The mother of Martyn Hett, who lost his life in the Manchester Arena bomb attack, has called for immediate action following the publication of a report revealing 'significant' failings in the emergency response.
Figen Murray, who championed the campaign for 'Martyn's Law' legislation in memory of her son, said that if the law had been in place on the night of the bombing that 'precious lives would have been saved'. She said that although she does not 'want to play the blame game', that lessons should be learned from the mistakes made.
Her statement was released today (Thursday, October 3) as the second volume of the inquiry report was released to survivors and families of the victims, before being made available to the public. It examines the role of the emergency services that night.
The devastating official report laid bare a catalogue of key failures by the emergency services. It revealed how one of the 22 who died in the attack, John Atkinson, a 28-year-old carer from Radcliffe, could have survived.
In light of the revelations, Figen has again urged the government to bring forward the Martyn's Law legislation. In May, it was confirmed in the Queen's Speech setting out the government's planned legislative programme.
The draft 'Protect Duty' Bill was one of 38 Bills announced in the package, following long delays to a period of public consultation due to the coronavirus pandemic. Under the proposals, venues would have a legal duty to devise and provide specific security plans for a terror attack, but there's been no update since then.
Figen said that the law 'appears to be consistently' delayed'. She added that 'it is about time that the people came first'.
Below is Figen's statement in full:
I would like to make a statement as the mother of Martyn Hett who lost his life at the Manchester Arena that dreadful night. I do not speak on behalf of anybody else and I would like to make that very clear.
Today, we have learnt about the failings of the emergency services. There is no denying that some of these failings led to loss of life. I am not here to play the blame game. What we learned today will not bring Martyn back or anyone else for that matter. What is important from this day forward is to learn from these mistakes so that they do not happen to anybody else in the future.
We must ensure that the emergency services introduce measures befitting of today’s recommendations to ensure that more lives are saved should another such attack happen again in the future including:
- Better communication between all services
- Establishing a common use of language understood by all services (eg zoning etc)
- Joint training exercises on a regular basis
- Action cards in all services and training on how to use them
- Understand each others’ capabilities, expertise, specialist equipment available and resources
- Better communication between senior command structure across all services
- Operational discretion
- Use of technology, for instance an app for key contacts
- Regular review of operational procedures across all services
- Trauma kits widely available at PAL’s (publicly accessible locations)
- Trauma training for: p olice officers, l icensed security people (SIA need to consider), y oung people as part of the National Curriculum, t he general public
- Learn from other countries (eg: France)
As many of you know, I have been campaigning for Martyn’s Law. What I ask now is that the Government finally bring forward the legislation required to ensure the country’s safety. Despite the apparent Government support that I have been promised, this much needed law appears to be consistently delayed. Had Martyn’s Law been in place that night, we now know that precious lives would have been saved.
We cannot turn the clock back, but for every passing day that today’s recommendations and Martyn’s Law are not in place, is yet another day where all of our safety is at risk.
Today is not a day for finger pointing but a day for learning and moving forward with measures to keep us safe. UK politics may well be in turmoil but there is absolutely no excuse for delaying or weakening legislation that could save thousands of lives. This must be a priority; the security of all citizens is at risk and it is about time that the people came first.
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