Who is Figen Murray?

Figen Murray is the driving force behind the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, commonly known as Martyn’s Law. Recently, she has hit the headlines for taking on a 200 mile walk from Manchester Arena to 10 Downing Street to raise awareness of her continued fight to get the Government to implement the legislation. But who is she? And why is her story so intertwined with Martyn’s Law?

Born in Istanbul, Figen moved to the UK and worked as a counsellor for over 23 years. On the night of the 22nd of May 2017, her son Martyn Hett went to watch an Arianna Grande concert at the Manchester Arena. Unfortunately, he was one of the 22 victims killed by a suicide bomber that night.

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As is sometimes the case, Figen didn’t immediately turn her emotions of grief and pain into motivation for campaigning for a new law. It wasn’t until over a year later when she had the courage to attend a public event that she decided things had to change. Fearful that the bag searches and heightened security surrounding the event would remind her too much of her loss, she had put off attending any events. When she finally had the courage to attend, she found completely the opposite – nothing had changed. No bag searches, no heightened security. It was as if the Manchester Arena bombing had never happened.

This motivated Figen to do some research. She discovered that there wasn’t a law mandating venue operators or event organisers to protect their patrons from a terrorist attack. Instead, there was just the Crowded Places Guidance. Although this is a valuable resource for enhancing the security posture of venues across the UK, it is only guidance and not legislation.

So in 2019, Figen began her campaign from her kitchen. It began as an online petition calling for “metal detectors/ bag searches obligatory safety measures for big public venues” which received over 23,000 signatures. Since then, Figen has been working with a team of campaigners and meeting Government officials and ministers regularly to formulate a plan of how her vision would be best put into place.

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Realising she didn’t know anything about terrorism or how to fight against it, she has also completed a master’s degree in Counterterrorism. She has since been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Salford University and additionally a Visiting Fellow of the Institute of Strategic Risk Management (ISRM), of which the author is a proud member.

Figen continues to visit schools, colleges, and universities to educate young people around the dangers of radicalisation in her bid to stop attacks like the Manchester Arena bombing from happening again. Recently, she has hit the headlines for taking on a 200 mile walk from Manchester Arena to 10 Downing Street to raise awareness of her continued fight to get the Government to implement the legislation.

And it’s working. On Tuesday 7th November 2023, the King’s Speech announced The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill is set to become law. And, at the time of writing, the legislation has finished its second round of public consultation. But there is still a long way to go.

For those researching Martyn’s Law, understanding the driving force behind this legislation is essential. It helps us understand that Martyn’s Law is not just another new piece of legislation that we must comply with, it’s about protecting people, and allowing them to go about their lives with peace of mind and without the fear of a terrorist attack.