MPs criticise draft Martyn's Law bill

MPs on the Home Affair Select Committee have criticised the draft legislation for Martyn's Law in a report.

The report claims that the legislation would be ineffective, not prevent attacks and would burden small businesses. It also said that the law would be hard to apply consistently.

The MPs said that it was unclear what the aims of the legislation were, as it had been promoted as terrorism-prevention legislation, but the measures would instead reduce the consequences of an attack that has actually taken place.

It was also claimed that the majority of terrorist attacks in the UK since 2010 would not be covered by the bill. The report stated: "We are concerned to learn that the draft bill would not have made a difference to the vast majority of the terrorist attacks that have happened in the UK in recent years."

The authors state: "Whilst we welcome the Government’s overall intention behind the Draft Bill, we have some serious concerns about the proportionality of the Bill, especially in relation to the impact on smaller businesses, voluntary and community-run organisations in the standard tier premises, where there is a lack of evidence that the Bill will adequately reduce the threat of terrorism for smaller organisations. We also have some concerns about the unfinished provisions in the Draft Bill, the purpose of the Bill, the regulator and some of the duties required. There are a number of other areas in which we feel that the Draft Bill could be improved upon, including introducing a provision for mandatory life-saving training and statutory standards for the design of new buildings."

However the findings of the report have been criticised by Martyn's Law campaigners and counter terror experts.

Nick Aldworth, former National Coordinator of Protect and Prepare Counter Terrorism policing said: “I know that the committee did its work in a rush, but its conclusions don’t reflect the universal and unpredictable nature of the terrorist threat that was described to them by other witnesses.
 
"Recommending a single tier and phased implementation will only signpost terrorists to smaller locations and increase the risk to them. At a time when we are seeing terrorists shift their focus to these kinds of venues as soft targets, nowhere is without exposure to terrorism.
 
“The Government should take their point seriously on including outdoor venues, but their wider arguments are not only wrong but dangerous."
 
Figen Murray, mother of Martyn whom the law is named after and who has campaigned for the law said: “Having lost my son to terrorism, along with so many others in the Manchester Arena attack, I find it hard to understand the argument that a few hours of training each year is a disproportionate step for businesses to take.
 
“Martyn’s law is a proportionate response that will keep millions of us safer and the Government must now press ahead.”

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