The Tragedy That Changed Manchester
22nd of May, 2017. Manchester. United Kingdom. As the sun set over the city, thousands of excited fans made their way to the
Manchester Arena. But little did they know that the night would end in death and disaster. (crowd screams) We are continuing
to cover the suicide bombing in Manchester, which has killed at least 22 people and injured more than 50. We struggle to
comprehend the warped and twisted mind that sees a room packed with young children not as a scene to cherish, but as an opportunity for carnage. Forgiveness will never
be an option for such evil intentions, and
those that played any part in the murder of our children will never ever get forgiveness,
From top to bottom, MI5 to the associates of the attacker, we will always believe that you all played a part in the murder of our children. (dramatic music) At 6pm, the arena gates were opened. Floods of fans
poured into Manchester Arena, excited to see Ariana perform. Approximately
14,200 people were in attendance, mostly female and mostly children
and teenagers accompanied by their parents. At 6.34pm, a young man was seen entering the
city room carrying a large rucksack. The contents of his bag would soon
be revealed. At 7.30pm, the show began. Manchester, sing, come on. ♪ So one last time ♪ ♪ I need to be the one who takes you home ♪ Inside the arena, music,
joy, and lights filled the air. Outside, the
routine of a concert night played out. Parents waited
by exits, transport staff managed the flow of people, and
security stood at key posts. No one could
know that the night would end in horror. 8.36pm, with the concert now in full swing, the
man moved toward the men’s toilets, where he was seen by two British Transport Police Community Support Officers
and two Shosek security guards. He was then spotted again on the mezzanine level of the city room. At 9.13pm, he walked back towards the tram platform via the city room lift. He then made his final movement into the city room at 9.33pm, heading directly to the raised
mezzanine, an area not monitored by CCTV, where he waited for nearly an hour. 10.12pm, at this point in the evening, the concert was almost complete. A member of the public notices the man and approaches
him, asking him what was in his bag. They then report him to security. However, security
were told that British Transport Police were already aware of him. It’s reported that one
security guard considered approaching the man, but hesitated, citing
discomfort and lack of justification. He didn’t want to be labelled a racist. 10.31pm, as the final song ended and fans began streaming
into the foyer near the Victoria Station exit, a homemade
explosive device was detonated. (dramatic music) Oh my God! Oh my God! (dramatic music)
(screams) We’ve come out, we heard
a loud bang to the left of us, and there was silence, and then
screaming, and conplete panic. The force of the blast
tore through the crowd. The air filled with smoke, debris and the screams of the injured. Within minutes, the arena was a scene of chaos and devastation. Children separated from their parents,
bystanders using clothing to stem bleeding. Some never had a chance. I was worried so I just shouted at my mum, but I couldn’t really hear anything because this ear is all blocked and it was just really scary. Just complete, you
know, screaming, shouting, just people, mad, chaotic rush to the nearest exit. 10.39pm, British Transport Police
had declared a major incident. At 10.47pm, he was officially being treated as a terrorist attack. 23rd of May, 2017, 1.10am. Greater Manchester Police confirmed
what many had feared: multiple fatalities. At around 10.33pm, we received reports of an explosion
at Manchester Arena in the city centre. This was at the conclusion
of the Ariana Grande concert. Currently,
we have 19 people confirmed to have lost their lives in the
explosion, and around 50 casualties that are being treated at six hospitals across Greater Manchester. We are currently treating
this as a terrorist incident until we have further information. As night turned into morning,
ambulances transported the wounded. The magnitude of what had
occurred was beginning to take shape. Across the city, emergency
services mobilised with extraordinary speed and courage. They were there within seconds. It’s really a credit to the city. They did so incredibly well. They saved
so many lives getting there so quickly. Everything was calm, everything was
controlled, and the patients were cared for in a way that the specialist
staff had been prepared for for many years. We had doctors at scene, we had highly specialised paramedics and rescue
teams at scene, and the patients
were evacuated very, very quickly to a safe area where they were stabilised and moved to the hospital. Clearly, there are a
number of individuals who have very, very serious injuries and
are requiring intensive care, and people who are going to be in hospital for a long time. By 2.46am, all injured survivors had been moved from the scene. Among them were 12 children under the age of 16, many in critical condition. Can’t begin to think
