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Duty of Candour for Public Authorities and Legal Representation for Bereaved Families

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Hobhouse. I thank the hon. Member for Liverpool West Derby (Ian Byrne) for securing this important debate today. I recognise that he is a survivor and that he has had the courage of his convictions to talk about this issue. It is challenging not just on a personal level, but with the responsibility of carrying on his shoulders the families and what they have wanted for so many years. I give credit to him and everybody in this House who have carried that so well.

Above all, I want to pay tribute to the families and campaigners, some of whom are here today—it is fantastic to see that—who have kept the campaign for the Hillsborough law alive. We would not be here today without their courage, persistence and awe-inspiring efforts over the years. We have seen this many times in the UK; whether it is Hillsborough, Grenfell, the infected blood scandal or Primodos, it is completely endemic throughout our system and our politics. Coming from Northern Ireland, it would be entirely remiss of me not to state that many people in Northern Ireland throughout the decades have been most egregiously let down by the state.

I want to take some time to talk about my constituents, the Conroy family. Their father, Royal Ulster Constabulary Detective Chief Superintendent Desmond Conroy, was one of the people on board Chinook ZD576, which crashed in the Mull of Kintyre in June 1994, killing all 29 people on board. It was an absolutely immense tragedy, and a loss to the intelligence and security services in Northern Ireland at that time.

For 30 years, the Conroy family, the Phoenix family and many others have had their names and their family’s names brought through the mud. Not just that, but the two people, Flight Lieutenants Jonathan Tapper and Richard Cook, who were piloting the craft that day, also had their reputations tarnished posthumously—normally people are honoured posthumously. All 29 people on board that craft—although it is not relevant materially—served their country with distinction. How were they honoured? They were honoured by their families being blocked at every cut and turn, and by being told that it was “in their head” and that they were conspiracists.

2.48 pm