Just give me your f*cking money NOW!
So I decided to take a leaf out of the Sir Bob Geldof textbook.
No, I am not doing a sponsored run (insert snigger from anyone who knows me) or climbing a mountain. What I am doing is appealing across the #legalprofession to help support a campaign to deliver a much needed dose of accountability to public life.
In December, the government finally responded to the former Bishop of Liverpool, Right Reverend James Jones's report on the Hillsborough disaster. It took six years for them to respond to a disaster that took place 34 years ago.
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Unsurprisingly, the response was not what campaigners from Hillsborough Law Now, INQUEST, and the Covid-19 Bereaved Families For Justice plus many many others have been asking for. Instead we got a voluntary code of conduct for public bodies to sign up to. I'm sure something like that would work wonderfully well for those fine folk at the Post Office Ltd
What we asked for was a statutory duty of candour for those operating across public services. Such a duty would place a legal requirement on organisations - and importantly individuals - to approach public scrutiny, including inquiries and inquests into state related deaths, in a candid and transparent manner.
This duty would enable public servants and others delivering state services to carry out their role diligently, whilst empowering them to flag dangerous practices that endanger lives, without risk of penalty.
This isn't about ensuring Hillsborough families are heard, as important as that is, this is about creating a level playing field for us as citizens when dealing with state bodies. Even if you don't think this applies to you, it could. You never quite know where the next #miscarriageofjustice will come from.
So why do I want your f*cking money? Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to enact the Public Authority (Accountability) Bill, which was introduced by Andy Burnham but fell when the 2017 general election was called. The bill makes a duty of candour enforceable, and ensures a level playing field between public authorities and those affected by disasters and wrongdoing at inquests and inquiries.
We need to ensure the Labour Party (UK) deliver on this on this commitment.
Our campaign has just £1,500 left in the coffers. We have a wonderful campaign director in Debbie Caine and people like elkan abrahamson pete weatherby kc Deborah Coles Nathan Oswin work as volunteers to try make this law a reality, ably supported by Ian Byrne MP and Broudie Jackson Canter, but we can only do this by consistently lobbying MPs. Hence we need a cash injection to allow us the funds to be able to bring a wider range of people into our campaign to speak to MPs about their lived experiences of dealing with the state. Only through these lived experiences will we make change a reality.
We are also applying for grants, but every singly penny will help, please give if you can.
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