what you’re going through. Sending you our love and best wishes. Best friends who live down the road from one another, Ella and Zara, both 14, both fans of Ariana Grande. I think it was the first concert we’d been to together, and I think we spent all day talking about it and
texting each other about it. We just fall on the floor, and the first thing I see when I look up, as you look
around, there’s just bodies everywhere, and we’re just top to toe covered in blood, and it’s other
people’s, and it’s just really, like, you don’t expect it. And I just grabbed Ella, and I was like, come on, we need to get out. I’m trying to ring my mum, but you don’t know if she’s
answered or not, because my ears are ringing,
the noise was so loud. The girls did eventually
find Ella’s mum, who’d been waiting to collect them. They were taken by ambulance to hospital. Because I’ve
got shrapnel that’s been removed from my lower leg, this is one of those nail bombs, so there’s,
like, bolts and nails, that’s what pulled the
skin out, there’s massive chunks of skin missing. I’ve had stitches where
they could actually manage to get
stitches in, because they didn’t know what to do
with these, because they’re just so, like, odd, you can’t stitch
them, you can’t do anything. And everywhere’s
just bruises and cuts from people trying to get to you,
people standing on you. I mean, I’ve got a couple of cuts and bruises, but it’s nothing,
like, compared to other people. 3.51am, Ariana Grande,
shaken and devastated. Posted to social media, broken. From the bottom of
my heart, I am so sorry. I don’t have words. You went and had sat and had therapy and have really
been working through recovering from what took
place in Manchester, with your fans, with your family, with yourself. It’s just about, like, just being there for each other
and, like, helping each other through scary times and, like,
anxiety, and, you know, some dark shit out there, man. But we just have to, like, be there for each other as much as we can, because you never f***ing know, you know? By 7am, the world
awoke to tragic headlines. 22 people dead. The youngest was
Safi Rose Roussos, just eight years old. Morning. Andy’s going to say a few words and I’m going to say a few words. Thanks for coming, everybody. After our darkest of
nights, Manchester is today waking up to the most difficult of dawns. It is hard to believe what has happened here in the last few hours and to put into words the shock, anger and hurt that we feel today. These were children, young people and
their families, that those
responsible chose to terrorise and kill. This was an evil act. Whilst
the world mourned the lives lost that night, the British
police had many questions to answer. Who would have done such a heinous act? And how were
they able to pull it off? I have just chaired a meeting of the Government’s Emergency
Committee, COBRA, where we discussed the details of, and the
response to, the appalling events in Manchester last night. It is now beyond doubt that the people of Manchester and
of this country have fallen victim to a callous terrorist attack. An attack that targeted
some of the youngest people in our society
with cold calculation. This was
among the worst terrorist incidents we have ever
experienced in the United Kingdom. And although it is not the first time Manchester has suffered in this way, it is the worst
attack the city has experienced and the worst ever to hit
the north of England. The police
and security services believe that the attack was carried out by one man. But they now need to know whether he was acting alone or
as part of a wider group. It will take some time to establish these facts and the investigation will continue. The police and security
services will be given all the resources they
need to complete that task. At 1pm, ISIS claimed responsibility. Well, I’m not surprised
that they have tried to claim ownership
over this tragic, horrific event. But we cannot
give it any credence at the moment. There will be a time when we look back and see whether
that was true or not. But at the moment, our efforts and the police’s efforts is on
the ongoing operation. Greater Manchester Police named the suicide
bomber later that day, confirming
his identity at 5.21pm. The bomb had been carried in a backpack by 22-year-old Salman Abedi. He chose
that precise moment as parents arrived to collect their children to maximise
pain and suffering. Good afternoon, everyone. I’m Ian Hopkins, the
Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police and I wish to make a statement in relation to the Manchester
Arena attack of 22 May 2017. Since that
terrible attack, our thoughts have very much been with the victims’
families of the 22 that died, of those that were seriously injured and those that are suffering
from deep psychological trauma. They have always been central to our
investigation and will continue
to be so at all times. I’m now able to say the following in relation to the extradition. That the Crown Prosecution Service
successfully applied for the extradition of Hashem
Abedi from Libya and that today
