The mother of a Manchester Arena Bombing victim who has been campaigning tirelessly for new counter terrorism laws has described announcements to push ahead with 'Martyn's Law' as making her feel her son did not 'die for nothing'. Figen Murrary, mother of Arena victim Martyn Hett, appeared on Good Morning Britain today to say she hopes it will prevent similar events in the future.
Figen revealed she received a personal phone call from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to reveal the news that his government would table draft legislation for 'Martyn's Law' in the spring. It will require public venues with a capacity of more than 100 people to introduce training and measures to combat terrorism or face sanctions.
She has campaigned relentlessly for the so-called 'protect duty' since her son was killed, aged 29, alongside 21 others in the Manchester Arena terror attack in May 2017. She described this campaigning as a 'coping mechanism' for her but vowed to carry on fighting for safety and 'lending support' to see the changes fully implemented.
READ MORE: 'Martyn's Law' will finally be a reality - after a brave mum's years of campaigning
Figen told GMB speaking live from Manchester: "It makes me feel like he’s not died for nothing. Hopefully he will be pleased that on some level, his death resulted in other people being spared the same fate."
On why she started her campaign four years ago, she said: "I made the assumption that after the attack, security would be absolutely top notch everywhere. Then when we eventually did go to a very small concert, there were no security measures anywhere and that shocked me to the core. Which is why, it was in December, in January that year, the following year, that I started the campaign because I felt the legislation just needs to be there."
Asked about the moment the Prime Minister rang her to announce the legislation's introduction on Martyn's 35th birthday, Figen said: "It couldn’t have come at a better time when the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak phoned me at home, it was actually the morning of Martyn’s 35th birthday. I actually said to him, that is the best birthday present anyone could have ever given to Martyn.
"It was incredible. I’m so grateful that he actually personally phoned me. It’s been a long, long journey but the persistence paid off."
She added: "Obviously I‘m grieving and I will always grieve but doing this campaign has been a coping mechanism if I’m honest. People often say, what are you going to do after the campaign?
"Well I’ll be carrying on campaigning because I don't feel once the legislation comes in, like with any major change, things aren’t going to be embedded straight away so I think there will be a period of embedment but I’m going to be hanging around and lending support as much as I can and continue talking about it."
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