It was just 14 days into Andy Burnham’s mayorship of Greater Manchester that one of the city’s darkest moments came. Five and a half years later the disappointment at the response of the police and fire service under his watch on that night is obvious.
“To those injured, to everyone still struggling and, most importantly, to the families of those who died – particularly John’s family and Saffie’s family – I wish to say this very clearly: you were badly let down on that night; you were entitled to expect much better from our emergency services than the response provided; and, as you have heard from them today, everyone here is truly sorry that did not happen,” Mr Burnham forcefully told a press conference after the second volume of the inquiry into the Manchester Arena attack inquiry was released today.
Mr Burnham, along with deputy mayor Bev Hughes and Manchester City Council leader Bev Craig, slammed the leadership and culture of Greater Manchester Police and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service in 2017. He repeatedly assured that both services are very different ‘entities’ now to how they were at the time of the attack, highlighted by GMP exiting special measures last week.
READ MORE: They deserved better, Greater Manchester deserves better, it must not happen again
In his statement he said the failure of the fire service to respond “exposed the fact that something was seriously amiss with the overall response” with a raft of changes made since so it can better respond to a marauding terrorist attack (MTA). This, as well as improvement in leadership and culture, have been recognised by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, he said.
Mr Burnham heavily criticised Greater Manchester Police at the time of the attack, saying the inquiry’s findings on the force were “very troubling”. This was highlighted by their “inaccurate account” of their actions after the attack adding: “It is my view that the force tried to stick for too long to a corporate narrative that suggested it had acted effectively.
“That wasn’t just disrespectful to the families and those injured; it had the effect of misleading myself and the Deputy Mayor, denied everyone the opportunity to learn and delayed the action needed to improve the force. This is sadly something we have seen in the aftermath of other disasters and a pattern that keeps on repeating.” This led to the change of chief constable in 2020, he said.
However, questions were later raised about why it took three years to remove the previous chief constable of GMP, Ian Hopkins, after the attack and that families will never be able to hold him and other senior officers to account despite him receiving a full pension when asked to move on. ITV Granada Reports pressed Mr Burnham on this after the conference with the mayor stating that he got rid of Mr Hopkins when he had “all the evidence he needed” and he only received what he was “contractually entitled to”.
In response to the inquiry Mr Burnham has called for a “legal duty of candour” to be set on all public servants so that public service “tell the truth at the first time of asking” after major events like this. “This cannot continue. I have had a constructive meeting this week with the new Home Secretary and I call on her to bring forward a response as soon as possible and to accept the need for a statutory duty of candour.”
He also repeated calls to enact Martyn’s Law, which would “strengthen security arrangements at public venues big and small, and create a consistency and clarity currently lacking”. “We pay tribute to Martyn’s mum, Figen Murray, for championing this change but its implementation is now overdue, as Sir John said,” Mr Burnham added.
“In conclusion, over the last five years, I have had the privilege of getting to know the families who lost loved-ones on that night. They are without exception wonderful people who, as I said at the start, deserved so much better.
“I have also got to know many of those injured and have seen first-hand how they have come together to help each other, through initiatives such as our incredible Survivors Choir. I hope they all know me well enough by now to know that I would never give them platitudes like “lessons will be learned”.
“What I can instead say to them today is that major changes have already been made on the back of what happened and more are to come.”
For more of today's top stories click here.
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