Hillsborough Families back calls for new law
A campaign for Hillsborough Law begins today
Last updated 7th Jan 2022
Hillsborough families are backing fresh calls for a change in the law so nobody ever needs to fight for the truth about how their loved ones died.
A proposed Hillsborough Law would make it illegal for public officials to lie or mislead about their actions while on duty and also give bereaved families better access to financial support for legal proceedings.
Charlotte Hennessey was just six when her dad died in the disaster, she says finding out more than two decades later he was one of 41 fans who 'had the potential to survive' on the day was an injustice :
"That was like losing him all over again. It's taken me a very long time to come to terms with that. He signalled for help, he opened his eyes and he was tended to by a Police officer and taken to a gym where it was thought he'd get help, but he was just left.
"That's ultimately how my dad died".
Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and Maxine Peake, who played campaigner Anne Williams on TV, are among those launching the campaign this afternoon along with senior political figures and bereaved families of tragedies past and present.
Charlotte told Radio City News it's beyond belief that lessons are still not being learned from Hillsborough :
"It's so infuriating in 2022 that there is no law that protects people who lose loved ones in this way. Public authorities are allowed to manipulate evidence for public inquries and they are allowed to leave parts out. That's not justice, that's not giving closure, that's not truth".
Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram has been telling uis why Hillsborough Law is so important
"This tries to rebalance the scales of justice and give families who go through similar sorts of circumstances where a catastrophe has happened and the state has to defend itself, the idea is to at least give a fair crack of the whip for those people. The odds are stacked in favour of the establishment".