Families of those killed in the 1994 RAF Chinook crash have written to every Labour MP ahead of the party’s conference in Liverpool, urging them to raise the case directly with Prime Minister Andy Burnham and press him to meet the families.
The Chinook Justice Campaign fears that the Ministry of Defence is preparing to present the findings of its own internal review to Parliament, despite the families’ longstanding demand for independent scrutiny of the MoD’s decisions, conduct and records.
The families are calling on the Prime Minister to meet them and support an independent, judge-led review before ministers accept or present the MoD’s conclusions as an answer to their concerns and the overwhelming evidence about lack of airworthiness of the Chinook Mark 2 compiled in the decades since the crash which has never been put before any previous inquiry.
Twenty-nine people died when Chinook ZD576 crashed on the Mull of Kintyre on 2 June 1994. Thirty-two years later, their families are still seeking answers about what happened.
In their letter to Labour MPs, the families point out that Andy Burnham acknowledged their fight for justice in the House of Commons on 14 July, a few days before becoming PM, when they were in court challenging the MoD’s refusal to establish an independent inquiry.
They say his words during the passage of the Hillsborough law – Public Office (Accountability) Bill – about institutional failure and changing the relationship between the state and ordinary people gave them hope that the truth might finally be admitted.
The Chinook Justice Campaign writes: “The MOD cannot be allowed to mark its own homework.”
The letter asks MPs at conference to raise the case with the Prime Minister, defence ministers and justice ministers. It says: “We are not asking you to prejudge the outcome of any investigation. We are asking you to support independent scrutiny so that the evidence can finally be properly examined and the families can have confidence in the answers.”
The families also question why the MoD has asked them to identify documentary sources for some of the questions under investigation. They argue that these are matters the department should have established before refusing an independent inquiry and fighting their attempt to scrutinise that decision in the High Court.
The letter adds: “If the Duty of Candour is genuinely about changing the relationship between the State and ordinary people, why should the MOD be allowed to investigate its own conduct in a case where bereaved families have spent 32 years seeking answers?”
Lucy Sparks, from Manchester, whose father Major Gary Sparks was killed, said: “We have very high hopes that the Prime Minister will live up to the spirit of the Hillsborough Bill which he championed and will help us get to the truth. We hope the Labour conference this coming week will do the same.
“We are asking Labour MPs to raise our case with the Prime Minister in Liverpool and help secure a meeting with the families. For 32 years, we have sought answers about why our loved ones died on a helicopter that should never have left the ground.
“We cannot be expected to accept the Ministry of Defence investigating its own decisions and then presenting its findings as the final word. The Prime Minister has spoken about changing how the state treats people who have been failed by its institutions. This is a chance to put those words into practice.
“We need an independent, judge-led review that the families can trust, not a cover-up on top of a cover-up by the MoD, and we want an urgent meeting with Mr Burnham. We’d also urge people to contact their own MP using the template on our website at chinookjusticecampaign.co.uk to encourage the Prime Minister to meet us.”
