Inquiry hears that ‘stakes are too high' to delay Martyn's Law

Figen Murray, the mother of Martyn Hett who died in the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017, has demanded that the government urgently resume talks on bringing in laws to heighten security in crowded public spaces.

The government has said that it backs the plans but work has stalled due to coronavirus. Murray told the Manchester Arena inquiry that ‘the stakes are too high’ to delay the public consultation any further in light of recent terror attacks in Vienna and France.

Stressing that we do not know when the pandemic will pass, therefore waiting for it to end is not an option, Murray also said that there is increasing concern over the uncertainty about how many people will have been radicalised online during lockdown.

Martyn’s Law would see the introduction of freely available counter-terror training for event staff, vulnerability assessments of operating spaces and the need for venues and local authorities to have counter-terror action plans.

Figen Murray said in a statement to the public inquiry that there were more than 650,000 crowded spaces, including street markets, bus stations and churches, and ‘a lot’ were not covered by present licensing regulations. She said she felt it was ‘absurd’ there is legislation for how many toilets a venue must have and how food must be prepared but nothing that holds those venues to having basic security in place.

Figen Murray spoke at our Event Management Security webinar on 8 October. You can register to view the content here.