A total of 29 service personnel died when the helicopter crashed on the Mull of Kintyre en route from Northern Ireland to Scotland in what remains the RAF’s worst peacetime accident.

The incident was raised in the House of Commons last night as MPs debated the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, also known as the “Hillsborough law”.

For the first time, UK prime minister Keir Starmer made a public commitment to a government meeting with the bereaved families in the Chinook Justice Campaign.

The campaign group is currently pursuing a judicial review against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) over its failure to release files on the crash and has called for the establishment of a statutory public inquiry.

The families this morning attended an event in the House of Lords hosted by the Coalition for Institutional Accountability, which is calling for the establishment of a new watchdog.

The proposed Independent Office for Institutional Accountability would have the power to force public institutions like the MoD to put victims first when they cause harm or are involved in cover-ups and wrongdoing.

Speaking at the parliamentary roundtable, Andy Tobias, whose father John was killed in the disaster, said: “We look forward to hearing when this ministerial meeting will take place. After 18 months, we have now had a letter from the Ministry of Defence offering a meeting.

“But we would like the prime minister to be there and take personal responsibility for resolving our case, releasing all the files on the crash sealed by the MoD, and ordering a judge-led public inquiry without the need to go to court.

“In so many cases involving the Ministry of Defence, families like ours are put through hell. Like the nuclear vets, those fighting cancer battles caused by helicopter fumes, and many other MoD cases. The truth is denied, papers are spirited away, dishonesty is front and centre from the department we now call the Ministry of Deceit.

“It’s not normal to lock documents away for 100 years. It’s not normal to withhold evidence and lie and mislead former defence secretaries. It’s not normal to blame the crash on pilot error and smear their names and reputations to cover up your mistakes.

“It should not be normal to have to fight to truth, transparency and justice and expose a terrible cover-up.

“Not normal must stop, which is why we strongly support calls for an Independent Office for Institutional Accountability.”

Leah Brown, lawyer, mediator and founder of the Coalition for Institutional Accountability, said: “Years of systemic harm, unacknowledged injustices, and a reluctance to embrace transparency have eroded trust in government, leaving survivors without meaningful redress or support.

“From Grenfell to Chinook, the Church of England to infected blood, the pattern repeats: institutions investigate themselves, legal and compensation costs exceed billions annually, yet harm continues.

“The voices that Britain’s institutions work hardest to silence finally have a platform. From Home Office failures to police cover-ups, survivors have become unwilling experts in institutional failure. They know what went wrong, why it keeps happening, and how to stop it. But institutions rarely ask them.”