The Guardian
A draft bill known as “Martyn’s law”, aimed at forcing all venues to draw up plans to prevent terrorist attacks and ensure public safety, is on track to be published this spring, the home secretary told MPs on Monday.
Suella Braverman’s commitment came as MPs debated the critical third and final public report of the Manchester Arena terrorism inquiry, released last week, in response to a question from her Labour counterpart.
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, pressed Braverman to tell her the timetable of the proposed law and whether it would start its passage through parliament before the summer recess.
Named after Martyn Hett, 29, one of 22 killed in the 2017 Manchester Arena terror attack, the legislation was promised by the government in December but has yet to be formally introduced into parliament.
Hett’s mother, Figen Murray, has campaigned for new measures that place a requirement on venue owners to consider the threat from terrorism and implement appropriate mitigations. Last week, she called again for the law to be passed as part of wider efforts to prevent future terrorist attacks by ensuring there is “more cohesion and more communication”.
An earlier part of the public inquiry, chaired by Sir John Saunders, concluded that “inadequate attention” was paid to the terrorist threat “by those directly concerned with security at the arena”.
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