he has been extradited for offences relating to the Manchester Arena attack. He was handed over by Libyan authorities to British police officers this morning. They escorted him on the flight back and they landed in
the United Kingdom a short while ago. Greater Manchester
police officers have arrested Hashem Abedi for murder,
attempted murder and conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life. He will be transferred
to a custody facility in London. That night, the UK’s
terror threat level was raised to critical, the highest possible. It is now concluded, on the basis of today’s investigations, that the threat
level should be increased for
the time being from severe to critical. In order to
fully understand how the Manchester Arena bombing came to be, we must look at the man behind it, Salman Abedi. Born in Manchester
in 1994 to Libyan parents who had fled the Gaddafi regime, Abedi grew up in the city’s Fallowfield area. By all accounts,
he was an ordinary British teenager. Football, music, fast food. But beneath the
surface, a transformation was taking place. As he entered his late teens, Abedi
became increasingly radicalised. He dropped out of
Salford University and was known to local mosques and
community members for expressing extremist views, sometimes
openly praising acts of violence. Once a month, Abedi would go to his cousin’s barbershop. There was no hint
of what he was planning. Now the murderer’s
cousins, just released without charge, shed light on their family and
their connection to the terrorist. What are your thoughts towards your cousin? I just still don’t understand it. I just don’t understand it. I don’t understand where that ideology
comes from. Something so serious has happened. You know, it’s all over
the world and why not? You know, all the news and then you turn around and they say, you’re right, the man who’s behind
it is, you know, your faith. Your cousin, your first
cousin, you know, you’re going to be out
of words, isn’t it, really? In the aftermath of the bombing, they say they were waiting for
the knock at the door. I wasn’t expecting getting arrested with
machine guns in your face and all of that. But, you know, they have to do what they have to do, you know. I couldn’t stop crying,
especially the first few days when I was getting questioned. And every time that story was brought up, little girls,
innocent lives, you just couldn’t just stop yourself from just crying. That’s all you can do, really, just… Their lives have… 22 lives have gone. You know, it’s changed
a lot of people’s lives. Looking back, were
there any signs about his, you know, his
behaviour, his character, you know, that you look back and think maybe that was, you know, maybe that was a sign? He’s always been
distant, but in a way, he disappeared. Like, you hardly see him, you hardly hear of him or anything like that. It’s like, you know, looking at him, his religious views or the
way he started dressing up and, you know, not grooming himself or looking after himself, his appearance. You know,
sometimes you still have doubts, you know, you
think maybe someone’s just, you know, maybe he’s lonely, depressed, or he’s
never actually spoke about anything,
you know, related to the subject about extremism
or anything like that. Do you think Salman abused your trust? – Definitely.
– Of course he did. On a whole new level, like, I don’t trust myself in a way that you just… He can’t be around anyone so easily and
so comfortable. He can’t be comfortable with anybody. It doesn’t matter who it is, your cousin, because looking at
the relationship we’ve had with them, you know, we were born here, you know, we grew up here together, you know. The only family we
had in this country is them. And for him to betray our, you know, our image and
the way people look at us, it’s disgusting. That’s what I’ll call it. In 2014, he traveled to Libya, a country in chaos following the fall of Gaddafi. A place where
militant groups, including Islamic State affiliates, operated with near impunity. He would travel back and forth to Libya multiple times in the years leading up to the attack, including
a final trip just weeks before the bombing. In 2015, thousands of Libyans swore
allegiance to the Islamic State, and
jihadis took territory in the center of the country. The father of
the Manchester bomber is Ramadan Abedi. His picture, verified
by those who know him, is on a Facebook
page under the name Yusuf Hanar. It features a photo of Anas al-Libi, an al-Qaeda
operative who died in U.S. custody, a symbol for a Libyan Islamist political party, and
a picture of his youngest son Hashem,
who was arrested in Tripoli last night. The Libyan Interior Ministry, itself run
by Islamists, issued this picture
of Hashem, saying he was connected
to Islamic State and knew details of his brother Salman’s terror attack in
Manchester. His radicalization appeared
to accelerate rapidly. The inquiry
revealed that he maintained contact with known extremists
and began constructing his bomb with components bought
in the UK, some from high street stores. The explosive
was powerful, packed with shrapnel, and designed to inflict mass casualties. The face of Salman Abedi, identified as the Manchester suicide bomber, he’s now
