Seven years on from the Manchester Arena bombing, the risk landscape has dramatically shifted. So it’s right that venues must do more to protect themselves from terror threats, says Tom Clementi
Today marks the anniversary of the Manchester Arena attack in 2017, a senseless terrorist bombing in which 22 innocent people were killed and hundreds were injured.
Figen Murray, the mother of one of the Arena victims, Martyn Hett, is reaching the end of her heroic 190-mile walk from Manchester to Westminster. She is anticipated to arrive at Downing Street this morning to demand that the Prime Minister tables ‘Martyn’s Law’, a statutory duty for many venue holders to have a plan for what they would do in the event of a terrorist attack.
Terrorism remains a significant threat in the UK, which is why at Pool Re, the UK’s government-backed terrorism reinsurer, we support Figen’s commitment to changing the law. We recognise that the terrorism risk landscape has dramatically shifted in recent years, with terrorists adopting new tactics. According to Pool Re’s Annual Threat Report, it is almost certain that terrorists still intend to carry out indiscriminate mass casualty attacks in the UK by targeting publicly accessible locations, and nearly forty late-stage plots have been foiled by the police and intelligence services since March 2017. Terrorist attack methodologies in the UK include any target, any location, and any weapon, as demonstrated by the 2017 London Bridge attack.
Martyn’s Law, or the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, was included in the King’s Speech on 7 November 2023, has cross-party support, and is part of the legislation the Government intends to pursue in the current parliamentary session. It mandates that certain venues take necessary and proportionate measures, based on their capacity, to reduce the likelihood of a terrorist attack and / or mitigate the impact of an attack should one occur. The responsibilities of each venue will vary depending on its size. Through Martyn’s Law, venues will be better equipped and prepared to respond in the event of a terrorist attack.
Under the draft Bill, more than 300,000 premises throughout the UK would become subject to specific responsibilities to prepare for terrorist attacks. It identifies two tiers of premises and would introduce specific responsibilities for each: Standard Tier premises, accommodating 100 to 799 people, would have to perform low-cost activities like providing appropriate training for relevant workers; Enhanced Tier premises, those with a capacity of 800 or more, would require a more comprehensive terrorism risk assessment and the implementation of a security plan.
Pool Re stands ready to assist the UK Government with the implementation of Martyn’s Law in the near future, and is supporting this change by providing information and education regarding what businesses and other organisations, large and small, need to do to prepare.
In its efforts to safeguard the UK from the threat of terrorism, Pool Re also partners with the Home Office and Counter Terrorism Police to invest in strategic risk mitigation and national security initiatives, and supports the National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF) by making investments alongside the British Business Bank. The NSSIF invests with venture capital managers who support innovative start-up technologies in order to accelerate the adoption of the Government’s future national security and defence capabilities.
Pool Re was established through collaboration between the UK insurance industry and the UK Government in 1993 in response to insurance cover being withdrawn for commercial property due to the provisional IRA’s devastating bombing campaign in mainland UK, including in financial centres in London and Manchester, which left the economy, industry, and the taxpayer highly vulnerable to the effects of future attacks.
Today we are an industry-owned mutual reinsurer and an arm’s length body of HM Treasury, and act as a public private partnership between the insurance industry and the Government to help businesses get up and running after a terrorist attack.
Our remit is to ensure that all businesses in Great Britain, from the largest venues to the smallest SMEs, can access affordable and comprehensive terrorism insurance, helping to foster resilience in the economy, and safeguard society and livelihoods from the economic consequences of terrorism. Nowhere else in the world do businesses have access to such comprehensive coverage, supported by a broad range of risk management support and threat analysis.
Inspired by the bravery of Figen Murray and many others like her, Pool Re is proud to play its small part in bringing together the public and private sectors to help build confidence and resilience in the face of a threat that will never cease in its mission to unravel our society and way of life. Seven years on from the events in Manchester, today is an important day to remind ourselves that we must never take our security for granted.
Tom Clementi is CEO of Pool Re