Manchester Arena bereaved families say MI5 must be fully included in new law on cover-ups

Families bereaved by the Manchester Arena bombing say MI5 failed them and must be fully included in a new law designed to stop cover-ups in public life.

In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, seen by the BBC, they ask the prime minister: “How many times must MI5 show that it cannot be trusted before something is done?”

MI5 was found by a public inquiry not to have given an “accurate picture” of the key intelligence it held on the suicide bomber who carried out the attack which killed 22 people and injured hundreds on 22 May 2017.

The “Hillsborough Law”, making its way through Parliament, follows campaigning by families affected by the 1989 Hillsborough disaster that claimed 97 lives.

Police leaders were found to have spread false narratives about that disaster, blaming Liverpool fans, and withheld evidence of their own failings.

The new law will force public officials to tell the truth during investigations, including those into major disasters.

But a director of the campaign behind the new law told the BBC he has been “misled” by the government during negotiations over how it will apply to the intelligence services.

The government said: “We are listening to feedback about how to strengthen [the law] whilst also protecting national security.”

Known as the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, the new law has three pillars:

• The first establishes a general duty of candour on all public officials, meaning they will be required to tell the truth proactively in their working life
• The second is an ancillary duty of candour that applies to official investigations, which includes inquiries and inquests
• The third is set to re-balance funding for legal representation for state bodies and victims during inquiries

The bill would create criminal sanctions for breaches in the duty for candour.

Labour’s manifesto for the 2024 general election said: “Labour will introduce a ‘Hillsborough Law’ which will place a legal duty of candour on public servants and authorities”.

Speaking last year, Sir Keir said the new legislation would change “the balance of power in Britain” to ensure the state could “never hide from the people it is supposed to serve”.

But barrister Pete Weatherby KC, director of Hillsborough Law Now (HLN) campaign group, told the BBC the government had “misled” him during negotiations over how the law will apply to MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.

He represented victims’ families during the landmark Hillsborough inquests a decade ago and has played a central role in making the new law a reality.

He also represented families bereaved by the Manchester Arena attack during the public inquiry into that atrocity, during which MI5 was criticised for giving a false account.

Weatherby said the “government have tried to put forward measures relating to intelligence services which look better than they are, and we’ve ended up in a position which certainly wasn’t the position that we negotiated with them”.

He said it was a “major problem” and “very disappointing”.

He said HLN accepts there are some caveats that will apply to MI5 and the intelligence services, as the prime minister himself has said.

During the Manchester Arena public inquiry, and an earlier official review, MI5 provided a false narrative about intelligence it received about the suicide bomber before the attack.

The public inquiry chairman concluded that the statements had not presented an “accurate picture”. He also found MI5 missed a significant opportunity to take action that might have prevented the attack.

The families of five people killed in the Manchester Arena attack in 2017 have written to the prime minister, calling on him to ensure the new law will apply in the fullest way to MI5 and the other services.

The authors of the letter are the families of Liam Curry, 19, Chloe Rutherford, 17, both from South Shields, Megan Hurley, 15, from Liverpool, Eilidh MacLeod, 14, from the Isle of Barra, and Kelly Brewster, 32, from Sheffield.

In the letter, the bereaved families say: “You made a personal promise that you would bring in the law.

“We’re now asking you to keep that promise in full by ensuring the new law applies to the security and intelligence agencies in the same way it applies to everyone else.”

The letter adds: “MI5 failed our loved ones and failed us.

“It did so by failing to prevent the Arena bombing. But it then failed and hurt us further through its lack of candour after the attack.

“During the Manchester Arena inquiry, MI5 lied about the key intelligence it held about the suicide bomber before the attack.

“Despite MI5 lying to a public inquiry in this way, no one has been held to account.

“This lack of accountability needs to change. Creating a full duty of candour responsibility on MI5, MI6 and GCHQ is the clearest route to creating this change.

“We are dismayed that, as the draft bill is currently written, MI5 and the other organisations are being allowed to escape the full duty of candour responsibility.

“Every security and intelligence officer should be required the tell the truth, and the leaders of the organisations should also bear full responsibility.

“How many times must MI5 show that it cannot be trusted before something is done?

“We are calling on you to keep your promise and ensure that MI5, MI6 and GCHQ are held to the same standards as everyone else.”

Claire Booth, a sister of Kelly Brewster, survived the bombing and her daughter was severely injured. She told the BBC that MI5’s conduct after the attack was “infuriating” and made her feel like “we were collateral damage”.

She added: “It was just one of them things as far as MI5 were concerned.

“They didn’t stop it [the attack], but the fact that they’ve then not been truthful about what their involvements were, what they knew… it all just adds insult to injury. It’s not fair.”

In response, a government spokesperson said: “The Hillsborough Law will once and for all end the culture of cover-ups and hiding the truth, ensuring transparency, accountability, and support for people affected.

“The law will apply to all public authorities including the intelligence agencies.

“The Bill creating the Hillsborough Law is currently going through Parliament and we are listening to feedback about how to strengthen it whilst also protecting national security.”

Weatherby said the key problem is a provision which would have the effect of “disapplying” the ancillary duty of candour to individual security and intelligence officers.

He said that, in the context of Manchester Arena case, this is crucial, adding that if the duty falls on the organisation only, nothing will change.

If it falls on the individual officers as well, they will risk criminal liability and sanction if they sit on their hands whilst the corporate body lies to inquiries and courts.

Last year MI5 was forced to apologise after it gave false evidence to three courts in a neo-Nazi spy and is currently under investigation by its regulator.

In December, MI5 apologised after it was heavily criticised by a major police investigation into the IRA spy known as Stakeknife. MI5 had disclosed documents years late and provided misleading evidence about its knowledge of the spy.

Booth said that the intelligence services “should have the same duty as everybody else to be open and honest.

“And I think if it’s not applied to them, we’re never going to get to the bottom of when things like terrorist attacks or the Hillsborough disaster”.