Posted June 24, 200718 yr Families of employees who have died at work and of people killed in transport disasters are trying to stop the House of Lords blocking a new offence of corporate killing. They are furious that the Corporate Manslaughter Bill - a central aim of the Blair government that has been almost 10 years in the making - may not become law, despite long-standing promises by ministers. The government moved to introduce the law after a number of high-profile tragedies including the Zeebrugge ferry disaster, the Paddington rail crash and the Marchioness tragedy. But the government has run into a rebellion in the Lords, and supporters of the bill fear it may be killed off. Peers led by the former prisons inspector, Lord Ramsbotham, want the bill extended to make companies and public bodies that run prisons and police cells liable for deaths in custody. Tomorrow the Lords are expected to reject the bill in its present form. If it is not passed by 17 July - the last day of the parliament - the bill will be scrapped. A failure to implement the bill would be seen as a humiliating setback for the government, which promised to introduce it after lengthy talks with trades unions.
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