The Culture Secretary insists MI5 will not be ‘exempt’
The Glade of Light memorial for the Manchester Arena victims(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
Lisa Nandy insists the security services will not be ‘exempt’ from the Hillsborough Law, amid concerns from the families of the Manchester Arena bombing victims. The new legislation aims to bring in a duty of candour for public officials – meaning they could face criminal sanctions if they do not tell the truth.
But campaigners are warning that the draft version of the law, formally known as the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, could allow intelligence chiefs to ‘hide serious failures behind a vague claim of national security’. Changes proposed by the Government on Wednesday (January 14) brought spies within the scope of the legislation, but only if the head of their service approves it.
With concerns growing that the law is being ‘watered down’, the Culture Secretary insisted spies would be subject to the law, but admitted there is a ‘challenge’ for lawmakers on the issue. She told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “I just want to be really clear, the security services won’t be exempt.
“But there is a challenge that we’ve got collectively, and the challenge is to make sure that this applies to the security services without fear or favour, that they can continue to do their jobs. They’re often the recipients of confidential information, but that we never ever end up in a situation like we did with the Manchester arena inquiry – and I have constituents who are affected by that as well – where the security services are able to withhold information and present an inaccurate picture to families and to a public inquiry for a very long time.”
The Wigan MP also rejected a suggestion that the Government could withdraw the plans, amid the threat of backbench opposition to it, and said the Government is talking to families and campaigners. “I’m confident that we’re going to resolve it,” Ms Nandy added.
Lisa Nandy on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg(Image: Jeff Overs/BBC/PA Wire)
“How it plays out tomorrow at the moment, is dependent on those conversations that we have, but those conversations are going on right now. We’re listening as we’ve always listened and we will find a way to get this right.”
Pete Weatherby KC, a barrister representing some of the families, has suggested that MI5 ‘advanced a false narrative’ to protect themselves following the Arena bomb. Labour MP Anneliese Midgley told the House of Commons on Wednesday that the service had spent ‘six years misleading the public and concealing information’.
Hillsborough survivor Ian Byrne, Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby and a long-standing campaigner, said he could not support the law in its current form on Thursday – claiming it would ‘abandon the Manchester Arena bombing families’. He wrote on X: “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.
Mourners pay their respects to the Manchester Arena bombing victims in 2017(Image: Manchester Evening News)
“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.”
Ian Byrne MP(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Campaigners met Sir Keir Starmer about the changes on Wednesday, but Ruth Leney, chair of the Manchester Arena Support Network, said talks had not led to ‘the outcome that we expected’. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham also spoke out on Saturday, with a joint statement issued alongside his Merseyside counterpart Steve Rotheram.
The mayors said: “An important part of strengthening the country’s defences is establishing the truth at the earliest opportunity when things go wrong and that is why, if drafted correctly, the Hillsborough Law could create a culture in all public services where that is the norm. As it stands, we believe the Government’s amendment in relation to the security services creates too broad an opt-out and risks undermining the spirit of the legislation.
“We appreciate that the government has made huge strides in working to deliver the Hillsborough Law and are grateful for their willingness to work with campaigners thus far to make it the strongest law possible. It is in that spirit that we call on them to withdraw their amendment ahead of Monday’s debate and work with the families and the Hillsborough Law Now campaign to find a solution acceptable to all sides.”