HILLSBOROUGH LAW TO HONOUR LIVES OF 97 REDS FANS

I FIRST met Margaret Aspinall when I was Director of Public Prosecutions. Her courage, and the strength of all the Hillsborough families and survivors, is utterly breathtaking.

- BY KEIR STARMER

Faced with smears and lies about their loved ones, they held on to the truth and battled for decades to prove it.

Betrayed by institutions they thought they could trust, they fought back. I'm sickened by the stories they've shared from their ordeal and the way they were patronised as the establishment closed ranks to hide the truth.

And the imbalance of power as the state used public money to defend its interests and act in the most intimidating way. I'll never forget Margaret telling me how the families scraped together every last penny just to get the most basic legal representation. Margaret herself had to accept an insurance payout of just over £1,000 after her son James' death, to raise the money for a barrister at the original inquest.

Yet these grieving families then found themselves up against an army of state-funded lawyers, with the deep pockets of the state threatening to deny them justice.

I've spent my whole professional life supporting victims and their families. I've volunteered to represent families myself. For me, it goes to the heart of a much deeper change we need to make in this country.

To change the balance of power and make the state value and respect every citizen.