Mother of Manchester Arena victim 'heartbroken' for London Bridge families

A mother who lost her son in the Manchester Arena bombing has said she is "heartbroken" for the parents of the London Bridge attack victims.

Figen Murray said she felt "every word" the parents of the two "young, amazing" victims Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones have said as they mourn the deaths of their children.

Ms Murray's 29-year-old son Martyn Hett was one of the 22 murdered in the Manchester Arena terrorist attack in May 2017.

She said: "I just know how those parents feel.

"Events like Friday bring it back for all the families (who have lost a relative in a terror attack).

"I'm heartbroken for them."

Ms Murray described losing her son as a "life sentence" and said particularly the days in the wake of the day were "very difficult", adding that the traumatic experience of having to identify her son's body was "etched in my soul forever".

But she said the kindness people showed her and the thousands of messages of support she received in the wake of his death helped her to "stay strong".

She spoke after joining more than 70 terror attack survivors and relatives of victims in calling on political parties to better protect them with quicker access to mental health support and compensation.

The open letter was signed by survivors of terror attacks and relatives of victims, including of the shooting in Tunisia in 2015 in which 30 Britons were killed, as well as Brendan Cox, the husband of murdered Labour MP Jo Cox.

Earlier this year Ms Murray launched her campaign for Martyn's Law in a bid to better protect the public from terror attacks.

She is calling on the Government to make security plans mandatory at venues and public spaces, in particular, those which set out what to do in the event of a terror attack.

The idea, backed by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, could also see venue staff carrying out counter-terrorism training.

The law would make it a legal requirement for public spaces to have risk assessments and also make sure councils have terror attack plans.