Hillsborough Law finally seeks to hold the powerful to account 33 years after tragedy

The trolls have been out on social media this week. ITV’s four-part drama Anne, detailing the experiences of Anne Williams, whose 15-year-old son died at Hillsborough, generated huge sympathy among viewers who had scant knowledge of the 1989 tragedy and its consequences. It also brought out the worst in a section of football supporters who use the disaster that killed 97 people and left many more mentally scarred to abuse Liverpool fans.

Friday saw the launch of an initiative to gather backing for a ‘Hillsborough Law’. No doubt the haters will be spouting their bile online. Campaigners seeking justice for those that died on the Lepping Lane terrace at the semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest have long become used to taunts like “97 was not enough”, “always the victims”, and “you killed your own fans”. Some will find the idea of a Hillsborough Law anathema, simply based on football rivalries and will make little attempt to understand what the proposed legislation actually involves.

The term is shorthand for two main changes to the law. The Public Advocate Bill, introduced to Parliament last year by Maria Eagle, the MP for Garston and Halewood, aims to establish an independent advocate to provide advice and act for the families of victims of public disasters. The second part is the creation of a duty of candour, which would oblige the authorities – from government officials to police – to be proactively truthful in investigations, inquiries and in the courtroom.

Neither of these developments will bring about justice or resolution for the Hillsborough families and the survivors. No one will ever be held accountable, even though the coroner at the second inquests ruled that the victims had been unlawfully killed. Their driving ambition now is that no one should experience anything like they suffered.

Unfortunately, that sort of suffering continues – with two examples from the past five years. The Manchester Arena bombing and the Grenfell Tower fire show the necessity for change. Both incidents occurred in 2017 and lives could have been saved had the lessons of 33 years ago been learnt. Instead, the authorities lied, dissembled and threw the blame. The institutional issues that should have been addressed in the months after Hillsborough were ignored in favour of demonising the victims.

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Anne Williams became such an important figure because a policewoman told her that Kevin, her son, asked for his mum 45 minutes after the original coroner ruled that he was dead. The 3.15pm cut off was arbitrary and solved a problem. It meant no one had to explain why so many people died without any medical intervention.

It took until 2012 for it to emerge that as many as 58 of the Hillsborough victims could have been saved with a better response from the emergency services. More than 40 ambulances queued outside pointlessly.

Ancient history? Tell that to the family of John Atkinson, a 28-year-old who was left untreated in the foyer of the Manchester Arena for 47 minutes before being carried out on an advertising hoarding – where had we seen that before? – because paramedics did not come to treat him. The care worker died an hour and 16 minutes after the blast and never reached an ambulance.

Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, hosted the Hillsborough Law Now launch on Facebook on Friday, alongside Steve Rotheram, the metro mayor of Liverpool. Burnham was instrumental in creating the Hillsborough Independent Panel (HIP) after the 20th anniversary of the disaster, a move which pushed the tragedy back into the wider consciousness. Rotheram was in the ground 33 years ago and watched the nightmare unfold from the stands.

Eagle and other Merseyside MPs will speak too, and Maxine Peake, who portrayed Anne Williams on screen, and Kevin Sampson, the writer of the ITV series, will be lending their support. Other high-profile backers of the push for a new law include two former prime ministers, Theresa May and Gordon Brown.

In a parallel programme, Ian Byrne, the MP for West Derby and another survivor, is presenting his plans for adding a Hillsborough day to the national curriculum. His intention is to teach coming generations about the event and the subsequent cover-up. To judge by the online abuse this week, a lot of education is necessary.

Football is almost tangential to the real issues attached to the Hillsborough Law. The police and publicly funded officials should be held responsible for their failings. It is just that no other event in recent British history has shown up the venality and naked self-interest in those who are supposed to be public servants.

The examples are too numerous to list. Two former South Yorkshire policemen and the force’s solicitor evaded prosecution for perverting the course of justice last year because the documents they doctored were presented to a public inquiry and not a legal court case. The law as it stands meant they committed no wrongdoing, despite changing junior officers’ statements to aim blame towards the fans. The morality of their conduct is mindboggling.

The West Midlands police, who investigated the disaster, manipulated evidence with breathtaking abandon. Ray Lewis, the referee on the day, told officers that he saw “mixed” groups of fans as he arrived at the ground. When he read the typed-up version, mixed had become “pissed”. The documents analysed by the HIP and the testimony at the two-year second inquest in Warrington showed a pattern of behaviour that went way beyond the odd mistake. As Anne illustrated, there was a clear purpose behind much of the police activity – to smear, to create a narrative that was far from the truth and to evade responsibility for actions that led to mass death.

That is what the Hillsborough Law is about. It is about making sure that people in power are held to account. It is about protecting everyone. Even the trolls and their loved ones.