00:00A campaigner whose son died in the Hillsborough disaster has said that a new law named in honour of the victims must not be watered down.
00:09Margaret Aspinall, who lost her 18-year-old son James in the tragedy, has been a key campaigner for what is now the Public Office Accountability Bill known as the Hillsborough Law.
00:19Speaking at the Labour Party conference on Tuesday ahead of Sir Keir Starmer's speech,
00:24Ms Aspinall thanked the Prime Minister for keeping his promise to bring in a Hillsborough Law, but warned that it must be brought in in all its entirety.
00:35Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had previously pledged to bring in the law by the 36th anniversary of the tragedy, which was on the 15th of April,
00:43but Downing Street then said more time was needed to redraft it.
00:47Some campaigners raised fears that the bill's contents had been diluted and would not include a legal duty of candour,
00:54but the government confirmed a new professional and legal duty of candour will be part of the bill,
01:00meaning public officials must act with honesty and integrity at all times and could face criminal sanctions if they breach it.
01:07The government said the new legislation will end the culture of cover-ups and learn lessons from wider disasters,
01:14including the Grenfell Tower, fire, post office horizon and infected blood scandals.
01:19There will also be a new offence for misleading the public, which the government said will mean criminal sanctions for the most serious breaches.
01:26The Prime Minister said the Hillsborough Law is not just a promise delivered.
01:30It's also a recognition of whether it's Hillsborough, Windrush, Grenfell Horizon, the grooming gangs, infected blood and so many more,
01:38the British state consistently refused to see injustice because of who the victims are.
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