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СпутникиРНSpaceXРоскосмосNASAPolitical editor Liam Thorp was invited to an intimate meeting between the outgoing Prime Minister and some of the people he has helped
07:00, 19 Jul 2026Updated 07:46, 19 Jul 2026
It has been quite a week.
On Tuesday I was privileged to travel to Parliament to sit alongside members of the Hillsborough families who were finally able to watch the bill and the law they have fought for, over so many draining years, pass through the House of Commons.
It was a huge and emotional moment. The family members I spoke with were clear that two key figures - Andy Burnham and Keir Starmer - were crucial in getting things to this stage. This same week saw the former officially replace the latter as leader of the Labour Party.
So it was fitting that both spoke so powerfully in the Commons as the Bill made its way through the Commons, and that both men met with family members to thank them for all their tireless campaigning.
I was privileged to observe it all and was invited into the iconic rose garden of 10 Downing Street as Sir Keir thanked the Hillsborough families and many others he has worked with ahead of his departure from the most famous address in the country.
Now let's be straight. I, like many others, have been frustrated and at times disappointed by Sir Keir's time in office.
After 14 gruelling years of Tory austerity, Labour came to power in the summer of 2024 on a wave of optimism and a feeling across the country that things could be about to change.
But Sir Keir and his administration never seized upon that feeling. From the early mistakes of gloomy press conferences and deeply divisive policies like cutting winter fuel payments, they never really recovered in the eyes of the nation.
I've been concerned by the targeting of marginalised communities at times, with the feeling that this government has been attempting to win back support in parts of the country where Reform have seized ground by aping their toxic agenda. It hasn't worked - you can't out-Reform Reform - and has simply driven progressives into the open arms of other parties.
There have been too many u-turns to count and disappointing backtracking on what we thought would be crucial positions. In short, Sir Keir got too much wrong and has paid the ultimate price - but his two years in office were not without merit.
From renters' rights to protections for workers, from NHS improvements to finally scrapping the pernicious two-child benefit limit and lifting hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty, there has been plenty of good done - even if Labour haven't always been great at telling that story.
But as I stood in the rose garden on Sunday, I was struck by the number of individuals the outgoing Prime Minister has helped and the causes he has supported.
In his moving remarks, he referenced people in the gathered crowd like Nour Norris, whose niece Raneem and her sister Khoala were murdered in a domestic violence attack where the police didn't respond appropriately. The result, thanks to Nour and Sir Keir, is Raneem's Law - which means that independent domestic abuse advisors will now be embedded in 999 control rooms.
Stood close to Nour in the garden that day was the indefatigable Figen Murray, whose endless campaigning for better security protocols at major events after her son Martyn Hett and 21 others were killed at the Manchester Arena, has resulted in another important new law put in place by this Prime Minister and someone else who responded with genuine affection to the man speaking from the lectern in the sun-soaked garden.
And then he turned to the Hillsborough families, speaking directly to Margaret Aspinall, Charlotte Hennessy and Sue Roberts who stood before him in the garden.
It's fair to say that these family members and the man about to depart from the highest office in the land have been on quite the journey together. It has been tough, tense at times and there have been fall-outs along the way.
But as he spoke to them on that baking Tuesday afternoon, with the bill he promised to bring forward making its final journey through the House of Commons - he was able to tell them that he had kept his word. And they hugged him and thanked him for it.
Speaking to the families he said: "The fact that I'm going to go from here and stand at the dispatch box in the House of Commons as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and open and shut and then vote on the third reading of the Hillsborough Law is fantastically important to me but most importantly to you because your courage and strength over so many years has been utterly breathtaking."
Keir Starmer will rightly be criticised for the many mistakes he made in his short time in office. His legacy will be tarnished by a failure to seize the moment. But there will be people across the country who will also be grateful for what he achieved - and families and campaigners who have secured important legacies for their loved ones with his support. That is a legacy, and something to be proud of.
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