The mayor of Liverpool City Region has paid tribute to “unsung heroes” and “Scouse mums” for driving forward a Hillsborough Law.
Steve Rotheram echoed a speech given by the late Everton chairman Bill Kenwright in 2013 in which he addressed the families of those who died in the 1989 disaster.
Kenwright said: “I saw your banner saying, ‘You’ve taken on the wrong city’, well you’ve taken on the wrong mums too, because we all know about Liverpool mums and the way they fight for their kids and their families.”
Rotheram said that phrase rang true 13 years later, after Hillsborough Law, formally known as the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, was approved by MPs.
As well as recognising the contribution of ordinary people, “many of whom we will never know”, Rotheram revealed that he and Makerfield MP Andy Burnham, who is set to be unveiled as Sir Keir Starmer’s successor as Labour leader on Friday, had meetings “at the highest level” with UK security services to get the new bill “over the line”.