Rishi Sunak faced a confrontation from the mother of a son who lost his life in the Manchester Arena bombing live on radio.
Figen Murray has been tirelessly advocating for more stringent security at public venues since her son was one of the 22 victims of the horrific attack during an Ariana Grande concert in 2017. The Prime Minister assured her, mere hours before announcing the General Election, that Martyn’s Law would be enacted before Parliament’s summer recess.
The Tory manifesto last week made a commitment to bring forth this legislation aimed at bolstering defences against terrorist acts. However, on Wednesday, Ms Murray expressed her frustration to Mr Sunak, pointing out the lack of progress since his promise 18 months prior to “hurry up” with the law’s passage.
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During an LBC Radio phone-in, she stated: “You have put in your manifesto that Martyn’s Law is a priority.”
She continued, questioning the Prime Minister’s pledge: “I don’t know what you mean by that because you promised me 18 months ago, in a phone call on what would have been Martyn’s 35th birthday, that you’re going to really hurry up with Martyn’s Law and you are very committed to it.
“There has been nothing since then. So what exactly do you mean by prioritising? Can you please put a number, a figure to it in terms of how many months that’s going to still be?”
In response, the Prime Minister reiterated his dedication to making Martyn’s Law a reality, should the Conservative Party succeed in maintaining power despite the challenging opinion polls. He informed the radio programme: “If we’re re-elected, Parliament will re-form at the beginning of July and we’ll be able to introduce the legislation before summer recess.
“Before summer recess is what I told Figen and that will still be the case.”
He continued: “I can understand why Figen would like to have seen this done even quicker, but it is important that it works properly. And that takes time to get right.”
It is “reasonable” to take the time to ensure the law is effective because “it will impact thousands and thousands of businesses”, he added.
Ms Murray has previously expressed disappointment, claiming she felt “let down” and “misled” after Mr Sunak assured her the legislation would be pushed through before the summer break, only to subsequently announce an election, resulting in parliaments dissolution before Martyn’s Law could be brought into force.
Martyn’s Law would make it mandatory for public venues and local authorities across the UK to implement specific training and prepare strategies against possible terror threats.
Labour has committed to implementing Martyn’s Law urgently should they come to power.
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