Police chief's apology for failures in the response to the Manchester Arena attack
Ian Hopkins, the former Chief Constable of GMP, has said sorry for the failures of the force in responding to the Manchester Arena attack.
Before he started to give his evidence to the public inquiry, Mr Hopkins addressed the bereaved families as he said: "I have met many of you in person, not all of you but many, and I listened to the hopes, dreams and aspirations that you had for your loved ones and how they were ripped away from you.
"I also saw your immense grief. All that will never leave me."
Mr Hopkins told the public inquiry that losing 2,000 officers through Government-imposed cuts had an impact on the force's emergency response to the bombing.
He said he did not believe the reductions affected the immediate response, particularly from frontline officers, but did make a difference as "a huge amount was taken out of the organisation" including leadership posts.
He said GMP was required to make £200 million in savings due to austerity from 2011 up to the period of the attack in May 2017, which killed 22 people and injured hundreds.
The public inquiry into the suicide bombing at the end of an Ariana Grande concert has heard that ambulance and fire personnel could not get through to the phone line of GMP's force duty officer, the initial commander of the incident, to find out more information about the incident.
Fire crews did not arrive until more than two hours after the explosion and only three paramedics entered the City Room foyer, the scene of the blast, as members of the public, police and arena staff transported casualties on makeshift stretchers.
Text message exchange between Ian Hopkins and Peter O'Reilly, who was Chief Fire Officer at the time.
Asked to comment on whether a link could be made with the swingeing cuts to police failures on the night, Mr Hopkins said: "I think not in terms of the immediate response on the night because I would still say there were some really impressive elements of that, particularly from our frontline staff.
Mr Hopkins stepped down from his post in December after Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham asked him to resign in the wake of the scathing report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), which revealed the force had failed to properly record 80,000 crimes.
The inquiry was adjourned until Monday when Mr Hopkins will continue to give evidence.