Families' fury at 'devastating' MI5 failings in Manchester bombing

The families of victims of the Manchester Arena attack accused MI5 of a "devastating" failure after an official inquiry found the agency missed a "significant opportunity" to stop the deadliest terror plot in Britain since the 7 July 2005 attacks in London.

- Josh Halliday

A public inquiry led by Sir John Saunders concluded that there was a "realistic possibility" that the bomber could have been thwarted if the security services had acted more decisively on intelligence.

Andrew Roussos, whose eight-year-old daughter Saffie-Rose Roussos was one of the 22 people killed in the blast, blamed MI5 for a "cataclysmic failure" and said the spy agency was "not fit to keep us safe and therefore not fit for purpose".

In the long-anticipated final report of the inquiry, Saunders said it was "quite impossible" to say definitively whether any different action would have prevented the blast, but that there was a "significant missed opportunity to take action that might have prevented the attack".

The conclusion triggered a rare public apology from MI5's director general, Ken McCallum, who said it was of "deep regret" that the agency did not obtain sufficient intelligence to stop the "terrible tragedy".

"Gathering covert intelligence is difficult but had we managed to seize the slim chance we 6 had, those impacted might not have experienced such appalling loss and trauma. I am profoundly sorry MI5 did not prevent the attack."

But the apology was rejected by Roussos, whose daughter was the youngest victim of the attack. He said it was "insulting" for MI5 to say there was only a "slim chance" of stopping the attack, adding: "He [McCallum] had loads of chances, transparent chances. I can't accept an apology for losing my daughter."

The 226-page report, which came two-and-a-half years after the inquiry began, found that: