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Mayor hails 'Scouse mums' for Hillsborough Law fight

Claire HamiltonMerseyside political reporter
News imageBBC/Claire Hamilton Two women stand by the river Mersey. One is blonde and wears a pale green light anorak. The other women is taller, with long hair tied into a ponytail. She has glasses and is wearing a navy blue jacket. They are both smiling at the camera. BBC/Claire Hamilton
Margaret Aspinall, whose son James died at Hillsborough, and Charlotte Hennessy whose Dad Jimmy was killed, have long campaigned for the legislation

The mayor of Liverpool City Region has paid tribute to "unsung heroes" and "Scouse mums" for driving forward a Hillsborough Law.

Steve Rotheram echoed a speech given by the late Everton chairman Bill Kenwright in 2013 in which he addressed the families of those who died in the 1989 disaster.

Kenwright said: "I saw your banner saying, 'You've taken on the wrong city', well you've taken on the wrong mums too, because we all know about Liverpool mums and the way they fight for their kids and their families."

Rotheram said that phrase rang true 13 years later, after Hillsborough Law, formally known as the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, was approved by MPs.

As well as recognising the contribution of ordinary people, "many of whom we will never know", Rotheram revealed that he and Makerfield MP Andy Burnham, who is set to be unveiled as Sir Keir Starmer's successor as Labour leader on Friday, had meetings "at the highest level" with UK security services to get the new bill "over the line".

Steve Rotheram says the legislation "recognises the fight for truth and justice"

The Hillsborough Law creates a legal duty for public officials to tell the truth to inquiries and investigations.

Ninety seven Liverpool fans died as a result of the crush during the FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough in 1989.

It took 27 years before a court finally ruled that those who died were unlawfully killed, and that the fans who were caught up in the crush bore no responsibility for causing it.

News imagePA Media A man in a dark suit, wearing glasses and smiling broadly hugs a blond woman in a black floral dress on a sunny day outside the houses of parliament. PA Media
Andy Burnham hugs Hillsborough campaigner Margaret Aspinall after the legislation cleared the Commons

Rotheram said the legislation came too late for the Hillsborough families who had fought for decades to correct the false narratives spread by police and some media in the aftermath of the tragedy.

He said: "There will never be justice for the 97, but the truth is out there because of these brilliant people who have campaigned and then this now is a fitting legacy for them."

The bill is expected to become law by autumn.

News imagePA Media A group of 13 men and women stand in a line in front of a memorial plaque to the 97 Liverpool fans who were killed at the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. PA Media
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy (centre right), Hillsborough campaigner Margaret Aspinall (centre), Steve Rotheram Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region (right), Makerfield MP Andy Burnham (fourth left) and Hillsborough families at the Hillsborough memorial at Anfield, Liverpool

Downing Street had withdrawn the bill from the parliamentary agenda in January following disagreements over how far it would require intelligence services to comply with a proposed legal "duty of candour" on public bodies and officials.

Rotheram told BBC Radio Merseyside he and Burnham had been "brokering" successful discussions with security service officials at "the top level" to address the concerns they had and "nullify some of the negativity around what they'd been saying".

But he said neither he nor his political colleagues sought any praise for the work they had done on the new legislation, with the credit belonging solely to the families and survivors.

"Lots of unsung heroes, people who we will never know the names of, they were fighting and fighting and fighting," he said.

"They knew it was an injustice - the campaigners and the families who would never, ever give up".

MP Ian Byrne says Hillsborough Law means "never again"

Rotheram reflected on the role he, Burnham and MP for West Derby Ian Byrne had played in the campaign.

He recalled inviting Burnham, the then-Culture secretary, to the Hillsborough anniversary service at Anfield in 2009 where a heckler set off a chain of events leading eventually to the Independent Panel report in 2012 and fresh inquests in 2016.

Liverpool West Derby MP, Ian Byrne, who was at Hillsborough when the tragedy unfolded, has tabled motions in parliament on several occasions to try and force the legislation through.

His voice breaking with emotion, he said in the Commons debate on Tuesday: "For decades, I asked myself why I survived.

"Today, I think I understand. Not because I've done anything extraordinary, but because I was given the privilege of standing here and carrying the voices of people who could no longer speak for themselves."

News imagePA Media Two white middle aged men with short hair wearing dark suits, white shirts and ties walk through a car park, smiling broadly. PA Media
Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham outside the Hillsborough inquests in Warrington in 2016, where the inquest jury concluded that the 96 Liverpool fans who died in the Hillsborough disaster were unlawfully killed

Rotheram said he knew what it felt like to become emotional in the House of Commons after his decision in 2011 to read out the names of Liverpool fans who died at Hillsborough so they would be officially recorded.

He said: "It's supposed to be a chamber devoid of emotion, but you do feel that weight, that burden, but the words are so important because in the cold light of day, that's what people will read."

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