Deadline set for Hillsborough papers

(GETTY)

Confidential Government papers detailing former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's response to the Hillsborough disaster, and her Cabinet's reactions to the tragedy, will be released by 30 June next year.

The Cabinet Office had previously said the documents should not be made public, fearing that they could harm the public relationship with the police. Given the 22 years that have passed since 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death at Sheffield Wednesday's stadium, that defensiveness led to expectations that the papers' contents must be highly inciendiary. They were the subject of a Freedom of Information request by the BBC in 2009, but only this year did the Information Commissioner rule that the papers should be released.

Home Secretary Theresa May confirmed this in October, but in the absence of a deadline, anxiety among victims' relatives remained.