- Equal legal funding for bereaved families at inquests is essential to prevent future injustices
- Hacked Off launch campaign to lobby MPs this weekend ahead of Leveson vote
The Home Secretary should make Hillsborough a moment of change by supporting two votes that Labour will force on Monday.
Burnham will ask MPs of all parties to back major reforms to the Policing and Criminal Justice system in order to rebalance the system in favour of ordinary families.
As part of the legacy of the Hillsborough Inquests, Labour will call on the Home Secretary to support a package of amendments - including a “Hillsborough Law” to re-balance inquests - to the Policing and Crime Bill as it returns to the Commons.
In two votes on Monday, MPs will be asked to back parity of funding for legal representation for bereaved families; and to commit the Government to the second stage of the Leveson Inquiry, looking into the relationship between Police and press.
The full package of amendments calls for:
· A legal right for bereaved families to receive equal funding for legal representation as the Police at Inquests where the Police are involved.
· No time limit on the period after leaving the force that a retired officer can be investigated for misconduct. This power would apply retrospectively and could lead to sanctions.
· A requirement for the Government to proceed with an inquiry into relations between Police and press as requested by Lord Leveson.
· In the meantime, a ban on ‘unattributable briefings’ to the media by Police in respect of incidents under investigation. Where the corporate line of a force is being represented it should be by named individual. The Home Secretary must ask each Police force to publish a code of practice governing interactions with the media.
· Secure the independence of the current Independent Police Complaints Commission by preventing the hiring of former Police staff to the body’s executive; give the IPCC power to direct findings and sanctions following investigations into officers and forces.
· Codify the common law offence of misconduct in public office and to make it a criminal offence.
Andy Burnham MP, said:
“The 27-year struggle of the Hillsborough families exposes how the odds are all too frequently stacked against ordinary families seeking truth and justice.
“Hillsborough must mark a moment of real change when Parliament rebalances the police and criminal justice system and puts more power in the hands of ordinary people. Never again should any bereaved families have to fight like the Hillsborough families have had to fight.
“We must call time on the uneven playing field at Inquests where public bodies spend public money like water on hiring the best lawyers when ordinary families have to scratch around for whatever they can get. If the Hillsborough families had better legal representation back in the early 90s, they would have been able to challenge the cruel 3.15pm cut-off. Public money should be spent on helping us get to the truth, not on protecting backs in the public sector.
“The Government made a clear commitment to victims of press intrusion and Parliament cannot let them renege on it. We need a full and thorough consideration of the relationship between press and police as recommended by Lord Leveson.
“After the Hillsborough verdict, Parliament has an unprecedented moment where it can act to rebalance the country in favour of ordinary families. I am calling on MPs on all sides to make Hillsborough a watershed moment for justice in Britain.”
Ends