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”.
Replying to Cooper, Braverman said: “In relation to Martyn’s law, the government will publish draft legislation for scrutiny in the spring and after that introduce a bill to the house as soon as parliamentary time allows.”
The law is expected to introduce requirements based on a venue’s size, to prevent undue burden on smaller venues, with the standard tier expected to apply to anywhere with a capacity of more than 100.
Braverman also said that a closed version of Saunders’ final report, containing confidential recommendations relating in particular to the conduct of MI5, “have not yet been shared with the government”.
Saunders said there had been “a significant missed opportunity” where MI5 received two pieces of intelligence that may have led investigators to monitor suicide bomber Salman Abedi before he carried out the deadly attack.
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But full details of what went wrong were kept secret, for national security reasons, and as a result Saunders’ full recommendations will remain confidential, shared with the Home Office and the Security Service to ensure lessons are learned.
Braverman was asked by the chair of parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, the Conservative MP Julian Lewis, if she would confirm the body was the appropriate place to scrutinise Saunders’ secret report
The cross-party committee was “a very effective and secure forum” to examine Saunders’ unredacted conclusions, Braverman said. Last Friday, the committee said it expected to receive the final report, and it would “consider what steps are necessary” in response to the inquiry chair.
