In a frustrating final report, the chair of the Manchester Arena inquiry half gets at the truth. Tasked with answering the most important question – could the suicide bombing at the Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017 have been prevented? – Sir John Saunders admits his approach will have “raised more questions” in the minds of the families of the 22 who lost their lives.
It is nearly six years since that tragedy and yet Saunders feels he cannot fully explain what were the two pieces of intelligence that MI5 obtained in early 2017 which, if acted upon, might have prevented Salman Abedi from carrying out the deadly attack. It was “a significant missed opportunity”, the inquiry concluded, but such is the British state’s addiction to secrecy it cannot be made public, even now.
