Warrington North Labour MP Charlotte Nichols shares her views in the Warrington Guardian.
Thirty-seven years is far too long to wait for justice.
Families, communities, and the whole country have deserved action well before now.
But I hope that Warrington Guardian readers will have seen that finally, amidst the action as our government changes, we passed the Hillsborough Law through the House of Commons this month.
It still needs to be approved by the House of Lords, but when it does, it will mean that at last we will have changed the balance of power so the State must always act for us, not for powerful and unaccountable groups.
As well as expanding legal aid to support families who have to take on big institutions, it creates a new legal duty of candour and assistance for public authorities and officials at inquiries and investigations.
This is designed to end cover-ups that we have seen all too often, not just Hillsborough, but scandals like infected blood, the Manchester Arena bombing, or the Post Office IT system that saw over 900 sub-postmasters wrongly convicted.
In all of these cases, the instinct of the powerful was to deny the truth and cover their own backs, and the victims were left with virtually no ability to challenge the establishment.
Now we are fixing that, and turning the tables so that victims have the status and means to pursue justice even from the mightiest parts of the country.
This is so important, not just to bring some redress for affected and wronged people, but to restore some faith that this is a country where we can have a level playing field, where fairness is important and where justice can be achieved even for people with limited resources.
There was clearly a lot of resistance to such a dramatic law from senior elements of the establishment, but I pay huge credit to Andy Burnham for his unwavering support for the campaign for Justice for the 97 and his insistence that we make this law: his determination ensured that we passed the Bill before he even became Prime Minister.
As we look forward to Andy’s new agenda, I hope that this will be its theme: on the side of those who need help, challenging the powerful, and making real change for people’s lives.
Justice for the 97 at last, and a better country for us all in their memory.
