The brother of a man killed in the Manchester Arena bomb has warned the “hostile environment” deliberately created for immigrants in the UK could foster future attacks.



Dan Hett, whose brother Martyn died in the attack on an Ariana Grande concert last May, said the key to avoiding future terrorism was to avoid creating the conditions “in which someone fragile can be radicalised”.

In an interview with the Guardian before the first anniversary of the attack, Hett, 32, said: “We are creating an environment that is hostile and if you are young and impressionable it must be such a difficult thing to deal with.”

Martyn Hett. Photograph: Greater Manchester police/PA

Salman Abedi, the 22-year-old Libyan-Mancunian who detonated the suicide bomb that killed himself and 22 others, was from “just down the road”, said Hett. “He still got to a point where he was radicalised and carried out this attack. So building a wall or turfing people out or whatever else the far right are suggesting we can implement overnight is not the answer and for me is counterproductive.”

Hett, whose mother is a non-practising Muslim from Turkey, said: “If I was in a state of mind where I was susceptible to this stuff and I felt like the place I lived was hostile to me and at the same time I can see thousands of people in the street calling for me and my family to be deported, that could be dangerous.”

Hett, a Bafta-winning digital artist and video game designer, has started going to schools to talk to children about extremism. He said he received an invitation from Burnage Academy for Boys, Abedi’s high school in south Manchester. “I responded and said I am definitely considering it and I think I will, because I think it’s valuable.”

On Saturday a group called the Football Lads Alliance (FLA) is planning a silent march through Manchester, ostensibly to object to extremism in all forms. But Hett, along with many local MPs and the anti-fascist campaign group Hope Not Hate, believes the FLA’s core members are hard-right white supremacists.

“They are operating under the guise of being against all extremism. But they undermine that by having far-right speakers and really, really vicious rightwing-linked thugs as part of their number. The ‘Allah is a paedo’ chant comes out every time and it’s just really, really hostile,” said Hett, noting that an earlier rally featured Anne Marie Waters of the far-right For Britain party “screaming about an ethno state”.

Hett believes racism has become “utterly normalised … The fact that racists aren’t afraid to say these things in public any more makes me very uncomfortable.”

He urged “well-meaning” football fans to stay away from the FLA, which emerged after last year’s terror attacks and was able to mobilise thousands of people on the streets of London last October.

The chief constable of Greater Manchester police has questioned the FLA’s timing. Ian Hopkins told the Guardian that he respected the right to peaceful protest, but added: “If I’m honest I wish it was a different time because we’ve got enough going on and there’s some insensitivity around the timing this weekend.”

Hett said the FLA had a right to march, however “distasteful” its views. “But it’s not very classy is it? It’s an absolute lack of respect, choosing this date, when tensions are high anyway. There’s no excuse for piggybacking so callously on the Arena anniversary.”

Martyn Hett, 29, a Coronation Street superfan, became one of the most high-profile victims of the 22 May bombing. Various cast members of the soap attended his vigil and a bench has been unveiled in his memory on set. Mariah Carey sent a video message to his funeral and a US chat show he was due to visit days after the attack left an empty chair in the audience in his honour.

The Hett brothers were very different: Dan, a heavily tattooed “metalhead”, and Martyn, a pop lover with the face of Coronation Street’s Deirdre Barlow tattooed on his leg. But they had a strong relationship rooted in relentless mickey-taking, which has carried on after Martyn’s death. When Mariah Carey sent her tribute, Hett tweeted: “I was a little dubious about Martyn’s recent bold social media move, but it worked.”

Hett was on antidepressants for a brief spell but says he found more solace in making art than medication, and has created several video games based on his experience in the hours and days after the attack.

Hett’s family, like all those bereaved, received at least £250,000 from the We Love Manchester fund, which has so far collected £21.1m in donations from members of the public. A review by Lord Kerslake into responses to the atrocity found some recipients were unhappy that the awards were made public, and others disagreed with the way the money was distributed.

Quick Guide Manchester Arena bombing report: the key points Show • The Greater Manchester fire and rescue service did not arrive at the scene and therefore played “no meaningful role” in the response to the attack for nearly two hours. • A “catastrophic failure” by Vodafone seriously hampered the set-up of a casualty bureau to collate information on the missing and injured, causing significant distress to families as they searched for loved ones and overwhelming call handlers at Greater Manchester police. • Complaints about the media include photographers who took pictures of bereaved relatives through a window as the death of their loved ones was being confirmed, and a reporter who passed biscuit tin up to a hospital ward containing a note offering £2,000 for information about the injured. • A shortage of stretchers and first aid kits led to casualties being carried out of the Arena on advertising boards and railings. • Armed police patrolling the building dropped off their own first aid kits as they secured the area. • Children affected by the attack had to wait eight months for mental health support. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP

“After reading the Kerslake report I realised that not everybody’s case is equal. I think the families who lost caregivers should have been prioritised. I’ve lost a brother but I’m not going to stop earning because of it,” said Hett.

He received a share of his family’s award, which he used to pay for his wife to do a social work masters, which includes working with young people at risk of radicalisation. “Personally speaking I would have felt bad if I’d used the money just to go on holiday. But a few people have said: what would Martyn have done? And of course he would have blown it all. He won Come Dine With Me and spent the prize money – £500 in cash, on a plate – on clothes within a day.”