for the intelligence and community services following an amendment put forward by the government.
This would effectively exempt organisations like MI5 from the duty of candour, meaning the head of that service could decide when information should or should not be revealed. The amendments proposed by the government have brought spies within the scope of the legislation, but subject to the approval of the head of their service.
The row over this element of the legislation saw a key vote at the Bill’s committee stage delayed from January 14 until next Monday, allowing families and campaigners to meet with the Prime Minister for urgent talks in London – which resulted in no agreement, the ECHO reports.
Elkan Abrahamson, a lawyer for the Hillsborough Law Now campaign, said the amendments allowed the heads of the security services to make ‘whatever decision they want’ on whether to disclose information and left them ‘unchallengeable’.
In a post on X on Thursday (January 15), Liverpool West Derby Labour MP Ian Byrne, a Hillsborough survivor and the parliamentary lead for the campaign, said he was ‘gutted’ and that he may have to vote against his own government on what would be a ‘watered-down’ law he has campaigned for.
He said: “I am absolutely gutted writing this – but we need to be clear about what is happening. We were promised THE Hillsborough Law, not a watered-down Hillsborough Law that will deny families justice.
(Image: Liverpool Echo)
“Sadly, at the last minute, the Government has laid amendments introducing carve-outs for the security services that would allow the very cover-ups exposed by the Manchester Arena Inquiry. I cannot, in all good conscience, support any amendments that abandon the Manchester Arena bombing families, nuclear test veterans, or the Chinook disaster families.
“I made a commitment to deliver THE Hillsborough Law a law without exemptions, without loopholes, and without carve-outs. The Government made this promise in its manifesto. If the Government’s amendments are passed then the legislation, in its current form, is not that.
“I ask the Prime Minister to honour the promise made to the families and to the country to end the culture of cover-ups by dropping these amendments, so that he delivers THE Hillsborough Law, not a watered-down version.
“If he fails to do so, I urge all MPs who genuinely believe in THE Hillsborough Law, in full and without carve-outs, to support my amendments, to oppose Government’s amendments that weaken this Bill and to vote for the Hillsborough families and campaigners who should never walk alone in this fight.”
Knowsley MP Anneliese Midgley had sought assurances that security services would be fully covered by the Duty of Candour with a question at Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons.
Responding, Sir Keir said he had ‘always been clear the duty of candour applies to the intelligence services’ and said the proposed amendments to the Bill did not water it down. He added: “It is right that there are essential safeguards in place to protect national security, and we’ve got that balance right.”
Sir Keir Starmer(Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)
Ruth Leney, who chairs the Manchester Arena Support Network, told the Press Association that Sir Keir had ‘listened’, but added: “It’s not the outcome that we expected. It’s got to be all or nothing, they can’t water down anything, especially with the security services. We can’t trust the Bill if not everybody is accountable to it.”
A spokesperson for the Hillsborough Law Now campaign group said in a statement: “We want to support this landmark legislation but we stand in solidarity with the Manchester Arena families and others who have been wronged by the intelligence services.
“A Hillsborough Law that wouldn’t prevent the same lies being told to the Manchester Arena families is not a Hillsborough Law. We have given the government a solution. They must take it.”
In response, a Government spokesperson said: “We are bringing in a landmark piece of legislation to end the culture of cover ups and make sure people are never lied to by those who are meant to keep them safe.
“This would not have been possible without the tireless campaigning from victims and families who have lost loved ones and we are determined to make this bill a lasting legacy to the decades they have called for change.
“We have listened to their concerns on how the duty of candour will apply to the security services and we will continue to work with them to make the bill as strong as it can possibly be, while never compromising on national security.”