Keir Starmer’s government has been thrown into fresh chaos after the prime minister was forced to pull a key bill following a backlash by MPs and campaigners. The House of Commons had been due to debate and vote on the so-called “Hillsborough Law” on Monday. But that has now been abandoned after a backlash over government plans to water down the legislation to protect members of the intelligence services. One senior government figure told HuffPost UK that the highly-unusual move was “mortifying”. The aim of the new law, which was promised in Labour’s 2024 election manifesto, is to end cover-ups by public bodies in the wake of major disasters such as the Hillsborough disaster and the Manchester Arena bombing. It would see a legal “duty of candour” introduced making it illegal for those in positions of authority to withhold information from investigations. A government amendment to the bill would have allowed the heads of the security services to decide whether or not to disclose information involving their operations. Ministers insisted the change was necessary to …