thought to have had help, quite
possibly from an expert bomb maker. This amateur
footage taken yesterday is believed to show his brother
Ismail being arrested in Manchester. At the Abedi family
home nearby, police used explosives to
gain access and then search for clues. Increasingly, investigators
have been coming around to the conclusion that
the bomber, Salman Abedi, was not working alone, that he was simply the mule carrying a device that
was designed and built for him by somebody else. That bomb maker would still be at large, which is why the UK terror threat level has been raised to critical. Investigators found
that he did not act alone. His younger brother, Hashim Abedi, played
a critical role. Evidence showed that Hashim helps purchase
materials, store chemicals and assist in building the
device before fleeing to Libya. He was later extradited to the UK and in 2020 found guilty
of 22 counts of murder. While the
full extent of Abedi’s operational ties to ISIS remains
disputed, the inquiry concluded that he was an Islamist extremist
motivated by revenge and ideology. He had pledged allegiance
to the group before carrying out the bombing. In the end, Salman Abedi was a product of both place and influence. A British citizen
radicalized on UK soil, emboldened abroad and ultimately consumed by
a violent cause that targeted the innocent. The loved ones of those who lost their lives responds to the sentencing. We would like to thank Judge Jeremy Baker for imposing the biggest sentence
ever in these circumstances. However, as the families of Chloe and Liam, no sentence will ever reflect the loss we feel each day without them, because he won’t really
be serving the sentence that we are. Today is not the day for looking back. Today is about moving forward and
for everyone concerned
to learn from their mistake and take heed of the recommendations. Terrorism
continues to plague our society and as a nation we need
to be better prepared to deal with it. It seems terrorists are always a step or two ahead of us and
we need to catch up fast. (dramatic music) The attack had
claimed children, parents, friends, lives full of hope and music, stolen in seconds. In the hours
and days that followed, Manchester responded not with fear but with unity. The city’s
resilience shone through the sorrow. A memorial is a physical statement that the memory of those who died lives on. It is a focal point for commemoration
and reflection. A place of solace for the families, the injured and all those affected. A place for Mancunians
and visitors alike to acknowledge what the city went through. It is a counter to the violence and hateful disregard for
human life that caused this tragedy. I hope that this beautiful,
tranquil space, which for all the challenges I know many of you were involved
in shaping, will provide all of this and more for generations to come. Catherine
and I know that the atrocity’s impact will last a lifetime and beyond and that the healing process is still ongoing. Today is a day that we all hope and prayed we would not ever see. Families,
young children, went out last night to enjoy themselves in our wonderful city
and tragically lost their lives in a horrific way. As your Chief
Constable of Greater Manchester and as a father I cannot begin to imagine how anyone could carry out
such an unthinkable act, murdering 22 people and injuring 59. My thoughts and those of all of my colleagues are very
much with their families at this incredibly difficult time. Of course it is wider than just the families and my thoughts are very much with those who were affected in and around the Manchester Arena area last night. Ordinary people who
went to work last night, ordinary people that
went to enjoy the concert, the emergency service
workers dealing with that horrendous scene that they were faced with at just after 10.30pm last night. But last night
in the most atrocious circumstances the people of
Greater Manchester showed the world how much we care, how much we care about each other and how much we were prepared to help those in need. And I’ve heard
some tremendous stories of doctors coming in
to support, of police officers, ambulance workers giving up their
days and turning up to help those in need. I want to thank everybody
from those emergency services who
worked tirelessly throughout the night, to the members of the
public for their solidarity and for the rest of the world for holding us in their thoughts. (dramatic music)
(applause) June 4th, 2017. In the days that followed the attack,
Manchester stood tall. Ariana Grande
held a One Love Manchester benefit concert at Old Trafford Cricket Ground. The concert was organised as a tribute and fundraiser for the victims and
families affected by the bombing. 22 lives lost, over 1,000
physically injured, thousands more left with invisible scars. Friends, siblings, strangers who
became each other’s lifeline in the dark. From the ashes
of tragedy came a demand for change. The pain gave purpose and the silence left behind by 22 voices
