Twenty years ago this week, on the 7th of July 2005, the deadliest attack on the capital since World War II was perpetrated by four terrorist suicide bombers on the tube and bus network.
Fifty-two people were tragically murdered, more than 750 were injured, and countless numbers of emergency service first responders, TfL staff, and members of the public rushed into the path of danger to help in the aftermath.
On Monday, services were held across the capital, and I was honoured to attend the service held at St Paul’s Cathedral, as a representative of both the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and the London Assembly South West Constituency.
The service heard from survivors, from those who helped, and from the families of those who were brutally murdered by the mindless acts of terrorism.
Though a solemn and respectful service, it was heartening that the tone was also one that embraced hope for the future and celebrated the very qualities which make our city so great.
For each of the locations where bombs were detonated, Russell Square – King’s Cross, Edgware Road, Tavistock Square, and Aldgate, survivors, families of victims, and responders each gave an account of the history of each location.
The enlightened thinking associated with Russell Square, the centuries-old links to religious and cultural diversity embraced in Aldgate and Edgware Road and the links of peace and medicine associated with Tavistock Square.
Each one reminding us of the rich diversity of our great city and its unbreakable spirit.
In her address, the Bishop of London spoke for us all, “Throughout the history of our world the resilience of the human spirit has witnessed to the possibility of hope in the direst of times: times of sickness, war, genocide, holocaust, natural disaster.
“People have reached into the depths of themselves, their humanity, their faith – they have reached out to each other in compassion and self-giving and the extraordinary spirit of survival.
“Time and again the human spirit has risen from the ashes, and the hope which for a time was stifled by horror has begun to breathe again.”
It is an all too depressing a reality that London, or another major UK target, will almost certainly be the target for further terrorist attacks, either co-ordinated or the work of so-called ‘lone wolf’ assailants; indeed we have already seen attempts executed, some of which have had devastating consequences.
If we do one thing to honour the memory of those murdered or injured on 7th July 2005, and those who may be murdered or injured in the future, it will be to stand united.
It is vital to remember that the immediate act of terror, however horrifying, is rarely the terrorists’ goal.
If we allow ourselves to become divided and to seek to blame others by association, then the terrorists will have genuinely succeeded.