OPINION
Time for Martyn ’ s Law
In July , the King ’ s Speech outlined the new Labour government ’ s legislative priorities , with the Terrorism ( Protection of Premises ) Bill included . Figen Murray has campaigned for the legislation since the death of her son Martyn in the Manchester Arena attack in 2017 . Here , she calls on the industry to back its imminent introduction
It is great that the Bill was included in the most recent King ’ s speech but that ’ s not the end of the journey . I did a 200 mile walk to raise awareness of the issue and to make sure that the government really understands that we mean business . When I met Keir Starmer , he gave me his personal and political manifesto pledge and allowed me to publish the letter he wrote me . I feel that gesture alone was a major step . For the first time , I have confidence that this government will do it .
We have a meeting planned with the minister for security Dan Jarvis , during which we will discuss the next steps . I know the department in the Home Office working on Martin ’ s Law is working very hard to prepare the Bill . There ’ s a lot of work going on behind the scenes , and to me , that ’ s an indication that at some stage in the near future , things will move on . Obviously , it hasn ’ t been presented in Parliament yet , but we have the party-political conferences starting , and as soon as they are over , I am really hoping that the Bill is going to start being debated .
We live in a democracy , and I don ’ t expect everybody to be of the same opinion as me .
People will have objections , but they need to remember that the Bill has undergone the scrutiny of the Home Affairs Select Committee , resulting in a second public consultation . The second consultation was to address the issues for small businesses . We haven ’ t had the report on that yet , so I don ’ t know what the conclusions were .
“ FOR THE FIRST TIME , I HAVE CONFIDENCE THAT THIS GOVERNMENT WILL DO IT .”
It has been suggested that a more cost-effective solution could be to use the existing licensing framework to include antiterrorism measures but that would not work because it would not cover buildings such as schools , hospitals and museums ; venues where no alcohol is sold .
It is important that this is a piece of separate legislation ; it can ’ t be tagged onto either licensing or health & safety . Obviously ,
Figen Murray
licensing is handled locally and that means local authorities could do things differently region to region , so that would create inconsistencies .
I have worked closely with the events industry , we have done a training programme with the security team for the Eurovision Song Contest , and worked with the team training the security staff at Co-op Live . The entertainment industry is good at getting on board . I ’ ve had a lot of great feedback about how tight the security was for the Taylor Swift concerts at Wembley Stadium . It is so good to know that people could actually go to these events after the shows were cancelled in Vienna . In a lot of areas , there are massive strides being made to improve security but obviously it is not across the board because the legislation isn ’ t in yet .
In an ideal world , I ’ d like the legislation to be signed off by the King , either this side or just the other side of Christmas . It would be a crying shame if it went to the eighth anniversary of Manchester Arena bombing . I ’ m very much hoping that ’ s not going to happen . accessaa . co . uk 13