Member

The Hillsborough Independent Panel is the model, and it worked against all the odds, as both I and the noble Baroness, Lady May, can testify. Why would the Government rule out the possibility of lending their weight to replicate a success in delivering justice for the victims of state failure and those bereaved by it in the future? I make the same plea as the noble Baroness, Lady Sanderson, that all that is needed from the Government is a small amount of additional funding for the Independent Public Advocate to ensure that they are in a position to deliver immediately when the need arises. Apart from how it would help and support the victims of state failure and those bereaved by it, as I have said, it could save many times more money than the ever-escalating costs of a public inquiry, which would inevitably cover much of the same ground.