Directors should be liable for up to 14 years in prison for serious management failings that lead to fatalities, a Labour-dominated Commons inquiry stated on Tuesday in a report urging the government to “tighten up” its proposed new law on corporate manslaughter.

John Denham, the Labour chairman of the home affairs select committee and ex-minister, said reform of the existing corporate manslaughter law - which has led to a string of failed prosecutions following high-profile accidents, such as train crashes - was “long overdue”.