Allied Intelligence — 2026-04-13

UK Government Scraps Intelligence Chiefs Veto Power Over Hillsborough Law Evidence Disclosure

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will remove a provision that gave the heads of MI5, MI6, and GCHQ effective veto power over disclosing intelligence-related evidence in public inquiries. The change clears the main obstacle to enacting the Hillsborough Law, long-delayed legislation requiring public authorities to cooperate with inquests and inquiries. Intelligence agencies had argued the veto was necessary to protect national security, but campaigners said it would have rendered the duty of candour meaningless in cases involving intelligence material.

Analysis
The veto removal strips UK intelligence chiefs of a tool that, in practice, could have indefinitely blocked disclosure in any public inquiry touching intelligence equities. The timing, decades after Hillsborough, reflects political calculation: the incoming legislation was dead without this concession. For Five Eyes partners, the precedent matters: other parliaments facing similar duty-of-candour debates will cite the UK model. GCHQ and SIS may now seek compensating protections through statutory instruments or closed-session procedures that achieve the same effect through different means.

2 sources

PM to scrap spy chiefs Hillsborough Law veto - BBC News
Government shift on intelligence evidence could revive delayed Hillsborough law - The Guardian