Bereaved Manchester Arena families call for MI5 to be included in Hillsborough Law

Families bereaved by the Manchester Arena attack have called for MI5 to be included in the upcoming Hillsborough Law.

Currently making its way through Parliament, after campaigning by families affected by the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, the law will force public officials to tell the truth during investigations, including those into major disasters.

The new law will have three pillars: a duty of candour on all public officials, so they will be required to tell the truth proactively in their working life; an ancillary duty of candour that applies to official investigations, including inquiries and inquests; and a third set to re-balance funding for legal representation for state bodies and victims during inquiries.

The law has been criticised because of a provision which would effectively disapply the ancillary duty of candour to individual security and intelligence officers, as the duty will only fall on the organisation.

If it were to fall on the individual officers as well, they would risk criminal liability and sanction if they do nothing should a corporate body lie to an inquiry.

A public inquiry found that MI5 had not given "accurate picture" of the key intelligence it had on the Manchester Arena attacker.

Families of five people killed in the attack have written to the Prime Minister asking him to ensure that the law will apply to MI5 in the same way it applies to others.