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.
