The mum of a Manchester Arena bombing victim has called on big music venues to add a 50p tax to tickets to improve security.
Figen Murray – whose son Martyn Hett, 29, was among 22 killed in 2017 – said the levy could raise £1million a year for each place to buy essential kit.
And today the anti-terrorism campaigner reveals new legislation to improve training and security at gigs will go in front of MPs within weeks.
Figen, 62, who has fought for reforms called Martyn’s Law for five years, said: “This would be the biggest change we could achieve in Martyn’s name.
“If security had been better, Martyn and many others could still be here.
“I have given every second I have into how we can make positive change to make sure nothing like that ever happens again.
“Rishi Sunak told me Martyn’s Law will be presented in front of the house in early spring, so we are so, so close to change. It’s a huge step towards it being enforced nationally.
“If anyone tells me venues can’t afford better security, I’m afraid that’s nonsense. They could recoup the money by charging 50 pence on every ticket price and ringfence that money for security.
“If Manchester Arena had 10,000 people in the venue for four nights a week, 52 weeks a year, as they do, and charged 50p extra a ticket, it would give them over £1million. This could pay for or lease equipment, a security director, better training.”
In a touching interview to mark Mother’s Day, Figen says she hopes she will have “made Martyn proud”.
She said: “I still have a few Mother’s Day cards he made me at school when he was little and they are precious. I am so glad I kept them.
“He is the first thing on my mind and the last thing on my mind. He is constantly in my thoughts.
“At some stage during that day, I will be sitting by myself and just spending a few moments alone to think about how much I miss him.
“I am hopeful that by next Mother’s Day, Martyn’s Law will be in place.”
PR worker Martyn had been in high spirits before seeing Ariana Grande at Manchester Arena on May 22, 2017. It was supposed to be his farewell night out before he set off to travel the world.
But after the show, as 20,000 fans began to leave the venue, 22-year-old Islamist fanatic Salman Abedi detonated a home-made rucksack bomb packed with screws, nuts and bolts. Martyn’s body was later found with 16 pieces of shrapnel in it.
As well as those killed, more than 800 people, many of them children, were injured.
Since the atrocity, former counsellor Figen has travelled the world in her crusade to boost security – and was awarded the OBE for her work by Prince William at Buckingham Palace last June.
She said: “Martyn was the funniest and kindest, loving man you’ll meet. I can still hear his cackle and infectious laugh.
“Everything I do now is to get change for Martyn. Every time I talk, I think of him. People will come up to me and ask me, ‘What is your job?’ I always say, ‘I’m Martyn’s mum’.”
Earlier this month, the third and final part of the inquiry into the attack concluded that MI5 missed several chances to stop it.
The revelations have sparked fury, with some families vowing to sue the security services.
But Figen said: “I’m not angry. I don’t want to play the blame game. What happened, happened.
“Nothing will bring Martyn back. It highlighted mistakes and human error but that is what I expected. I am moving forward.” To that end, Figen travels around the country speaking to schoolchildren about radicalisation.
She has now talked to more than 25,000, including pupils from Burnage Academy for Boys in Manchester, the school attended by Abedi.
Figen, from Manchester, a mother of five with five grandsons, said: “If my talks stop just one child being radicalised then they have been a success.
“I had a very emotional moment there. After my talk to year seven pupils, out of the corner of my eye I saw this boy. He ran up to me and gave me a huge hug for about 45 seconds, then looked me in the eyes and said, ‘Sorry for your loss’. It will stay with me for ever. It’s moments like that that keep me going.”
Figen has forgiven Abedi, and would have wanted to meet him if he had not died in the attack.
Among her concerns are the growing number of women-hating incel cults online. She said: “I think more needs to be done. This is going to cause us problems in society. It’s growing at an alarming rate.”
It came into sharp focus last month at an inquest into the 2021 Plymouth massacre when self-styled incel Jake Davidson shot and killed five people and then himself.
Figen has made it her life goal to promote peace and get change in her son’s name. One thing that unites both those is her hobby for knitting peace bears, which she gives to people who have been affected by terror or have helped her in her campaigning.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, who opened a Manchester Arena survivors’ memorial last year, are recipients. Figen said: “I think about Martyn a lot when I knit them. I’ve given them to London Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Boston Marathon and Christchurch terror attack survivors. William and Kate have one too. I hope they help to promote peace, something Martyn would want.”
As a constant reminder of Martyn, she has planted a tree – a ginkgo biloba sapling – in a park visible from her window. She looks at it every morning when she wakes up.
For more go to figenmurray.co.uk
