One of Tyneside’s biggest venues has welcomed proposed new legislation designed to prevent terror attacks in the wake of the Manchester Arena bombing.

The lives of 22 innocent people, including four from the North East, were claimed when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated his explosives at the end of an Ariana Grande concert, in May 2017.

Figen Murray, whose son Martyn Hett died in the tragedy, has spent the past five years campaigning for tougher laws to ensure large venues are kept safe from terrorists. This week plans for ‘Martyn’s Law’ moved one step closer when the Government published the findings on its consultation into the proposed legislation, otherwise known as ‘Protect Duty’.

Manchester Victim: Martyn Hett

Under the new proposals, venues would have a legal duty to provide specific security plans for a terror attack, and resources would be made available to help with this.

Private and public owners of venues and sites currently have no obligation to act on free advice given to them from specialist counter-terrorism advisers about threats of a terrorist attack and how to mitigate the risk.

Newcastle’s Utilita Arena has been one of the venues involved in discussions about the Protect Duty plans. Yesterday bosses welcomed the new laws and said it would introduce any new measures necessary to help keep audiences safe.

A spokeswoman for the arena said: “We will carefully consider the new legislation as soon as it is available and look at any additional steps we can take to ensure that the safety of everyone remains central to our security and event planning.”

Ministers first announced plans to introduce the Protect Duty legislation back in February 2020. But, the pandemic and closure of venues has delayed the period of public consultation.

The Government published its response to the consultation yesterday and said “2,755 responses were received from a variety of organisations, sectors and campaigners, with the majority supporting the government’s proposals to introduce stronger measures.”

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “My number one priority is keeping the people of the UK safe. Following the tragic attack at the Manchester Arena, we have worked closely with Figen Murray, victims’ groups and partners to develop proposals to improve protective security around the country.”

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