became a call to action. We cannot rewrite that night. We cannot bring back what was taken, but we can remember not just how they died, but how they lived. The music, the laughter, the light. I feel quite apprehensive
but it’s something we’ve got to do. We’ve got to come back, back with my daughters, my goddaughters. It’s part of the therapy coming back and it’s part that we come back and we stand up to what’s right and get back out there and show people that we can get back in the face of all the horrible things that are happening. It’s amazing to see what like a community is here, like it’s just incredible. I’ve never
felt community like it, really incredible. Are you surprised that she agreed to come back to Manchester so quick? Yeah, yeah. I thought it would have taken more time but I’m happy that she’s okay. By her coming back I think that it’ll show the world that terrorists haven’t won. I think it’s a nice thing to do because she’s kind of a symbol of it all so it’d be something good. She wants them to enjoy her concerts still and not be put off by that. Just look this way for us. We stand
together with The Peace Foundation. Manchester in its own unique way will pull together and
will stand strong and stand together. That’s what we are, that’s what we do. So they won’t win. We are grieving, we are hurt today but as I said at the beginning we are strong and this city
has dealt with difficult days in the past and
we will do so now. In these circumstances
a city and a community comes together in
solidarity and in strength so we carry on. We don’t
allow these attacks and these people to divide us or prevent us from leading the decent
normal lives that we all want to lead. At 7.15pm the show began. (crowd cheers) With all of my heart for being here today. I love you so much. Thank you so so much. To these incredible artists for coming
here and sing with me loving today, and share their gifts, it means so much. Thank you so so much everybody. With all my heart, I love you so much. Ariana Grande was joined on stage by stars from across the globe,
all united in support of the victims of the attack. It was brilliant night. – Was it not?
– It was amazing. It was absolutely amazing. It was fucking incredible. Sorry for the language. It was absolutely amazing
from start to finish, absolutely amazing. Cheers to Manchester Proud. I 100% agree with that. Cheers to Manchester Proud. 100% cheers to Manchester Proud. In the wake of the bombing, grief turned to questions, difficult questions. How did a 22-year-old, known to security services, manage
to build a bomb, walk into a major
UK venue and kill 22 innocent people? To find answers, on
the 22nd of October 2019 a public inquiry was
formally established, one of the largest and most complex ever held in the UK regarding a terror attack. Led by Sir
John Saunders, the Manchester Arena Inquiry examined every
stage of the events, the security at the venue,
the actions of police and emergency
services and the roles of intelligence agencies in monitoring Salman Abedi. The findings were stark. Standing amid
an unsuspecting crowd of people, this is Salman Abedi in the foyer of Manchester Arena on the night of his attack. 19 seconds after CCTV
captured his image, he detonated
his device, killing 22 people, his oldest victim 51 years old,
his youngest just eight. Earlier that evening, cameras showed
his final journey to the venue, leaving the flat where he
built that device. On his back, a rucksack, inside the bomb. He catches a taxi,
stopping off at a cash point. Weighing heavy is the bag on his back, loaded with a bomb,
filled with nuts and bolts. Innocent bystanders completely
unaware of the danger just feet away. He’s dropped off at the station from where he’s about to make the final leg of his murderous journey, catching the
tram that will take him to
Victoria Station and onto Manchester Arena. In this, the final open volume of my report, I deal with three topics. The radicalisation of Salman Abedi,
the planning and preparation for the
attack by Salman Abedi and Hashim Abedi and
whether the attack could have been prevented by the security service and counter-terrorism policing. It is important that we understand as much as we can about the
radicalisation of Salman Abedi so
that similar signs can be recognised and appropriate action taken. It is important that I emphasise, as did Dr Wilkinson,
that the violent Islamist extremists are a tiny group who have adopted a distorted view of Islam based on
an incorrect interpretation of the Quran. Dr Wilkinson outlined
what he believed were the various influences that had contributed
to Salman Abedi’s radicalisation. He concluded that by 2017, every conceivable
radicalising malign presence, and noxious
absence existed in Salman Abedi’s life. He said, I have never seen such a complete picture of the
Petri dish absolutely brimming with germs. Volume 1,
published in June 2021, focused on security arrangements at the arena. The inquiry found that
significant missed opportunities allowed the bomber to carry out his attack. Abedi had been
seen acting suspiciously by several members of the
public before the explosion, pacing, carrying a large backpack and hiding in a blind spot near the foyer. Yet venue
