Queen guitarist Brian May has spoken about last night’s terror attack in Manchester, describing it as “the most terrible thing” while also speaking out against Britain’s foreign policy. Watch in the video above.
Last night (May 22) saw a terror attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester leave 22 people dead and 59 wounded following an explosion in the foyer of the Manchester Arena venue. Fans were leaving the show when a bomb was detonated by a suicide bomber. The lone attacker died in the explosion from what is said to be a home-made bomb. The bomber has since been named and ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Following the news, May tweeted: “Sending love to Manchester. To all our friends there and all who are grieving for their families. Shocked and sad.” See that tweet below.
Speaking today (May 23) to NME, the classic rock legend said: “I woke up this morning and saw the news of Manchester and the first thing I did was tweet about it, just to express my grief and sympathy with the people. There were mums there that didn’t even know if there child was alive or dead. It’s the most terrible thing. To me, it’s almost impossible to imagine the kind of hatred that has to exist in someone if they would bomb children.”
May went on to argue that he sees the tragic event as an “opportunity” to change British foreign policy. May said: “I’m afraid I regard everything as an opportunity – out of tragedy comes knowledge and realisation. To me, 9/11 and all these terrible disasters are an opportunity to reevaluate ourselves and I think we failed to do that in 9/11. We went on bombing people. Tony Blair, David Cameron… [Britain] still [has] this attitude that you can solve a violent situation by violence. I don’t believe that. I believe we have to sweep all that away and start again. If we really think we can solve this kind of violent behaviour by being violent ourselves and being racist and reacting in that way then we are in for the most terrible tragedy for the world, because this is how it escalates.”
“To me, you have to break the cycle of violence and you have to treat horrific events with compassion. I don’t mean compassion for the person who did the bombing. You have to look at the world and say, ‘What part do we play in the world?’. Of course we have to tight up security. We [Queen] will be playing [Manchester] Arena in December. We’ve played it before and we’ll being playing it in December. No, we won’t cancel because that’s what they want, these [terrorists]. They want to ruin our lives, they want to stop us making music, dancing and being happy. Course they do. And we have to stick to what we believe in, which is that life is to be lived.”
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He added: “Of course you have to look at security but what you have to do much more importantly is look at the underlying causes. Why does the world hate us that much? There are reasons and I believe we must dismantle everything that has gone before and start again.”
Sending love to Manchester. To all our friends there and all who are grieving for their families. Shocked and sad. Bri
— Dr. Brian May (@DrBrianMay) May 23, 2017
Manchester native Noel Gallagher recently posted a tribute to victims online, following similar tributes from the likes of Johnny Marr, Taylor Swift, Liam Gallagher, Katy Perry, Harry Styles and many more.
Following the attack, over half a million pound has been raised for the victims and their families.
Anyone with any information concerning the attack is asked to call the Anti-Terrorist Hotline in confidence on 0800 789321.