Ask yourself, why wouldn’t a government want to stop such painful lies?

“You can see what happened, you can see the lies – it’s all there in black and white.”

Those were Sean Brierley’s powerful words this week. Sean’s father Brian was a pillar of the Kensington community in Liverpool until his life was suddenly cut short in 1991.

Brian was one of three thousand people who died after contracting HIV after being treated with infected blood by doctors working for the National Health Service. Like many of those victims, the truth about what happened to Brian didn’t fully come out until this week.

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That’s because after decades of fighting, dealing with lies, cover-ups and obfuscations, the tainted blood research report has finally made clear what happened to Brian and many others in a scandal that could have been avoided. There was, in the words of the report’s author, a “pervasive attempt by the authorities to cover up the truth”.

If the idea of ​​the authorities inflicting outrageous harm on ordinary people and then closing ranks in a shameful attempt to hide what happened seems shocking, it is. But it has happened so many times before.

The families of the 97 Liverpool fans unlawfully killed while attending an FA Cup semi-final in 1989 have had to fight for a quarter of a century just to eradicate the lies and slander they and their often deceased relatives were subjected to by those in positions of authority. Even after the truth was finally laid out for all to see – they never got the justice they all deserved.

Just this week we heard more about another of the great injustices of our time. Former Postmaster General Paula Vennells has been asked why hundreds of completely innocent sub-postmasters were sent to prison on tainted evidence created by a faulty IT system – and the lies and spin that kept that incredible injustice hidden for so long a long time.

Unfortunately, the history of this country is full of shame with outrageous injustices.

Reading the infected blood research report this week brought back painful memories of so many other scandals where normal people have been hurt by the failings of those in power before being scorned, lied to and defamed as they try to get to the truth .

From infected blood to the Post Office, Hillsborough to Grenfell and WASPI women to Windrush. Each abuse so specific in the pain and damage it created – but with common themes linking them all.

Ordinary people, living their lives and going about their business, were caught in a mess not of their making, which resulted in enormous damage and losses on the part of the public authorities. As night follows day, this pain is then enormously exacerbated by a wall of lies and reputational attacks as he tries to seek truth and justice.

With all this in mind, with so many examples of where this abuse has been committed and the many platitudes from politicians who often watch the reality of such situations brought to light – one would think that those in power would want to enact change. .

However, last year, after an agonizing six-year wait for answers, the government responded to a report into how families of the Hillsborough disaster were treated in their fight for justice, failing to bring about the real change they know is now necessary.

Those families know that the only way others can avoid facing the same cruel battle they did is to get a Hillsborough Act on the statute books.

The package of measures includes vital components – such as guaranteed legal funding for bereaved families at inquests and inquests and an independent public advocate to support those affected by disasters.

But the most important aspect is a legal duty of candor, a codified requirement of public servants, public authorities and corporations to act in the public interest and to proactively and honestly support investigations, inquiries and inquiries of all official types as much as possible. as soon as possible point.

Now, you might ask why on earth you would need legislation to ensure that public officials are telling the truth. The sad fact, based on all the horrific cases listed above, is that we need it.

A second question might be why a government would refuse to make such obviously necessary changes. But that’s exactly what the government did last year in response to the Hillsborough report – a move they were heavily criticized for this week.

A parliamentary report examining calls for a Hillsborough law has recommended a legal duty of candor for all public bodies. The report, published by Parliament’s Joint Human Rights Committee, found that “institutional defensiveness” remains a problem.

Chairwoman Joanna Cherry KC said: “Just this week we have also seen how the victims of the tainted blood scandal have had to go through a similar struggle. It is shameful that their pain was compounded by the delays and confusion they faced in their search for the truth and the decades they had to wait for justice.

“We are calling on the government to ensure there are concrete measures to give families as much influence over investigations as public bodies whose reputations are at stake.”

Unfortunately, we have seen enough from this government to know that it has neither the interest nor the will to change the inherently unfair system that exists in this country, and you can draw your own conclusions as to why that might be.

The good news is that in a few weeks they may no longer be the government of this country, and the man who is trying to oust them has repeatedly promised that his party will introduce a full Hillsborough law.

It is the duty of everyone in this country who believes in fairness and justice to ensure that Keir Starmer keeps his word.

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