Hillsborough Families Deserve More Than Empty Promises

Pain That Never Recedes

Each April, the shadow of Hillsborough returns. This year marks 36 years since 97 Liverpool supporters lost their lives in Britain’s worst sporting disaster. Brian Reade of the Mirror revisits that day in his powerful column, offering not only personal reflection but a scathing indictment of broken promises and a government still dodging accountability.

Reade, who was at Hillsborough on that fateful day, recalls: “Unlike 97 fellow football fans, I survived… and even though it was only hours after I’d left the death scene, the main target of my rage was the contempt towards fans shown by authorities… and the police cover-up which had already begun.”

That early rage remains justified. Decades on, no individual has been held legally responsible. The 2016 inquest confirmed all 97 victims were “unlawfully killed due to gross negligence by police”—a verdict that should have triggered lasting change. Instead, the families continue to fight.

Hillsborough Law Left Hanging

The Hillsborough Law was proposed to ensure no family would ever again have to battle a state apparatus designed to protect itself. Its core aims include a “duty of candour” for public authorities and equality of funding for bereaved families during legal battles.

Keir Starmer previously pledged support for the legislation. Yet, Reade writes: “Thanks to the government attempting to water down key sections of the law, which families cannot accept, that promise has been broken. And Starmer has not met with them to explain why.”

As it stands, the law’s current form offers no legal enforcement. It simply asks authorities to sign a voluntary charter. “It means police officers who lied in 1989, could do so again, and still get away with it.” That stark warning should chill every supporter of justice to the core.

Call for Real Accountability

The failure to enact this law fully is more than political backtracking—it’s a moral failing. For a Labour leader, a former Director of Public Prosecutions no less, to allow such dilution is, as Reade states, “unforgivable.”

This is not just about the past. It’s about the future: Grenfell, the Post Office scandal, contaminated blood victims — all rely on reforms built on the Hillsborough legacy. A meaningful Hillsborough Law would serve them all.

Time to Honour the 97

The families of the 97 have shown remarkable dignity and determination. Through tireless campaigning, they’ve “shone a light on the inner workings of the British state and exposed corruption at its core.” That alone should command respect—and legislative action.

To retreat now is to say those lives were not worth the change they inspired. It’s to accept that the voiceless will remain unheard, that the powerful will never be held to account.

Reade’s final plea echoes across the decades of pain and perseverance: “Please, don’t let them down.”

Our View – Anfield Index Analysis

This report hits harder than most. For Liverpool supporters, Hillsborough isn’t just history—it’s personal. It’s part of the club’s DNA. Every chant, every mosaic, every silence held is a reminder of those 97 lives lost, and the injustice that followed.

To see promises around the Hillsborough Law wither away is deeply painful. It’s not about politics. It’s about principle. Keir Starmer stood in front of those families and made a vow. To now water that down—or worse, go silent—is a betrayal.

Fans understand more than most what injustice looks like. We saw it in the lies, in the cover-ups, in the way survivors and families were treated. And we’ve waited—patiently, but persistently—for something meaningful in return.

The current draft of the law is toothless. A voluntary charter with no enforcement? That’s not justice. That’s PR. And if politicians think they can slide it through under the radar, they should remember: this city doesn’t forget. It doesn’t forgive empty promises either.

Justice for the 97 isn’t a slogan. It’s a debt. And one still unpaid.