Did Austerity cause the Manchester Arena Attack in 2017, in which 22 people died? No, of course not. That responsibility rests with the bomber Salman Abedi, who also lost his life in the atrocity.
But did Auserity weaken the ability of the police in Greater Manchester (and other major urban areas) to respond to terrorism?
The Chair of the Inquiry into the bombing, Sir John Saunders says in his Report , "the cuts did have a significant impact on the ability of GMP [Greater Manchester Police] to provide an adequate public service in certain respects".
Adrian Goldberg discusses this with John Cooper KC, a barrister at 25 Bedford Row, who represented 12 of the 22 victims' families including that of John Atkinson, who the Report suggests would have survived with prompter intervention.
Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White.
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Austerity and the Manchester Arena Bombing