security staff, Shosek stewards and British Transport Police failed to act decisively. Is our armed officers
and police presence, is it too London-centric perhaps? Some people are saying that perhaps one of the issues here is that we’ve got very good security in London,
lots of security services basically at armed officers, it’s
perhaps further afield there are fewer. I don’t think so. Our counter-terrorism strategy is all
about protecting the whole country and we make sure that in the armed police
uplift for instance, that it covers the whole country. And one of the things I’ve seen in Manchester
is the support that other cities, other areas have wanted to give to Manchester. That kind of support where we can move people from different areas to support
them is essential. And when I have asked, have you got the resources and
the support you need, they have been able to tell me they have. There were critical
communication breakdowns and a failure to adequately assess the threat. Had action
been taken earlier, Sir John Saunders concluded, it is
likely that fewer people would have died. What I have been able to set out in the open part of Volume 3 is that I have
found a significant missed opportunity to take action
that might have prevented the attack. The reason
for this missed opportunity included a failure by the security
service, in my view, to act swiftly enough. The families respond to the findings. I’m Richard Scorer
from Sotre and Gordon and I’m delivering
this statement on behalf of 11 families. Today’s report has
been deeply painful to read, but also eye-opening. On the issue of the preventability of this attack, inevitably,
the report provides less information than we would have wanted. But it is now very clear that there was a failure to properly
assess key intelligence about Salman Abadi, a failure to put it into proper
context, and most catastrophic of all, a delay in acting on it. As a result of these failures, at the very least, a real possibility
of preventing this attack was lost. This is a devastating conclusion for us. Volume 2, released in November 2022,
examined the emergency response. Again, the findings were damning. The fire service
took over two hours to arrive at the scene. Ambulance resources were delayed
and there was no coordinated
response plan in the crucial first hour. Paramedics entered
the arena late and many of the injured were carried out
by members of the public, police officers and arena staff, some using advertising hoardings
as makeshift stretchers. The inquiry
found that one victim, John Atkinson, could have survived had
he received timely medical intervention. He was left for 47 minutes
without professional help, despite being conscious
and pleading for assistance. It was a heartbreaking detail. There’s a point in the footage from inside where the tannoy is
saying, please stay calm, exit the building quietly,
there is no problem here. I think there was confusion about
whether something had happened. We are used to, aren’t we, going to these venues and getting bags we may have
on us searched. This was one of those, it appears, there was a real soft target. It wasn’t within the venue like we saw in the Bataclan where the attackers got in and got access to the actual concert. This was in the foyer
near the ticket hall. As people were leaving, of course, you see massive crowds and
it was easy for somebody, presumably a lone wolf, we’ll wait to find out, to access that area with no security. Volume 3,
published in March 2023, focused on Salman Abedi himself and the role of MI5 and counter-terrorism policing. The inquiry
revealed that MI5 received two pieces of intelligence about
Abedi in the months before the attack,
information that was assessed at the time as not being related to terrorism. However,
in hindsight, both were judged to have had a realistic possibility
of preventing the attack. How was Salman
able to travel back and forth to the UK? He’s recently said to have been in Germany, where police are investigating
whether he met up with anybody. A number of people who went back to Libya to fight Gaddafi have told us that the British government
turned a blind eye to them joining the uprising
and travelling back and forth from the UK. It’s understood
that several people had reported the attacker’s behaviour to the authorities. The imam at this mosque banned Salman after he caught him
trying to hide in the library overnight. He was just in the mosque in a time when he should not be in the mosque because it
was not prayer time, he said. So at that time I asked him, you know, what are you doing here? And I was saying you should not be here at this time because everybody
already prayed and gone home and now it’s 11 o ‘clock sorry and you’re
still in the mosque. So I asked him to leave and he’s saying to me that well it’s a mosque, people should be able to stay. I said no, well I’m in charge here, you have to leave and he went. Sir John Saunders found that MI5 missed a significant opportunity to take action
that could have disrupted Abedi’s final preparations. An MI5 officer admitted
they had intended to discuss the intelligence with
