Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason police allowed Ismail Abedi to leave the country and not give evidence to the Manchester Arena inquiry in October 2021.

The Manchester Arena Inquiry is a statutory independent Inquiry and decisions as to how to deliver its terms of reference are a matter for the Chair.

The Inquiry heard evidence on what steps had been taken to ensure Ismail Abedi appeared at the Inquiry on 21 October. The transcript for the hearing is published in full: https://files.manchesterarenainquiry.org.uk/live/uploads/2021/10/21201337/MAI-Day-165_Redacted.pdf

Greater Manchester Police provided evidence to the Inquiry on Ismail Abedi’s departure from the UK which is published on the Manchester Arena Inquiry website: https://files.manchesterarenainquiry.org.uk/live/uploads/2021/12/21144111/INQ042319.pdf