In a move that feels less like a triumphant finale and more like a deadline-extension plea, Keir Starmer is reportedly planning to use his final week in office to ram the Hillsborough law through the House of Commons. The bill, officially named the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, aims to make it harder for public officials to lie with impunity after disasters - a concept that, one might think, wouldn't require legislation.

The legislation was a key Labour manifesto pledge, with Starmer promising at the 2024 party conference in Liverpool to get it done before the 15 April anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. And yet, here we are, with the prime minister's time running out like sand through an egg timer of accountability. The delays? Oh, the usual suspects: ministers clashing with campaigners, and intelligence agencies MI5, MI6, and GCHQ raising concerns about national security - because nothing says 'transparency' like a secret veto.

The bill would create new offences for officials who deliberately mislead the public or obstruct accountability, and strengthen support for families seeking justice after major disasters. It takes its name from the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, where 97 Liverpool fans died in a crush at an FA Cup semi-final. A 2016 inquest found the fans were unlawfully killed and that their behaviour played no part - contrary to what some officers claimed at the time. The families' decades-long fight exposed failings by South Yorkshire police and other public bodies.

Ministers had proposed letting intelligence chiefs decide what information could be disclosed in investigations involving national security, which predictably sparked a backlash from Hillsborough families and Labour MPs who argued it would let the state off the hook. The government dropped that amendment but kept talking about how to protect sensitive intelligence while preserving the bill's spirit.

Last week, Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy told the Commons he was 'confident' the bill would be back 'in the coming days' - only for other government figures to suggest it might not return until after the summer recess, by which point Starmer would be enjoying his newfound freedom from office. But lo, parliamentary business was updated to include the remaining Commons stages on Tuesday, giving MPs a chance to approve it before it heads to the Lords.

If the bill clears the Commons this week, it will be a huge step toward embedding a legal duty of candour across public authorities. For Hillsborough families, it's been a journey marked by months of uncertainty and setbacks - but at least they might finally get a law that says 'don't lie to us' in so many words.