a colleague but failed to do so in time. The findings painted
a picture of institutional failures, not from lack of care but from a lack of urgency, coordination
and preparedness. Systems meant to
protect the public were slow, siloed and ultimately insufficient. Yet even in criticism
the inquiry honored the bravery of
individuals that night, the arena staff who ran toward danger,
police officers who carried the injured, civilians
who stayed behind to help and the medical teams
who fought to save lives. The report didn’t just point fingers, it made over 150 recommendations
from improving venue security and training staff in
behavioral detection to reforming how intelligence agencies share and act
on potential threats. For the families of the 22 who never came home,
the inquiry offered painful validation. It couldn’t change what happened but it ensured the truth was spoken and it placed a burden of responsibility
on every institution touched by that night. The bombing at Manchester
Arena wasn’t just a national tragedy, it was a turning point. It exposed painful gaps in Britain’s
counter-terrorism framework from intelligence oversight
to emergency preparedness and prompted
a sweeping re-evaluation of how the country prevents,
detects and responds to terror threats. Immediate
steps were taken to harden security at large public venues including
arenas, stadiums and transport hubs. But the deeper
reforms came more gradually, shaped by the lessons
uncovered during the public inquiry. One major
outcome was the introduction of Martin’s Law, named after Martin Hett, one of
the 22 victims. Championed
by his mother, Figen Murray, this proposed legislation, also known
as the Protect Duty. I started Martin’s Law,
the campaign, the petition, as a result of actually
making an assumption after the arena attack
that venues are safe. And it was probably about 18 months after the attack when we
first ventured out publicly to a kind of a small concert venue. And to our surprise and horror, nobody checked our tickets
or did a back search or anything. And I was so shocked at that, that it was sort of in the early December, 18 months after Martin died,
and during the Christmas period, I kind of researched security and came across
the government’s contest document and the Protect Duty
section and realised that actually security is on your recommendation. And I felt after the arena attack that surely can’t be right. So, which is why I started the Martin’s Law petition for security. From staff
training to risk assessments, it seeks to ensure
that what happened in Manchester will not happen again due to complacency. On the intelligence
front, MI5 and Counter Terror Police began revising
how they assess and act on low-level intelligence,
especially concerning individuals on the periphery of active investigations. New structures were
introduced to improve information sharing between agencies and to prioritise threats
that previously might have gone unchecked. The Contest Strategy,
the UK’s counter-terrorism framework, was updated to reflect a new era of homegrown threats, self-radicalised
individuals and lone actors who operate beneath the radar. Greater emphasis was placed
on community-based interventions, early reporting and digital
surveillance of extremist content. The attack also led to a cultural shift within emergency services. Joint training exercises
became more common, communication protocols were overhauled, and
trauma response frameworks were reviewed to ensure
no injured victim is ever left behind, as John Atkinson had been. (dramatic music) I think what I would say to you is that those families, eight months on, are still having their lives dominated
by the effects of that terrible night and one of the important things that came
out of Bishop Jones’s report is that people talk loosely about closure but for those families there will not be quick closure from what’s happened to them. But they do all want to understand better what happened, why
things went well, but also what lessons can be learned. Still, the question remains, can terror ever be fully prevented? The answer, sadly, is no. But what changed after Manchester
was not just policy, it was mindset. A collective understanding that every
missed warning matters, that every delay has a cost, and that security is not
just the job of intelligence agencies, but of every person, venue, and system that forms part of public life. The names of the 22 are now etched not only in memory, but in the very laws and
procedures designed to keep others safe. The Manchester Arena bombing was
not just an attack on concert-goers, it was an assault on innocence,
on joy, on the very idea that young people can gather safely to celebrate
life and music. And yet, the people of Manchester
responded not with hatred, but with compassion, unity, and defiance. (dramatic music)
Minute by minute takes you through the Manchester Arena Bombing on the 22nd May 2017, recapping the event as it unfolded. It explores the chaos, the bravery of first responders and civilians, and the tragic consequences of a single, devastating act.
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